BREAKING: Recall Attempt Coming Against Wayne Williams

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by: Colorado Pols

FRIDAY UPDATE: Colorado Public Radio’s Bente Birkeland reads between the lines:

While the recall website doesn’t mention the [PSA with Secretary of State Jena Griswold], Pitchford did email Williams about it just one day before sending out the blast asking for help with the recall. A source close to the situation provided CPR with a copy of the message.

“Why are you calling the political ad you made with Griswold a ‘PSA.’ You and Gena(sic) spent $425,000 to produce an alleged PSA. The average cost of producing a PSA is $15,000 to $75,000. Then you and Gena spent another $600,000 PAYING for what is normally free”, Pitchford wrote…

Williams has also received pushback on the ad from some moderate Republicans, including GOP Secretary of State candidate Pam Anderson, who he has endorsed. Anderson said she doesn’t object to the contents of the ad, but is disappointed Williams was in it with her opponent this close to the midterm election.

For reasons near and far, the knives are out for Wayne Williams.

—–

That’s the word we just received–while a vengeful faction of Colorado Republicans led by conservative mercenary Michael Fields gears up for an incredibly ill-conceived recall attempt against Sen. Kevin Priola (Newly D) in the middle of a must-win election season, the ever-fractious rabble in Colorado Springs is reportedly filing paperwork today to commence a recall attempt against former Secretary of State and current Springs City Councilman Wayne Williams–who is facing intraparty backlash for appearing with his Democratic successor Jena Griswold in a public service announcement combating election misinformation.

Don’t tell them no, off they go:

Our first project: we have two recalls that we are filing today.

Concerned friends and fellow voters across the city have been expressing extreme frustration with what many see as leadership that is not aligned with our interests and/or is unqualified for the job. No one wants to spend their precious free time doing this, but principles do matter. Shame on us all if we continue sit silently as our lifestyle, values and public safety are put at risk by people we elected into office — well, at least one of the two was. What we need now are for people to sign up to help with this effort to restore control of our city where it belongs — with, by and for the people.

Notably, at the Recall Wayne Williams page itself, there’s no mention of the recent controversy over Williams appearing in his successor’s PSA against election misinformation. The stated reasons for the recall are various instances in which Williams in his capacity as city councilman “supported developers” in land use decisions. They also cite a potential conflict if Holly Williams, Wayne’s spouse, wins an El Paso County commission seat this November.

Whatever the stated reasons for this recall may be, it’s the larger political controversy over Williams’ efforts to combat election misinformation–whether in Mesa County helping oversee elections while the local clerk is up on felony charges or appearing in a completely innocuous PSA against election misinformation–that will drive a recall campaign against Williams if one successfully emerges. That’s the only reason anyone outside Colorado Springs would care to get involved. And just like the recall campaign announced yesterday against Sen. Priola, any such diversion of time and resources when Republicans are supposed to be organizing for the November elections is a stupendous gift to Democrats.

Let a hundred recalls bloom.

14 thoughts on “BREAKING: Recall Attempt Coming Against Wayne Williams”

2Jung2Die says:

August 25, 2022 at 10:00 am

If that's Wayne's real beard, he deserves it!

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DawnPatrol says:

August 25, 2022 at 10:05 am

Petty, puerile, vengeful, shortsighted boneheads, once more cutting off their elongated Pinocchio noses to spite their blank, unwashed faces.

RWMA! (Red Wave My Ass!)

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Gilpin Guy says:

August 25, 2022 at 10:13 am

More money and energy to fight the demons among them. They are going to be exhausted come election day or the Rapture whichever comes first.

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1. dustpuppy says:
  
  August 25, 2022 at 10:40 am
  
  I guess Rapture is out of question….
  
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IndependentProgressive says:

August 25, 2022 at 10:41 am

This is Trumpism: grievance, ideological purity, vengeance, purges.

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1. MartinMark says:
  
  August 25, 2022 at 11:58 am
  
  ideological purity
  
  There's definitely a with-us-or-against-us rigidity around talking point. But the points themselves, well, calling it an ideology is pretty generous.
  
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JohnInDenver says:

August 25, 2022 at 11:29 am

And, the group is going after TWO officials:

More information is on each page on the website with a link to sign up for the recall or you can volunteer to help with the Wayne Williams recall and/or (thank you to the many who have signed up for both) the Stephannie Fortune recall by click through their names.

I had to go look … apparently there was “An outcry from D3 citizen over Stephannie Fortune’s highly controversial appointment to replace Richard Skorman” So, she is now Stephannie Fortune, District 3, Colorado Springs City Council Her bio is here. — Read it and wonder about the assertion that others seeking the office were “more qualified”

Obviously, Ken Buck was successful as party chair in one way: “We need to teach them how to spell R-E-C-A-L-L,” said Colorado Republican Party Chair Ken Buck during his acceptance speech in March.

Far be it from me to limit the right of the people — but I would like to shift the process to allow the incumbent a chance to compete with others trying to be elected to the office. Seems like it would be easy enough to restructure the election as a ranked-choice ballot for those who want to be in office.

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Thorntonite says:

August 25, 2022 at 12:18 pm

Guess they are giving up on actually winning elections and will now simply be doing recalls.

I guess that is a strategy….

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1. Phoenix Rising says:
  
  August 25, 2022 at 12:43 pm
  
  Until the purge the impurities from their party they'll never win.
  
  Just sayin'.
  
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2. Gilpin Guy says:
  
  August 26, 2022 at 9:27 am
  
  A really shitty one. Dems are gaining every election cycle against these idiots and their circular firing squads. Good governing shines out like a light on a hill.
  
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ElliotFladen says:

August 26, 2022 at 9:18 am

https://www.9news.com/video/news/local/next/elected-colorado-official-fighting-misinformation-engages-in-some-deception/73-cad55e87-6af7-4ab3-9664-844fd421fc35

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1. kwtree says:
  
  August 26, 2022 at 10:20 am
  
  Now we know what it looks like when Kyle Clark bends over backwards trying to seem “ nonpartisan”.
  
  He says that Jena Griswold’s ad is “factually accurate”, then dings her for saying that she fights election disinformation.
  
  Fighting election disinformation is what Griswold does best. Pam Anderson, while she is mostly honest and a competent election official, is still perpetuating the lie that “ballot harvesting” is a problem.
  
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ParkHill says:

August 26, 2022 at 10:24 am

Recalls are not really about winning the recall, they are about whipping up the base and collecting phone numbers for targeting supporters.

The Republican Party is first and foremost a grifting operation. Secondly it is a highly focussed turn-out machine that needs names and demographics for targeted messaging.

I noticed that in recent filings the Republican Party has spent a HUGE percentage of its money on text messaging services. That probably includes demographically isolated email campaigns.

All the public screaming gets the attention, but in these days of partisan-focused elections, you win won by turning out the vote.

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1. Gilpin Guy says:
  
  August 26, 2022 at 5:44 pm
  
  Recalls are meant to punish any cult member who dares to work with Democrats at any level on anything. It is heresy subject to expulision to ever attempt to work with non in group members. Brothers and sisters in this great American experiment in self-governing? Not so much.
  
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