June 02, 2023 04:45 PM UTC

Vendetta: GOP Chairman Broadsides 2022 Primary Opponent

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• by: Colorado Pols

SATURDAY UPDATE: The press takes note of GOP chairman Dave Williams’ assault on his 2022 primary opponent:

I’m not entirely sure what the empty “held accountable” threat means here.

But it sure seems like new Colorado GOP Chair Dave Williams is using his role to go after Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn, who beat him in the primary. #copolitics https://t.co/nrl8IskNqU

— Spencer Soicher KRDO (@spencersoicher) June 3, 2023

You don’t see this often, a state party criticizing one of their congress members, but CO GOP is doing just that to Rep. Lamborn for voting w/ House GOP leadership & aprox 2/3 of the R caucus to avoid default and cap discretionary spending for 2 years. pic.twitter.com/oQ4Ay9xoky

— Caitlyn Kim (@caitlynkim) June 2, 2023

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We took note earlier this week of an email blast from Colorado Republican Party chairman Dave “Let’s Go Brandon” Williams, heaping praise on hard-right Reps. Ken Buck and Lauren Boebert for their opposition to the debt ceiling increase compromise brokered between the White House and GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy while calling on party faithful to “encourage” Rep. Doug Lamborn to vote against the deal.

This morning, after the legislation passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, Williams began by thanking Reps. Buck and Boebert for standing strong against their GOP House Speaker:

The Colorado Republican Party thanks Congressman Ken Buck and Congresswoman Lauren Boebert for forcefully and publicly opposing this debt scheme that the Washington establishment and special interest insiders forced on us.

The thanks to Rep. Boebert come despite her having missed the vote against the compromise she trashed from the outset, for which Boebert has become the butt of nationwide jokes instead of a champion of the resistance. From there, though, much like the missive earlier this week but with far more vitriol now that the deed is done, Dave Williams proceeded to slam his 2022 Republican CD-5 primary opponent Rep. Doug Lamborn in terms that suggest the 2024 primary has already begun:

Deceptively, Congressman Doug Lamborn broke his word and voted to increase our debt while helping Joe Biden continue to fleece American taxpayers…

Colorado Republicans are fed up with say-anything politicians like Doug Lamborn who say one thing to gain power but then do the opposite when they think no one is paying attention. [Pols emphasis]

Our national debt has increased exponentially and we need Republicans in Congress who will actually fight back against this crisis and stop the madness instead of paying lip service.

As readers know, the Colorado Republican Party is currently beset by a major fundraising deficit, which has prevented the party from even meeting its payroll expenses for salaried staff–including Williams personally, who subsidized his personal income as a “legislative aide” despite almost never being present at the state capitol during this year’s session.

Apparently, Williams has determined that the best way forward for the Colorado GOP is to eat their own! In all our years covering Colorado politics, we’ve never seen a sitting Republican Party chairman openly attack one of their own members of Congress, certainly not with this kind of red-meat ferocity. We don’t think we’ve been confronted with exactly the same circumstances as Dave Williams has created as a high-profile primary loser who comes back to win the post of party chairman, but now it’s clear how Williams intends to manage that conflict of interest. He’s not even going to try.

The Colorado Republican Party is now the vehicle for Dave Williams’ personal political aspirations. It’s a vehicle without tires or gasoline, but a vehicle nonetheless.