The Colorado Republican Party is the state affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Colorado. The party's headquarters is located in Greenwood Village, Colorado.
The Republican Party was dominant in the state as recently as the mid-2000s, however it has declined over the subsequent decades. After the 2020 elections, Republicans held the smallest amount of political power in the state government since World War II. This decline has been attributed to various factors, including the party moving too far right for the state, changing demographics, mismanaged campaign money, internal party divisions, a better organized Democratic Party, and the unpopularity of Donald Trump in the state.[7]
The party fared even poorer in the 2022 elections, in which Democrats swept every statewide office by a double-digit margin, expanded their majority in the state's U.S. House delegation, and further expanded their supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature.[8] Since 2023, the party has faced further revenue loss and party infighting, with the party veering further towards the far-right after the election of Dave Williams as party chair, and an overall further decline of influence in the state.[9][10]
Since 2016, the Colorado GOP has shifted more rightward in their political positions and have subsequently embraced Trumpism and far-right ideologies.[11][12][13] Since the early 2010s, active voter registrations with the Colorado GOP has seen a decline and fell behind the Democratic Party in 2016.[14] In the 2018 elections, Republicans lost much power in the state, suffering significant losses in the aftermath of the election.[14]
After the 2020 Colorado elections, Republicans lost even more influence within the state, holding the smallest amount of political power in the state government since World War II.[7]
Since Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, elements of the Colorado GOP and its voter base have espoused support for Trump's false claims of election fraud.[15][16][13] While top Colorado Republicans have defended Colorado's local elections, they have cast doubt on the validity of the election results in other states or stayed silent on Trump's allegations of fraud.[17] On December 7, 2020, a group of Republicans requested to the Speaker of the House KC Becker that a committee be formed on "election integrity" to conduct an audit of the Dominion Voting Systems used in Colorado in spite of no evidence of issues. The request was rejected, with Becker criticizing it as "a dangerous stunt" and a promotion of "debunked conspiracy theories."[18]
Later in December, Republicans tried to utilize the Legislative Audit Committee in an effort to call for an audit of Colorado's election, citing claims of election irregularities despite there being no evidence of widespread fraud. On December 15, the committee found no evidence of fraud and Republican-led motions to launch an audit of the Secretary of State's Office were defeated.[19] The efforts were criticized as being partisan and a misuse of the committee's purpose.[20][19] Also in December, Colorado congressional Republicans supported a lawsuit aimed to overturn the election results.[21] On January 6, 2021, congressional Republicans from Colorado objected to certification of the results, with Lauren Boebert and Doug Lamborn objecting to certification of the results.[22][23]
The party performed poorly in the 2022 elections; Democrats won every statewide office by double digits, expanded their numbers in the state's U.S. House delegation, and further expanded their majorities in both chambers of the legislature.[8] In the aftermath of the heavily lopsided results, Republican state representative Colin Larson lamented that "Colorado Republicans need to take this and learn the lesson that the party is dead. This was an extinction-level event."[8]
In 2023, former state representative Dave Williams was elected to chair the state's Republican Party; he has been noted for promoting false claims of election fraud.[6][24] Since 2023, the party has faced a significant loss of funding, an increase in infighting and party division, controversial leadership, the party veering further to the right, and a further decrease of influence within the state.[25][9][10][26]
In 2024, USA Today reported that Republicans in the state consistently voted against certifying local elections, often due to election denialism and false claims of fraud.[27]
In 2024, the Colorado Republican Party called on parents to remove their children from public schools in Colorado, arguing that the schools "turn more kids trans.”[28] At the beginning of Pride Month, the party referred to LGBT people as groomers, made reference to the infamous Westboro Baptist Church slogan "God hates fags", and called for the burning of all pride flags.
The mailer and social media posts provoked widespread bipartisan condemnation, and triggered a crisis within the Colorado GOP. Log Cabin Republican Valdamar Archuleta renounced the party's endorsement of him in the Colorado's 1st congressional district election as a result.[2] Aurora city counsellor Curtis Gardner renounced his affiliation with the Colorado GOP, saying that their rhetoric on LGBTQ issues demonstrated that "[the party] no longer stands for the issues that I care about - individual rights, fiscal responsibility, restraint of government, limited foreign intervention, and encouraging economic mobility."[29][30] The Jefferson County Republican Party, speaking on behalf of “numerous Colorado Republican County Chairs, other county party officers, members of the Colorado State Central Committee in all 64 Counties, and many Republican candidates” called for Dave Williams to resign immediately.[4]
The leadership of the Colorado GOP has so far stood by its actions. The state vice-chair responded to a request for an interview with the Colorado State GOP chairman with the following:
We make no apologies for standing against pride month as it's a destructive agenda that harms children and undermines parental authority and if certain weak Republicans like [Jefferson County GOP chairwoman] Nancy Pallozzi want to side with a movement that promotes transgender chemical castration and genital mutilation then we look forward to notifying their base membership of that disgraceful act.
— Colorado Republican Party vice-chair Hope Scheppelman, [31]
Dave Williams lost the primary election for Colorado's 5th congressional district to Republican Jeff Crank. This race was characterized as a "battle" for the "soul" of the GOP in Colorado,[32][33] with Williams representing the far-right, election-denying side of the party, and Crank representing the a more traditional conservative version of the party. On August 24, 2024, Williams was removed as Colorado Republican Party chairman during a meeting in Brighton, Colorado.[34]
After the 2022 Colorado elections, the Colorado Republican Party controls none of the statewide offices and holds minorities in the Colorado Senate and House of Representatives. Republicans currently hold a 3-5 minority in the state's U.S. House delegation.
Both of Colorado's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Democrats since 2021. Cory Gardner was the last Republican to represent Colorado in the U.S. Senate. First elected in 2014, Gardner lost his bid for a second term in 2020 to John Hickenlooper who has held the seat since.
Republicans have not won a statewide office since 2016, when Heidi Ganahl narrowly won the at-large seat on the University of Colorado Board of Regents.[36]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)...prominent Colorado Republicans, who tend to defend Colorado's election system even as they cast doubt on systems in other states, or remain mum on Trump's allegations of widespread fraud.
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