May 01, 2024 10:53 AM UTC

More "Official" GOP Primary Endorsements Imminent

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• by: Colorado Pols

We wrote last week about escalating controversy over the Colorado Republican Party’s new policy under chairman and (conveniently) CO-05 congressional candidate Dave “Let’s Go Brandon” Williams of formally endorsing Republican candidates in primary elections, beginning with ex-President Donald Trump in January and now extending to congressional races across the state. What began as an endorsement for Williams and the carpetbagging Rep. Lauren Boebert, under the pretext of their making the ballot via the assembly process as opposed to petitioning on, is now being further applied in primaries where more than one candidate qualified for the primary ballot via assembly.

As a result, the simmering conflict between the Colorado GOP and the putative frontrunner in the state’s most competitive congressional race, Rep. “Gabbin” Gabe Evans in CO-08, went public yesterday:

Evans’ refusal to complete the Colorado GOP’s questionnaire clears the way for the party to formally endorse the MAGA favorite in the race, former Rep. Janak “Dr. Nick” Joshi. But just as important, this is the first sign of open conflict between Evans and the state party after months of infighting over the conflict between Donald Trump and conservative activist group Americans For Prosperity–which Dave Williams seized upon following the party’s endorsement of Trump to attack with party resources another AFP-endorsed candidate, Williams’ own CO-05 primary opponent Jeff Crank. AFP is also one of the major backers of Gabe Evans’ campaign.

Also yesterday, CO-03 Republican (for now) candidate Stephen Varela put out a statement of his own that suggests an endorsement is coming in the Republican CO-03 primary, and he also is refusing to play:

And with that, just like in CO-08 with Joshi, Varela has supplied the pretext necessary for the Colorado Republican Party to formally endorse former state Rep. “Raging” Ron Hanks in the CO-03 GOP primary. Considering that Dave Williams and Ron Hanks are longtime allies who have already campaigned together, this endorsement is a clean fit for Williams’ wholly owned subsidiary–even more so after the nominal frontrunner in that race Jeff “You’ve Never” Hurd refused to answer whether he will even vote for Donald Trump in 2024, let alone endorse him even as the presumptive nominee.

The Colorado Republican Party’s public intervention in GOP primaries in 2024 is without precedent in our state’s politics. Although Williams’ actions have cost him most of the support of the local Republican donor class, Williams’ cunning use of Trump to wage a proxy war on his primary opponent under the state party’s brand, and apparently bulletproof support from the only oversight Williams within the party, has been successful so far. It’s important to remember that although the candidates favored by Williams are in most cases previous primary losers or otherwise damaged goods like Lauren Boebert, they don’t think they’re losers. They think they got screwed by the establishment in their previous primary losses, and Dave Williams has finally created an ecosystem in which diehard MAGA addlebrains can have their day in the sun.

In the end, though, Dave Williams doesn’t care about the outcome in any race but his own. The original decision to wade into primaries was entirely for the purpose of benefiting Williams’ own campaign for Congress. If the Colorado Republican Party endorses a slate of unelectable crackpots but Williams gets Doug Lamborn’s safe Republican seat, that’s still a win for Dave Williams.

And if you have any idea what to do about it, a whole lot of fellow Republicans are all ears.