Judge blocks state GOP members from meeting Saturday to potentially oust party chair

Updated at 4:51 p.m. on Friday, July 26, 2024.

An Arapahoe District Court judge blocked a scheduled meeting of Colorado Republicans that was set for Saturday to challenge the leadership for state party Chair Dave Williams.

In a four-page ruling granting a temporary restraining order, District Judge Thomas W. Henderson found that Williams would be immediately harmed if the meeting were allowed to go forward.

“The Court finds that Plaintiff has demonstrated that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result if the Defendants proceed with the planned special meeting on July 27, 2024. That harm would be immediate because the purported special meeting is scheduled to take place less than twenty-four (24) hours from now,” Henderson wrote.

“That harm would be immediate because, as Plaintiff has articulated at length in his Motion, the leadership of the Colorado Republican Party would be called into question, leaving the party in disarray roughly one hundred (100) days before election day on November 5, 2024.”

The ruling will remain in effect for 14 days, or until a hearing on a permanent injunction can be held.

Williams had sued his critics, claiming the meeting was unauthorized and that any vote would be invalid. The judge found that Williams has “a reasonable probability of success on the merits with respect to the question of the lack of authority of defendants to proceed with the July 27, 2024 special meeting.”

The ruling comes as a reprieve even as pressure continues to build on Williams. Multiple Republican nominees for Congress signed a letter Friday asking Williams to resign or face removal from office. 

In a Facebook post Friday, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert called the state party infighting “embarrassing.” 

“We have a golden opportunity this November to flip seats at every level of government,” Boebert wrote. “Instead of uniting … we've seen lawsuits, threats, and censures, resulting in a failure to come together fueled by all sides of the party.”

Boebert placed the blame on Williams for “failing” to lead the party and called on the party chair to either show a plan to support candidates up-and-down the ballot or be removed.

The court declined to block Williams’ critics, Nancy Pallozzi and Todd Watkins, from continuing to issue press releases or “official party communications channels.” Pallozzi is chair of the Jeffco GOP and Watkins is vice chair of the El Paso County GOP.

Williams declined to comment but provided CPR News with a copy of the court order. 

Since then, several other Republicans stepped forward to say they too would be interested in the job.

“This isn't about me, this isn't about Dave Williams or anything else,” Former head of the El Paso County GOP Eli Bremer said. “It's got to be about helping our candidates in the last 100 days take advantage of every opportunity they have.”

CPR's Caitlyn Kim contributed to this report.