Confusion continues to surround leadership in the Colorado Republican party
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO)- Who is the chairman of the Colorado Republican Party? On Saturday Colorado Republicans voted to keep Dave Williams as chairman, one week after another group of Colorado Republicans voted him out.
RELATED: Conflicting Colorado GOP votes to retain Williams one week after voting to remove
Last week Williams was voted out by a group of Republicans in Brighten. Eli Bremer was voted in to take his place.
Bremer told KRDO 13 the State Central Committee had canceled the August 31st meeting, but the meeting still took place.
Vickie Tonkins, the chairwoman of the El Paso County GOP attended Saturday's meeting in Castle Rock.
In a press release posted on the Colorado Republican Party X account, they say last week's vote was invalid.
During yesterday's meeting, a group of 204 Republicans voted 191.5 to 10 to keep Dave Williams as the chairman of the State's Republican Party.
"I'm sorry that this had to play out in the media as unfortunately these individuals so often do. But it [the meeting on August 24] was illegal, meaning it was not legitimate. It was not called according to our rules and bylaws," said Tonkins.
Last week in a previous interview with KRDO, Bremer said the meeting that happened on August 24 was legal.
"We had three attorneys in the front of the room. The former state party chair, Christy Burton Brown, served as an advisor. The top Republican attorney in the state, Chris Murray, served as a legal adviser and the former secretary of state. Attorney Wayne Williams served as the parliamentarian," said Bremer.
KRDO 13 reached out to Bremer after Saturday's meeting and vote. He responded with a statement:
“On August 24th the Colorado Republican Party Central Committee (CRC) met and removed a set of officers who were actively working against our candidates. These former officers had lied to a judge in Denver in an attempt to prevent their removal. Despite threats and bullying, the CRC convened in a lawful meeting and voted to remove these officers. Following the removal of these officers, the CRC filed a lawsuit against these former officers to enforce the will of the CRC and return the properties they have in their possession that belong to the CRC. In the week since removal, we have seen what a disaster the Colorado GOP was under the previous leadership. There had been no effort to bring in signage and collateral from the Trump campaign thus suppressing our base. Our candidates felt attacked by their own organization. And our local parties were without support. We appreciate that the NRCC has already acknowledged the removal of the officers and that nearly all the congressional candidates in the state have offered their support as well. Because the removal of the officers was conducted according to our organizations bylaws, we believe the court will quickly rule to enforce the removal of these former dysfunctional officers. Even while that happens, the new officers of the CRC are working tirelessly to support all candidates from Trump down which was not happening under the former leadership.”
