GOP votes to remove Dave Williams as Chairman

(COLORADO) — Opponents of Colorado GOP chairman Dave Williams, including current and former elected officials, voted on Saturday, Aug. 24, to remove him as their party’s leader.

The Colorado Sun reported that the vote to remove Williams was 161.66 to 12 among members of the Colorado GOP central committee who were present or voting by proxy at a church in Brighton Saturday. Those gathered also voted to remove Colorado GOP Vice Chairwoman Hope Scheppelman and Secretary Anna Ferguson.

The state party’s bylaws say a party officer can be removed, “By a vote of three-fifths of the entire central committee membership.”

Williams called Saturday’s meeting improper, saying 77 people in attendance brought 104 questionable proxies. After Williams was ousted, attendees elected Eli Bremer, a former Chair of the El Paso County GOP committee, to serve out Williams’s term.

In a statement, Williams said, “A fringe element of our state party, who has now proven that they do not care about electing Trump this November, held a fraudulent meeting today.”

El Paso County Republican Party Vice Chairman Todd Watkins said in a statement, “This is the first step in what will undoubtedly be a lengthy journey to make the Colorado GOP whole again and become a respectable and responsible political organization. In order to begin this process, we had to exorcize the harmful and toxic leadership that brought us to this unfortunate state.” He also said the party acted in good faith and according to the Colorado GOP bylaws.

The Republican National Committee will still need to verify Saturday’s vote to remove Williams.

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