August 24, 2024 09:48 PM UTC

Dave Williams Maybe But Not Definitely Fired As Colorado GOP Chairman

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• by: Colorado Pols

As Colorado Public Radio reports this Saturday evening, a hard-won meeting of Colorado Republican Party Central Committee members for the purpose of voting out the current executive leadership of the party starting with chairman and twice-failed congressional candidate Dave “Need A New Nickname, Brandon” Williams took place at a church in Brighton today, and those present voted by a make-Stalin-blush 88% margin to send Williams into ignominious retirement:

Members of the state Republican Party drove from across Colorado to a church in Brighton on Saturday morning, where they voted to remove state party chairman Dave Williams from his leadership position. They also voted to replace the party’s vice-chair and secretary.

The vote was 161.66 votes to remove Williams, with 12 opposed. (Some of those voting only get fractional votes). Only members of the state party’s central committee and their proxies were allowed to cast votes.

The party members present elected Eli Bremer as the interim chairman. Bremer, a former U.S. Senate candidate and El Paso County GOP chair, described himself as a temporary leader to get the party through the November election.

It’s an overwhelming result from those present at this meeting, but it’s crucial to remember that Williams and party leadership instructed their supporters on the Central Committee not to attend a meeting they have declared “null and void,” insisting that no such vote will be valid before the party’s next “regular” meeting set for next weekend in Castle Rock at the party’s infamous meeting under a literal bridge in Bayfield last month. It’s a good assumption that if a similar vote goes forward next weekend the margin will be closer.

KOAA News5 has Dave Williams’ as-expected pugnacious response to today’s vote, and it’s clear he won’t be going anywhere until a call from upstairs forces him to:

Dave Williams tells News5 in response, “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 today with 77 people in actual attendance (who also brought with them 104 questionable proxies).

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.

They clearly don’t have 3/5th 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 is vowing to fight on in a court battle that could consume even more precious time and resources before the November elections, but Republicans in Washington, D.C. were quick to drop an anvil on Williams’ head, with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) saying they will “recognize the new party leadership.”

If the Republican National Committee follows suit, the ouster of Williams and his executive leadership team could become a fait accompli, with money simply flowing to new bank accounts under the control of maybe-new chairman Eli Bremer. Both sides in the conflict claim to have parliamentary procedure on their side with opinions from RNC-connected experts in the matter arguing both directions. If we were to bet on the outcome it would probably be that Williams loses, both in court and with the Republican brass he has largely already alienated, but only after prolonging the impasse as long as possible in order to stick it to his opponent–and, of course, keep getting paid.

When the dust settles on this historic leadership struggle, Dave Williams will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest disasters to befall the Colorado Republican Party in its history, helping complete the descent into irrelevance of a state party already struggling with its smallest minorities in almost a century. Until then, it’s a question of how much more damage he’ll be able to do to the party’s already-bleak prospects on his way out the door.

Keep the popcorn coming, folks, because it’s not over yet.