Colo. Republicans vote to oust leadership in meeting Williams calls 'fraudulent'

BRIGHTON, Colo. — Inside a church in Brighton, members of the Colorado Republican Party voted Saturday to remove GOP Chairman Dave Williams, along with Vice Chair Hope Scheppelman and Secretary Anna Ferguson. Cheers erupted when the votes came in 161.66 to 12 to remove Williams.

"This wasn't a fiat. This wasn't a coup. The body decided to remove them and the body decided whom to put in their place," said Vice Chairman of the El Paso County Republican Party, Todd Watkins. "So this was a true grassroots, we the people effort."

Watkins explained that this meeting was necessary to remove officers of the state party and directly referred to problems with Williams' leadership.

"This is about leadership, or lack thereof. This is about performance. It's about competency, and really, it's about professionalism," Watkins said. "He has been nothing of that would be descriptive of somebody who is a professional leader or a competent leader, none of that."

During this meeting, Eli Bremer was elected interim chairman, Britta Horn was elected to the vice chair, and Kevin McCarney was elected secretary.

"I think the people today spoke, our congressional candidates supported removal, that says an awful lot," Bremer said. "I think it's time to turn the page. It's time for the Republican Party to move forward. We're going to support our candidates, that's what we're going to do."

But it remains to be seen if Saturday’s meeting will deliver the results the votes intended.

Williams said in a statement that this was a "fraudulent meeting" and that "they clearly don't have 3/5ths of the entire body to remove anyone, but that won't stop them from harming the Party further while wasting time with nearly 70 days to go in the election."

However, both Watkins and Bremer explained they followed the bylaws and were confident they did everything right.

"Well, the bylaws and the legal piece around this is immense," Bremer said. "We had multiple lawyers today on stage. We had three lawyers: Kristi Burton Brown, former chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, and Wayne Williams, former secretary of state. Chris Murray, attorney for the RNC, so we've had multiple attorneys review this. It is a very complex area of the law, but we had some of the best lawyers out there helping out, making sure we did things by the book."

While this meeting was happening in Brighton, the El Paso County Republican Central Committee held another meeting in Colorado Springs to remove Todd Watkins. Vickie C. Tonkins, El Paso County Republican Central Committee Chair, sent an official call for this meeting, saying that Central Committee members are concerned about what is happening in the county and state.

Colorado Republicans vote to oust party leadership in meeting Dave Williams calls 'fraudulent'

"Dave was at that meeting, he spoke out against me, I expected that he would," Watkins said. "But she needed two thirds of the members present, our bylaws are written, members present. She needed two thirds of that body to remove me, she failed to get even half.

Saturday’s meeting in Brighton is the latest effort by members of the Colorado Republican Party to oust Williams after a June email blast signed by the chairman accused the LGBTQ+ community of being “godless groomers” who want to harm children. State Republican leaders issued a statement condemning the chairman’s behavior.

Last month, an Arapahoe County judge granted a temporary restraining order, blocking any official decision about Williams’ fate as chairman. But that same judge reversed the decision days later, citing inaccurate information.

An appeal for an emergency injunction from the Colorado Court of Appeals has yet to be heard.

Colorado Politics reported that Williams and his supporters argue that his political tone is what Republicans wanted when he was elected chairman in March 2023.

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