Members of the Colorado Republican Party central committee voted by an overwhelming margin on Saturday to keep Dave Williams as the state GOP's chairman — contradicting an equally lopsided vote a week earlier to fire Williams at a meeting called by the former state lawmaker's opponents within the party.
Neither outcome was a surprise, since only a handful of Williams' supporters attended the meeting last Saturday at a church in Brighton, while a similar small number of Williams' critics showed up to vote at this weekend's gathering at a church in Castle Rock.
The two meetings were virtual mirror images of one another, with each deciding that a different Colorado Springs Republican was the state party's legitimately elected chairman — that'd be Williams, according to Saturday's meeting, and Eli Bremer, a former El Paso County GOP chairman, according to the meeting held a week earlier.
Republicans at last Saturday's meeting in Brighton voted to cancel this Saturday's meeting in Castle Rock, while the Republicans who met in Castle Rock voted to declare that the previous Saturday's meeting in Brighton was invalid, and any actions taken at the meeting would have no effect.
With just over two months until the November election, the ongoing tug-of-war over the state Republicans' leadership remained unresolved, following the pair of conflicting votes held a week apart at rival meetings, likely leaving it to the national GOP or the courts to untangle.
Armed security personnel stationed outside Saturday's meeting at The Rock church in Castle Rock told a Colorado Politics reporter and other journalists that members of the press weren't allowed to attend . Previous state GOP central committee meetings held last year at the same location were open to the press. The proceedings were live-streamed on Facebook by a party officer.
The vote at Saturday's meeting in Castle Rock was 191.5 to 10 against removing Williams and his fellow state party officers, Vice Chair Hope Scheppelman and Secretary Anna Ferguson, with 2.5 votes abstaining. (Party rules assign fractional votes to some of the Republicans' central committee members.)
At the meeting held a week earlier in Brighton, which was open to the press, Republicans voted 161.66 to 12 to oust Williams, followed by nearly identical votes to remove Scheppelman and Ferguson.
After Saturday's meeting concluded with a vote expressing confidence in his leadership, Williams said he considered the matter settled. He also called on state Republicans to focus on the upcoming election, with ballots scheduled to start going out to voters in less than six weeks.
"The majority has spoken, and your true State Party Leadership team will jealously defend these results against a vocal minority in and out of court," Williams said in an email to state Republicans . "With that all said, now is the time to move forward together, as one State Party, to elect President Donald J. Trump and all of our down ballot nominees."
He added: "We can no longer afford to be distracted by those impersonating State Party Officials (or those who enable them)."
Bremer dismissed the results of Saturday's meeting as meaningless, telling Colorado Politics that last week's meeting — the one that removed Williams and elected Bremer to chair the party — was the only legally convened gathering of the state's central committee.
"You can't keep voting until you get the result you want," Bremer said in a text message. "Process matters."
Bremer sued Williams last week in El Paso County District Court on behalf of the Colorado GOP, asking the court to declare Williams was in breach of contract by refusing to step aside after last Saturday's vote.
Last month, Williams — also on behalf of the Colorado GOP — filed a lawsuit in Arapahoe County District Court against a pair of county Republican officers, who petitioned for his removal earlier this summer and organized last week's meeting in Brighton .
Both lawsuits are pending.
During debate Saturday over the motion to remove Williams and the other state party officers, Jeremy Goodall, the Republicans' 5th Congressional District chairman, said the stakes of the vote were high.
"What we are dealing with right now is a battle for the soul for our party," Goodall said. "It is really difficult to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in defense of the platform and principles our party stands for while a portion of our body kneels to Mammon. I strongly implore you to keep our officers, who have done an outstanding job in the face of unimaginable fights."
During the same debate, state Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs, also spoke in favor of keeping Williams at the helm but warned the battle was far from over.
"We've got to be careful we're not being naive here, that everything stops after today," Bottoms said. "The fight will continue."
Declaring that state Republicans had finally elected a chair who represented the party's grassroots when Williams won the position last year, Bottoms said it wasn't surprising there was a backlash from the establishment wing of the GOP.
"The liberal Republicans cannot stand that," Bottoms said. "Guys, they're wanting to tear this party down. I believe some of them are actually Democrats —they want to tear this down."
No one spoke in favor of removing Williams at the meeting, though state Rep. Stephanie Luck, R-Penrose, encouraged committee members not to be afraid to stand up and contradict the crowd.
Republicans at Saturday's meeting also voted to clarify requirements to initiate a recall vote against state party officers, addressing issues some said arose when Williams' critics submitted a petition demanding a meeting earlier this summer.
"We're not trying to stop your ability to call a meeting with 25% of the membership," said Laurel Imer, a former legislative and congressional candidate.
"We're trying to preserve election integrity and transparency by requiring that that 25% of the body is verifiable. We want transparency. We stand for it from the top to the bottom, in every decision we make as a body," she added.
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