President (To Win Colorado) See Full Big Line

(D) Kamala Harris

(R) Donald Trump

80%↑

20%

CO-01 (Denver) See Full Big Line

(D) Diana DeGette*

(R) V. Archuleta

98%

CO-02 (Boulder-ish) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse*

(R) Marshall Dawson

95%

CO-03 (West & Southern CO) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Hurd

(D) Adam Frisch

50%

CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado) See Full Big Line

(R) Lauren Boebert

(D) Trisha Calvarese

90%

10%

CO-05 (Colorado Springs) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Crank

(D) River Gassen

80%

20%

CO-06 (Aurora) See Full Big Line

(D) Jason Crow*

(R) John Fabbricatore

90%

10%

CO-07 (Jefferson County) See Full Big Line

(D) B. Pettersen

(R) Sergei Matveyuk

90%

10%

CO-08 (Northern Colo.) See Full Big Line

(D) Yadira Caraveo

(R) Gabe Evans

52%↑

48%↓

State Senate Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

80%

20%

State House Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

95%

April 24, 2024 11:31 AM UTC

Speaker Johnson Frowns On Dave Williams' Primary Chicanery

1 Comments
by: Colorado Pols

Colorado Public Radio’s Caitlyn Kim reports today on the escalating controversy over Colorado Republican Party chairman Dave “Let’s Go Brandon” Williams’ use of party resources to promote his personal political ambitions, which has since the party’s state assembly earlier this month grown into support for a slate of candidates with official backing in the June 25th GOP primary. The passage of a resolution by voice vote allowing the party to endorse candidates who participate in the caucus process is serving as the pretext for the party’s official endorsement of both Williams in the CO-05 primary and Lauren Boebert in CO-04, with the possibility of Ron Hanks and Janak Joshi in CO-03 and CO-08 respectively getting the nod pending the result of a “questionnaire” being sent to them.

At the same time, as Kim reports, the state party under Williams is finding itself increasingly isolated on the national stage:

Speaker Mike Johnson’s Grow the Majority joint fundraising committee dropped the state party last quarter, according to Greg Steele, Johnson’s political communications director. He did not respond to questions asking why Colorado’s party was taken off of the JFC.

The move came as a surprise to the Colorado GOP, which was still listed as a recipient in the JFC’s organization filing as of March 19.

“It’s perplexing why the JFC’s own treasurer hadn’t heard about your alleged report but if Speaker Johnson doesn’t want to back Colorado Republicans or our Pro-Trump movement, then we will win without him,” party Vice-Chair Hope Scheppelman told CPR News. [Pols emphasis]

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Lauren Boebert.

Up until now, the fight over the Colorado Republican Party’s future under chairman Williams has been explained as a proxy battle between Donald Trump’s cult of personal loyalty and non-MAGA Republicans supported by the Koch-funded conservative advocacy group Americans For Prosperity. Williams’ vitriolic attacks on AFP and candidates supported by the group like his primary opponent Jeff Crank have been carried out under the pretext of defending Trump, a pretext that has worn see-through over time. Williams’ attacks on AFP are also problematic in a race that should be strategically a much higher priority for Republicans than the CO-05 Republican primary, the newly-drawn swing CO-08 seat the GOP barely lost two years ago where the group has endorsed Gabe Evans.

As of now two of Colorado’s congressional campaigns are included in Johnson’s JFC. It recently added state Rep. Gabe Evans, a Republican who is running in the state’s toss-up 8th district. And congresswoman Lauren Boebert made the list when she was running for reelection in the competitive 3rd Congressional District. Since then she’s moved to run in the state’s most Republican district — the 4th Congressional District. Both Evans and Boebert have been endorsed by Johnson.

Johnson has also endorsed Jeff Crank in the 5th district primary, putting him at odds with Colorado GOP chair Dave Williams, who’s also running for the seat.

As we’ve discussed previously, Speaker Mike Johnson’s endorsement of Lauren Boebert came before the latest round of backlash against Johnson from the Freedom Caucus and Boebert’s frenemy Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and may not survive the current intraparty conflict if Boebert continues to attack Johnson’s recent statecraft on foreign aid legislation. The countervailing endorsements by Trump and AFP/Mike Johnson in the CO-05 primary in particular have set up a conflict that voters will have to resolve. At this moment it’s anybody’s guess whether Williams’ treachery is being picked up by CO-05 primary voters, and if it is, whether they even care.

What we can say is that national Republicans, at least those not named Donald Trump, don’t seem to like what they see.

One thought on “Speaker Johnson Frowns On Dave Williams’ Primary Chicanery”

bullshit! says:

April 24, 2024 at 1:59 pm

Assuming he's Minority Leader, Mike Johnson will welcome Dave Williams to Congress right up until Williams shanks him in return. Williams is MTG with (less) facial hair.

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Speaker Johnson Frowns On Dave Williams' Primary Chicanery

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