By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice
BRIGHTON — About 77 Republicans and another 105 by proxy gathered at a church here for the second time in a month Saturday to decide the future leadership of the party.
At issue for some was the leadership of Chairman Dave Williams, along with Vice Chairwoman Hope Scheppelman and Secretary Anna Ferguson.
In decisions which are sure to be disputed by others in the party and certainly its leadership, all three elected leaders were taken out by the faction and replaced by well-known rivals of Williams during what his allies have termed a “so-called” meeting that is “illegal”.
Michael Allen, the 4th Judicial District attorney, accused Williams of attacking other Republicans, abuse of position to divert party funds to his personal campaign and for being unable to “lead us to victory in November” in his motion immediately following the removal of Ferguson and Scheppelman.
Not everyone in attendance supported the measures to remove the party’s leadership.
“I have become a firm believer that Dave Williams has done the best job we have seen in decades,” said Cody LeBlanc of Weld County, facing a smattering of boos for his comments. “Our chairman has done everything he can to bring forward a strong, united force, but he constantly faces opposition from within the ranks.”
Washington County state Rep. Richard Holtorf called it a “difficult journey, but a journey we are all going to have to make.”
Holtorf was among the first candidates for office to call for Williams’ removal during the primary election, and on Saturday he was named the chair of the Central Committee assembly to remove him and the other officers. He had previously asked to be named chair of the party if Williams were removed. Holtorf replaced former Colorado Republican Party Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown, who was asked to initially chair the meeting in a pro-tem capacity.
Todd Watkins of El Paso County and Nancy Palozzi of Douglas County, both of whom had led efforts for the meeting, played significant roles on Saturday. Watkins initially opened the meeting and Palozzi was the teller chair, delivering reports on the accounting of votes throughout the day. Wayne Williams of El Paso County served as the parliamentarian.
“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 with 77 people in actual attendance (who also brought with them 104 questionable proxies),” Williams said in a statement to the Rocky Mountain Voice. “And they even had to amend their already broken rules while illegally re-interpreting our bylaws to improperly attempt to remove all of your duly elected officers without even a majority of our members present.”
There are 413 members of the Central Committee, and a credentials report detailed 182.16 voting members were in attendance either in-person or by proxy. The 43.9% of voting members in attendance qualified for a quorum, but not as a majority.
The body debated the meaning of the 3/5th’s rule in the by-laws — whether it requires a 3/5th’s vote of all Central Committee members for removal of an officer, or 3/5th’s of members in attendance. The body went with the latter and had 3/5th’s support of those participating on all three motions for removal.
“They clearly don’t have 3/5th’s 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,” Williams said.
Holtorf claimed anyone wishing to have a say in the process had an opportunity.
“Everyone had the opportunity to drive to Brighton to participate in this meeting,” he said, but there was also a competing meeting set for Aug. 31.
Steve Peck of Douglas County argued the issue of a split in the party.
“Some have called it establishment versus grassroots,” he said. “It is not. It is a winning strategy versus a losing strategy.”
The differences between establishment Republicans and the grassroots/MAGA wing are not new, said Eric Grossman of Mineral County. Williams was a grassroots selection.
“You are kind of mad at Dave for being bold,” he said. “This is not going to end today. This is not unity.”
Eli Bremer of El Paso County was installed as chairman, with Brita Horn of Routt County as vice chairwoman and Kevin McCarney of Mesa County as secretary. The legal counsel for the meeting advised those in attendance that any actions they took would likely not come without protest.
In his first act, Bremer endorsed every Republican on the general election ballot. He also named an executive director, and said he would open a party office on Monday.
Bremer defeated Horn for the chairmanship, and two other candidates withdrew from the race.