Saturday’s Republican State assembly was an absolutely EPIC disaster. In their wildest dreams, Democrats couldn’t have hoped for a bigger mess than the one that occurred at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs.
The big stories were State Rep. Ron Hanks (U.S. Senate) and Greg Lopez (Governor) capturing first place in their respective races, but no political contest better encapsulates the circus that was the Republican convention better than the race for Attorney General.
John Kellner, the District Attorney in JD-18 (Arapahoe County) entered the day as the only known candidate seeking the Republican nomination for Attorney General. He damn near left World Arena with a Primary battle on his hands.
After Kellner spoke to the Republican faithful on Saturday, some guy named Stanley Thorne raised his hand and announced that he, too, would like to be a Republican candidate for AG. Thorne is apparently an attorney (in Texas) and the host of a radio show called “Dr. Thorne’s Traveling Emporium and Medicine Show” [like we could make that up]. It’s a little weird for somebody to get nominated for statewide office from the floor like this, but that’s how Lauren Boebert’s Party rolls these days.
Thorne made the case to delegates that he would be a better choice to be the eventual Republican nominee for AG because Kellner is not doing enough to support (now Secretary of State candidate) Tina Peters. In the race just before AG, Lopez ended up taking first place on the gubernatorial ballot after pledging to “pardon” Peters for her many sins as Mesa County Clerk and Recorder; needless to say, this was not an unwise narrative for Thorne to explore.
When the ballots had been cast, 42% of the delegates in the room decided to vote for Thorne instead of Kellner.
This is worth repeating: Forty-two percent of Colorado Republicans said they would prefer “any random asshole” for Attorney General rather than John Kellner.
But while Thorne can apparently be nominated for Attorney General despite not being a registered attorney in the State of Colorado, there is one hurdle he might still find insurmountable. As Jesse Paul of The Colorado Sun reports via Twitter:
We need to amend our earlier sentence: Apparently 42% of Colorado Republicans said they would prefer “any random asshole” for Attorney General rather than John Kellner…EVEN if that person is not even a registered Republican in Colorado.
It’s still not clear if Thorne could be an official candidate for Attorney General without being a registered attorney in Colorado (it would certainly be a requirement in order to hold the office of AG), but he definitely can’t be a Republican candidate if he isn’t, you know, AN ACTUAL REGISTERED REPUBLICAN. That it took the Colorado Republican Party the better part of a day to figure this out is another story altogether.
Kellner may have dodged a Republican Primary contest on a technicality, but his campaign now has to move forward knowing full well that a sizable percentage of the Republican base doesn’t really like him. There’s probably a word for this, but it doesn’t rhyme with “Bomentum.”
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It would be funny except what it also means is that the Colorado Republican party really has no idea what it is doing. This is sad.
Are we sure Kellner is an active member of the bar? He should consider resigning just because he did not notice that his opponent was not.
Does Dr. Thorne refer to himself as “Dr.” because he has a JD? Or is a doctor some other way?
Just curious in case Douglas County or someoother government agency wants to make him head of public health or medicine or some doctorish thing.
It's a Texas thing. State practice rules generally do not allow lawyers holding a Juris Doctor (a J.D.) degree to use Dr. as an honorific. Texas rules explicitly permit it.
And…this is the party that's going to reform elections. 'Nuff said.
As one of the few registered Republicans who occasionally hangs out on this site, I will say that my primary ballot is going to be a real laugh riot.
Won't you be saddened that you will be denied this choice for AG?
BTW, I am seriously considering changing my registration to unaffiliated so I can get a Republican ballot.
I AM unaffiliated and will likely vote the GOP ballot this year. I only wish I lived in CD3 so I could vote against "Shoot 'em up Barbie"
Mark Meadows makes it appear that you can rent a trailer in the district and register to vote from that address. Occupancy not required.
In a sane world this should be the subject of comedy shows for months. Except that it shows just how far down the rabbit hole one of our major political parties has fallen, and they're deadly (with threats of guns) serious about it.
Clerk Tina Peters — "60 percent of the delegates, the highest percentage of support in any of the contested races."
one previous election win, as a county clerk. Dubious enough action to have a group pull recall petitions, get enough signatures to hold the vote, but survived. Suspended from a sizeable portion of the work of that office for the general election. Did not appear in public for a couple of months. Under investigation by local, state and federal officials. Indicted by a grand jury, Resisted arrest. Charged with two misdemeanors for that resistance. Has numerous unresolved ethics charges already filed, and a recent statement that may trigger more. In the midst of a divorce which has triggered additional scrutiny of how she is dealing with marital assets.
Am I missing anything? Republicans, once the party of law-n-order and family values, is now supporting someone whose main claim to fame is showing something about computer logs … in support of a complex theory of election interference which has not been accepted by any of the legal processes in the past 18 months.