August 16, 2024 10:25 AM UTC

Republican FINALLY Condemns Colorado GOP Hate Mail Sent On His Behalf

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Durango Herald’s Reuben Schafir reports, the latest hate-filled email blast from the Colorado Republican Party ostensibly in support of a swing district Senate candidate is being condemned by the would-be beneficiary, Sen. Cleave Simpson, who says flat-out that the state party’s efforts on his behalf are hurting his campaign:

State Sen. Cleave Simpson, a Republican, is denouncing a fundraising email sent Thursday morning in support of his campaign – but without his knowledge – by the Colorado Republican Party.

The email attacks his Democratic opponent, Vivian Smotherman, who is a transgender woman, over her gender identity and repeatedly misgendered her…

The senator called Smotherman on Thursday to express his disappointment with the state party.

The state GOP’s intervention threatens to sour for voters what both candidates acknowledge has been a cordial, issue-based campaign. [Pols emphasis]

We wrote earlier this month in some detail about the Colorado GOP’s blast email campaign in support of candidates in competitive state legislative races across the state, noting how the incendiary language and unconcealed prejudice in these email blasts could well be hurting Republican candidates more than they help with undecided voters. In the competitive SD-16 race, as one example, the state party embarrassed their candidate Robyn Carnes with unhinged allegations that the teacher’s unions who support her opponent are out to “transition as many kids’ genders as possible.” These email blasts, mostly from the party’s so-called “Director of Special Initiatives” Darcy Schoening who has made her obsession with persecuting transgender kids the party’s primary rallying cry, represent the bulk of the party’s “work” to support their most important candidates since the party has no money to fund any proper paid media.

Back in June, the state party’s controversial “God Hates Flags” email served as the last straw for many Republicans already dissatisfied with chair Dave Williams’ self-serving leadership and brazen misappropriation of party resources to meddle (as it turns out unsuccessfully) in their own primary elections. Two months later, Williams’ leadership remains a paralyzing bone of contention, with Republicans on both sides of the conflict consumed by infighting instead of preparing to take on Democrats in November. With Williams radio silent and on the run, and his executive allies doing everything they can to stall the dissident Republicans seeking Williams’ head, this low-budget email campaign with a message doing more harm than good appears to be all the state party has to offer Republican candidates in “critical races.”

With Republicans interested in not losing in November “going it alone” without the support from the party they could have counted on in previous elections, it’s time to ask whether the Colorado Republican Party is capable of doing anything that actually helps Republicans win in Colorado this year.

It may be that the only useful Colorado Republican Party in 2024…is no party at all.