Republicans to call meeting on whether to oust Dave Williams as Colorado chair
DENVER (KDVR) — A group of Republicans planning to try and oust Dave Williams as the Colorado GOP chair said Monday they have gathered enough signatures to call for a special meeting on the issue.
Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams has been facing mounting calls to resign from inside his party after he sent out hateful messages about LGBTQ pride. The Republicans looking to remove him said they have gotten signatures from more than 25% of the Colorado State Central Committee, allowing them to call for a special meeting.
Republicans across Colorado call for chairman’s resignation
“Chairman Williams has made it clear that he will not step down, so the alternative is to call this special meeting to put this decision up to the 400+ voting members of the SCC,” Jefferson County Republican Party Chair Nancy Pallozzi wrote in a press release on Monday.
For a vote to remove and replace Williams to go through, 60% of SCC members present at the meeting have to vote in favor.
“Currently, we are confident that we will reach 60%,” said Pallozzi, who is leading the fight for Williams’ resignation. “As of Sunday evening, the following counties
She said as of Sunday evening, 11 “counties are supporting this call,” including Mesa, Garfield, Delta, Pueblo, Otero, Huerfano, Las Animas, Eagle, Teller, La Plata and Elbert. Colorado has 64 counties.
“We expect more to join throughout the week,” Pallozzi wrote. “To get county support, each county chair must speak to their Executive Committee and have a vote prior to full commitment of support per individual county bylaws. It takes time to gather Executive Committees, especially for the larger counties.”
Pallozzi noted that once Williams receives the official letter, along with the names of those who have signed to call for a special meeting, he will be tasked with choosing the date, time and place of such a meeting.
“Our hope is that it will be in person, at a central location, at a reasonable time, and prior to the RNC Summer Meeting and National Convention, July 7-19, 2024,” Pallozzi wrote in the press release.
Colorado GOP faces backlash from anti-LGBTQ newsletter
The firestorm of ire against Williams began with a recent email from the Colorado GOP stating that “God hates flags” and a tweet that said to “burn all the #pride flags this June.” The party email also had the subject line “God Hates Pride,” and falsely claimed that LGBTQ people are “grooming” children to abuse them.
The party’s message — which included a link to a sermon led by Mark Driscoll, an evangelical pastor known for his anti-LGBTQ views — is signed by Williams, who is also a Republican candidate for Congress.
Former President Donald Trump has also endorsed Williams’ candidacy for Colorado’s 5th Congressional District. If Williams were to win that seat, he would be representing the same area where a gunman killed five people and injured more than two dozen at an LGBTQ nightclub, Club Q.
Some Colorado GOP members have also been actively distancing themselves from Williams, including Valdamar Archuleta, who is running against longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette. He’s also the president of Colorado Log Cabin Republicans — an LGBTQ advocacy group for conservatives.
Archuleta discussed the matter on “Colorado Point of View” last weekend.
“When it comes to higher profile Republicans in the state, I can’t think of anyone who saw this email and said, ‘No, this is good, I agree with that,'” Archuleta said. “It’s overwhelmingly being rejected, and it’s not just this one issue. This is kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back if you look at things that have been happening in the party for the past year, and people are unhappy and it shows.”
This kind of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric is not new for the state GOP. In June 2023, the party sent an email to supporters with the subject line “Pride is evil.” Colorado’s Republican Party has increasingly run to the right on LGBTQ issues. In May, the party in a fundraising email advised parents to pull their children out of public schools, citing “LGBTQ indoctrination.”
FOX31 reached out to Williams for comment but was told that his newsletter is his only statement on the issue.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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