Colorado Republicans elected former Routt County Treasurer Brita Horn to lead their party, succeeding Dave Williams, the controversial chair who did not seek reelection.
Horn had run for the position before, and threw her name in as a possible replacement last August when a group of dissenters tried to remove Williams early.
That attempt failed and Horn is currently one of several Williams’ opponents being sued by the Colorado GOP.
In her speech to fellow Republicans ahead of the election vote Saturday, Horn said it was time to move on from that past.
“We have so much division, we have so much distraction. We have all these things going on debating about the past. And guess what the Democrats are doing right now? They’re winning elections,” she said.
The party’s central committee, a 400-plus body made up of elected officials, party organizers and activists, met at Radiant Church in Colorado Springs. It was also streamed on Zoom for remote participants. And unlike some previous meetings, members could not use proxy votes.
Six other candidates ran for the position. After the first round of voting Horn and former state Rep. Lori Saine of Weld County were the clear frontrunners. Saine is an ally of Williams and overlapped with him when they were both serving in the state legislature. After multiple rounds of voting Horn defeated Saine 232 to 203.
“My message is let's get back to sanity,” Horn told CPR News in an interview before the selection. “Let's get back to working and doing the job that needs to be done again, which is elect more Republicans, grow the party, get some financial backing so we can get those done and, and start winning races.”
Horn takes the helm as the GOP tries to regain its relevance in the solidly blue state. While Colorado Republicans did have a few bright spots last election, including flipping the 8th Congressional District red and picking up a few contested statehouse seats, they still hold deep minorities in the state legislature and haven’t won a statewide race in nearly a decade.
Horn told party members she would prioritize fundraising, recruitment, and growing the party. However, her main priority is unity and creating a big tent.
“We have to make sure that our party doesn't worry about one faction or one county. It's about us. It's about all of us,” She said she wants Republicans to stop pointing fingers; “If we keep doing that, I say we're going to keep losing. I say we start to win.”
This emphasis on trying to expand the base is a stark departure from Williams, who attacked members of his own party as often as Democrats; calling out sitting officials as “RINO”s if he disagreed with their policy positions.
One of Williams’ most controversial leadership moves was to have the party endorse candidates in GOP primaries. Horn said under her leadership, the party would return to its neutral position on primaries.
Another big issue for grassroots Republicans has been to stop allowing unaffiliated voters to participate in selecting GOP candidates.
The party has been trying to get the courts to find Colorado’s semi-open primary system unconstitutional. Horn agrees that the only voters in GOP primary contests should be registered Republicans, but she said if the court doesn’t agree, she doesn’t support the party acting on its own to go back to an assembly system. She said taking that route would hurt the party in the long run with Republican-leaning unaffiliated voters.
With a new chair in place, Horn’s next task will be to try to step up fundraising and on the ground organizing to prepare to support candidates in next year’s midterm election.
