COLORADO, USA — The Colorado Republican Party faced a reckoning on primary election day, when both the party chairman and many party-endorsed candidates lost significant primary contests.
These losses came after the party and its leader, Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams, were called out by fellow Republicans for their conduct leading up to the election.
Voters soundly rejected the party’s power grab, where the GOP dropped neutrality rules to back Williams and many of his handpicked allies in their races for congressional and state legislature seats.
The Colorado GOP endorsed Ron Hanks in Congressional District 3, Lauren Boebert in Congressional District 4, Williams in Congressional District 5 and Janak Joshi in Congressional District 8.
Hanks, Joshi, and Williams all lost their respective primaries by large margins. Boebert, however, won her primary with an overwhelming 29-point lead over her five Republican opponents.
Gabe Evans, Republican candidate for Colorado's 8th Congressional District, refused to fill out a questionnaire sent out by the state party, rejecting its endorsement. He won his race against Colorado GOP-backed Joshi.
In total, the Colorado Republican Party endorsed 18 candidates in contested primary races. As of noon Wednesday, 14 of those candidates had lost or are losing their primaries. Three had won, and one is leading their opponent.
The Colorado Republican Party has been entrenched in controversy.
Williams is facing mounting demands to resign for anti-gay messages sent from the party platform and posted on social media this month, including a call to burn all Pride flags.
There is also an ethics complaint accusing him of misusing party funds to prop up his run for Congress.
Former GOP chairperson Kristi Burton Brown and a collection of other Colorado Republicans have been highly critical of Williams using party resources to benefit his campaign and attack his Republican rivals.
Congressional District 1 candidate Valdamar Archuleta renounced the Colorado Republican Party's endorsement of him after the party’s homophobic statements. Archuleta, head of the LGBTQ+ conservatives group Log Cabin Republicans of Colorado, called the leadership of the Colorado GOP "morons" and said the anti-gay message was "just hateful."
Jefferson County GOP Chair Nancy Pallozzi was censured by county party leaders for not getting their approval as she gathers signatures from Republican state central committee members to call a meeting and vote on Williams' future as leader of the state party.
Williams has stood by his actions, telling 9NEWS his comments are not “hate” and that “words cannot incite hate crimes.”
Defeats in these key races have the potential to shape the future of the Colorado Republican Party. Voters’ decision to reject party-endorsed candidates could spell trouble moving forward for the state GOP.
Here's how candidates endorsed by the Colorado Republican Party performed in big contests across the state:
Congressional District 3
Ron Hanks
Congressional District 4
Lauren Boebert
Congressional District 5
Dave Williams
Congressional District 8
Janak Joshi
State Board of Education, District 4
Saundra Larsen
State Senate District 2
Tim Arvidson
State Senate District 10
Rex Tonkins
State Senate District 12
Adriana Cuva
State Senate District 23
Natalie Abshier
State House District 12
Mark Milliman
State House District 20
Jason Lupo
State House District 21
Jan Koester
Bill Garlington
State House District 43
Matt Burcham
State House District 45
Bill Jack
State House District 65
Trent Lane Leisy
23rd Judicial District
Dagny Van Der Jagt
Results for statewide, congressional, state House and state Senate races are called by The Associated Press.
> Find all of our election coverage at 9news.com/elections.
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