The Colorado GOP’s leadership will hold a vote in January to formally endorse former President Donald Trump. This decision takes place despite a number of obstacles, including a longstanding tradition of party neutrality in primaries and the fact that the state’s Supreme Court just ruled Trump is not allowed on the ballot.
After state Rep. Ken DeGraaf (R-Colorado Springs) nominated his GOP colleague Scott Bottoms to be speaker of the Colorado state House in January, Bottoms – who, like DeGraaf, had only just been sworn in for his first term in the Legislature that morning — startled some in the chamber by speaking up and seconding his own nomination.
The chair of the Colorado Republican Party says he doesn’t want civil war, but he’s sees one in America’s future under two scenarios: one, if courts remove Trump’s name from the ballot or, two, if “they’re successfully able to keep engaging” in blatant election fraud (even though Williams or other Republicans have yet to produce evidence for such “blatant fraud”).
Dave Williams, the chair of the Colorado Republican Party, has used his position to put pressure on fellow Republicans who he deems not conservative enough. Earlier this year, he negotiated an agreement with Colorado Libertarian leadership that would encourage Libertarian candidates to run against insufficiently conservative Republicans.
"So everybody, send money to the GOP."
The Colorado Republican Party today not only announced its censure of state Sen. Larry Liston (R-Colo Springs), but shared a video calling on him to resign immediately.
The state Republican leadership’s failure to opt out of Colorado’s open primary at Saturday’s central committee meeting garnered the headlines, but another significant rule change did pass, with less fanfare if not less controversary. After a short debate and a “standing count” rule vote tally determined solely by Chair Dave Williams, the Colorado GOP changed its bylaws to allow leaders to both endorse and oppose their own candidates in primary elections, a likely unprecedented break from the longstanding party neutrality.
The GOP’s Centennial Dinners tend to have a notable guest, but Lake’s presence at the event shows an escalation from the past years.
The Colorado Republican Party spent nearly twice as much money as it raised last month. The party’s latest FEC filing shows it raised a little over $12,000 while spending about $22,000. The almost $10,000 shortfall equals the amount spent on party officers and staff, either for direct payments or travel reimbursement.
Last week a group of Coloradans filed a lawsuit to prevent Donald Trump from running for President in the state.
