Over the last two months, I have watched Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams destroy what was left of the Colorado Republican Party. Within days of Congressman Doug Lamborn’s announcement that he would retire after this term, Dave Williams used the full resources of the state GOP to promote his own candidacy for the seat, a clear conflict of interest with his position as GOP Chairman.
Williams announced his candidacy from the official Colorado GOP email account, assuring Republicans in the same email, to which he attached his official campaign press release, that he would remain in the role as chair and stay neutral in his own race — a laughable assertion.
He continues to use the official Colorado GOP email account to unapologetically attack his primary opponent for things he knows are untrue. Williams wants to paint Jeff Crank as a “RINO” and “Never Trumper” even when he knows his opponent voted for and supported former President Donald Trump in the past.
In the most flagrant misuse of his position, Williams sent out a mail piece from the Colorado State GOP doubling down on his previous false claims, attacking his opponent, fellow conservative organizations, and even long-time stalwart conservative donor Phil Anschutz and one of his newspapers, The Colorado Springs Gazette. The same Colorado Springs Gazette was incidentally the only major newspaper in Colorado to endorse Donald Trump for president against Joe Biden in 2020.
Republicans of all stripes across Colorado called me after the mail piece hit, asking: “How can Williams do that?” The answer is simple: “He can only abuse his position and our trust if we let him.”
The Colorado Republican Party is a private organization governed by our own bylaws, and Dave Williams has winnowed membership of the party to those he controls with fear. Few will stand up to him. I have little hope that the remaining members of the Executive Committee or the Central Committee will put a stop to this garbage because anyone who fights back is either kicked out or quits.
Here’s my suspicion about Dave Williams: He’s not actually that loyal to President Trump. He’s only loyal to himself and his desire to be in Congress.
In 2016, Williams was part of the Colorado crew that walked out of the convention to try to stop Trump’s nomination. In 2020, Dave Williams was fired from his volunteer position within the Trump campaign for trying to use his position with the campaign to bolster a friend in a difficult Republican primary.
William’s too-cute-by-half attempt to change his official name on the primary ballot against Congressman Doug Lamborn in 2022 to “Dave ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Williams” wasn’t actually an expression of his loyalty to Trump as much as it was an attempt to use President Trump’s popularity with Republican primary voters for his own Congressional gain. He’s not a friend; he’s a coattail rider.
Even the Colorado GOP lawsuit that Williams touts as his major effort to help President Trump was a clear attempt to overcome his own fundraising impotence as chairman. Every step of the way, another email came out with the same message: “We’re helping President Trump, send us money!” Williams is now using the same money on his own Congressional race from the official state party account.
Simply writing this out loud will land me on Williams’s shadow “RINO Exposed” website or whatever its actual name is. But if I’m a RINO, I’m the most heavily armed, pro-life, small-government RINO around, and this baseless accusation from this professional political grifter is actually high praise!
Dave Williams does not represent me. He does not represent the values or the principles of the GOP that I have supported my entire adult life. I will no longer stand idly, leaving Williams unchallenged to use GOP resources to practice distortion and extortion.
Kelly Maher is a Republican and a long-time Colorado political strategist.
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