Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Elections

Republicans rip Colorado GOP chair Dave Williams over use of party resources to attack primary rival
Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Republicans rip Colorado GOP chair Dave Williams over use of party resources to attack primary rival

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams is drawing fire from fellow Republicans after the state GOP mailed a brochure to El Paso County voters this week that includes attacks on one of the congressional candidates running against Williams in this year's Republican primary. Since announcing his candidacy in Colorado Springs-based 5th Congressional District in January in an email distributed by the state GOP, Williams has faced calls to step down from the party post, with critics citing party bylaws that prohibit the party and its officers from taking sides in primaries, including on their own behalf. Those calls have intensified this week, including from three of Williams' predecessors as state party chair. "That’s misappropriatio...
Biden has until March 19 to drop out
Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, National

Biden has until March 19 to drop out

By Paul Bedard | Colorado Springs Gazette In late 1995, Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes had a problem. Instead of pulling out his checkbook and paying to get on state primary ballots, he chose to do it the old-fashioned way and get thousands of signatures on petitions, and it wasn’t going well. As the deadline for the petitions in Rhode Island neared, staffer Doug Heye and two others headed to the Ocean State to finish the job. “Now I've never been to Rhode Island before. There's a foot of snow on the ground. And we're, like, what do we do? The malls were empty the week before Christmas. I called back to the home office and said we're not getting this done. This is not happening. You got to do something else,” Heye recalled. But it w...
It’s unanimous, Colorado cannot disqualify Trump from ballot
Approved, National, THE HILL

It’s unanimous, Colorado cannot disqualify Trump from ballot

By ZACH SCHONFELD | The Hill The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Colorado cannot disqualify former President Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection ban, a historic decision that preserves Trump’s ability to seek a second presidential term.  Monday’s unsigned decision effectively ends the long-shot efforts that aimed to prevent Trump from returning to the White House, handing a monumental legal victory to the former president on the eve of Super Tuesday, when he is poised to close in on clinching the Republican nomination.  Voters and advocacy groups had filed dozens of challenges to Trump’s ballot eligibility in states across the country, claiming his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack triggered his disqualification. READ ...
‘Not the same RNC,’ Nikki Haley backtracks on party’s loyalty pledge to nominee
Approved, National, The Washington Post

‘Not the same RNC,’ Nikki Haley backtracks on party’s loyalty pledge to nominee

By Todd C. Frankel | The Washington Post Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley said Sunday that she no longer feels bound by the earlier pledge made by her and other presidential hopefuls to support the GOP’s eventual nominee — widely expected to be former president Donald Trump. The Republican National Committee made that pledge a key condition for candidates who wanted to participate in the party’s debates. Haley acknowledged in an interview on NBC’s “Meet The Press” that the pledge was a requirement but added that the party has changed since then. “The RNC is now not the same RNC,” she said. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE WASHINGTON POST
Colorado GOP sends pro-Trump mailer attacking chairman’s primary opponent, newspaper
Approved, El Paso County, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado GOP sends pro-Trump mailer attacking chairman’s primary opponent, newspaper

By Sandra Fish | Colorado Sun The Colorado GOP sent out a pro-Trump mailer this week attacking a congressional primary opponent of party chairman Dave Williams, as well as The Gazette newspaper in Colorado Springs, in the latest example of Williams using his party leadership position to benefit or defend himself and his allies.  The mailer, which appears to target El Paso County voters, accused The Gazette of “corrupt campaigning for Nikki Haley and Jeff Crank.”  Haley, a former U.N. ambassador, is running for president against Donald Trump, while Crank, a conservative commentator, is running in the 5th Congressional District Republican primary against Williams. RED THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
Frisch commits to support Joe Biden in Democratic forum
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, Western Slope

Frisch commits to support Joe Biden in Democratic forum

By BRIAN PORTER | The Rocky Mountain Voice Adam Frisch, unopposed in his second primary run as a Democrat in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, has flipped on his previous position to let the “presidential race play out and see what happens." He previously lost the seat to Republican Lauren Boebert in 2022, who has since relocated to Windsor in the 4th District, where she is vying to return to Congress. In an Axios Denver report in August 2023, Frisch indicated he would not support President Joe Biden. Biden’s favorability was 20 points under water in 3rd District polling at the time, Axios reported. In a Demoractic forum last week, Frisch sang a different tune when pressed on whether he would support the Democratic Party’s nominee – presumedly Joe Biden – or his longtim...
Only 22% of Coloradans have voted in Presidential primary, with 5% more voting GOP over Democrat ballot
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Only 22% of Coloradans have voted in Presidential primary, with 5% more voting GOP over Democrat ballot

What to know: Republicans have a write-in option, but who can be voted as a write-in? What happens if you vote a candidate who has suspended their campaign? By BRIAN PORTER | The Rocky Mountain Voice Of those Coloradans eligible to cast a ballot in the Republican Party’s presidential primary election, only 15.3% have done so, according to data provided Friday by the Colorado secretary of state’s office through the close of Thursday’s reporting. It leads those eligible to cast a Democratic Party ballot and having done so by 4.9%. It has been slow going thus far, with just short of 22% of all voters casting a ballot, and with women leading men in ballots cast. With 108,200 ballots in process Friday and with Election Day looming on Tuesday, March 5, it could be a low turnout fo...
Colorado lawmakers seek to penalize ‘fake electors’ under perjury laws
Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado lawmakers seek to penalize ‘fake electors’ under perjury laws

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics A panel of Colorado legislators on Monday advanced a bill to penalize "fake electors." As introduced, the legislation would have penalized creating a "false" slate of electors, serving as an elector in that false slate, and conspiring to create or serve in that slate. Colorado's current statutes do not explicitly outline penalties for such acts.  As amended, House Bill 1150 defined these specific actions as perjury and forgery, punishable by a fine of no greater than $10,000. The amendment also removed the possibility of jail time for an individual convicted of the offense relating to false electors. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
MEET THE CANDIDATES: Flora lays out ‘Roadmap to Restoring America’ during visit to Fort Morgan
Approved, fortmorgantimes.com, State

MEET THE CANDIDATES: Flora lays out ‘Roadmap to Restoring America’ during visit to Fort Morgan

By BRIAN PORTER | The Fort Morgan Times The winding path of the campaign trail in Colorado’s Congressional District 4 – from suburban areas to the far reaches of the Eastern Plains and all places in between – can offer the chance to identify many problems. That’s only part of the job of the next member of Congress, Deborah Flora says. She created a “Roadmap to Restoring America”, which attempts to identify both problems and solutions. “We can talk about the problems all day long, but what are the solutions?” Flora asked during a campaign stop in Fort Morgan. “It is easy to identify the problems. I wanted to put out a roadmap for the solutions.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE FORT MORGAN TIMES
‘This is over’: Former House Speaker Gingrich says Haley should suspend campaign
Approved, National, THE HILL

‘This is over’: Former House Speaker Gingrich says Haley should suspend campaign

By FILIP TIMOTIJA | The Hill Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) called on Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley to drop out of the race after she was easily defeated in the Michigan GOP primary Tuesday. Projections indicate former President Trump beat Haley in Michigan on Tuesday, just days after winning the primary in South Carolina, Haley’s home state, securing another win before multiple Super Tuesday next week. Gingrich called on the former United Nations ambassador to abandon her bid, pointing to her loss in the Nevada GOP primary in which Trump was not on the ballot, stating she cannot gather support from the Trump flank of the GOP electorate. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE HILL