July 14, 2025 01:57 PM UTC

Latest Infighting Among Colorado Republicans Spirals Out of Control

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• by: Colorado Pols

Colorado Republicans like few things more than attacking other Colorado Republicans. This has always been a problem for the GOP in Colorado, but the pastime has only grown as Republicans increasingly find themselves further and further from the levers of power.

Republican infighting is particularly intense in the state legislature, where wacko members of the micro-minority Republican caucus – outnumbered by Democrats by a 43-22 margin – constantly bicker with each other because Democrats have largely stopped paying them much attention. Compounding this problem is a lack of effective leadership at the top. House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese is either unwilling or unable to police the nuttiest members of her caucus. 

For example, one of the more outspoken House Republicans, Rep. “Boxwine” Brandi Bradley, has learned from experience that she can do and say pretty much whatever she wants without repercussions. In the 2025 legislative session, Bradley clashed with freshman Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-Fort Morgan) over several policy issues. As Colorado Public Radio reported, Bradley aggressively attacked and threatened Johnson online, saying things like, “[Johnson] wouldn’t know how to spell liberty and freedom if she had a cue card in front of her.” 

What did Pugliese do about it? She removed Johnson from a position on the House Health and Human Services Committee (of which Bradley is ranking Minority Member). Said Pugliese: “There are some personality differences between members of the committee and I am giving them space right now.” As any parent can attest, picking sides like this only creates more problems down the line. Pugliese’s acquiescence to Bradley emboldened the Littleton representative who is always proud to display her bitterness toward others. Pugliese didn’t insulate herself from Bradley’s wrath, either, as you can read below.

What follows is a timeline of the latest destructive battle for House Republicans – a completely self-inflicted wound that is generating terrible headlines for the GOP and quickly spiraling into a bigger controversy that threatens the entire caucus.     

June 30, 2025

Rep. Ryan Armagost (R-Berthoud) announces resignation from House of Representatives. Armagost holds the #3 leadership position in the House GOP caucus (Minority Whip). In his resignation letter, Armagost cites personal and professional opportunities in Arizona as his motivating factor. It is reasonable to believe that attacks from the “no compromise” gun rights group Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO) played a role in Armagost’s resignation; with little other influence in the state legislature, RMGO regularly touts its ability to pressure Republican elected officials in Colorado.

State Rep. “Boxwine” Brandi Bradley quickly announces via ‘X’ that she will seek to succeed Armagost as House Minority Whip – a title that will be awarded through a vote of the House Republican caucus.

July 1, 2025

State Rep. Ron Weinberg (R-Loveland) announces his plans to run for House Minority Whip via a post on ‘X’ published at 5:31 am. 

At 10:56 am, an anonymous ‘X’ account posts a detailed thread alleging a host of questionable campaign finance expenditures. Bradley re-tweets the posts at 11:15 am with the comment, “I am speechless.”  Weinberg acknowledges the rumors via ‘X’ later that evening. 

July 4, 2025

Weinberg withdraws as a candidate for House Minority Whip.

July 5, 2025

Sexual harassment allegations against Weinberg appear on social media (HERE and HERE).

July 6, 2025

Bradley withdraws as a candidate for Minority Whip and endorses Rep. Ken DeGraaf (R-Colorado Springs) for the job. 

July 7, 2025

The House GOP caucus elects freshman Rep. Carlos “Who?” Barron (R-Ft. Lupton) to serve as Minority Whip despite the fact that he has only just completed his first legislative session. Weinberg does not attend the meeting. 

Both Bradley and DeGraaf claim that Barron’s candidacy was a secret…or something, and State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer somehow gets thrown into the mix:

Bradley later seems to threaten Rep. Jarvis Caldwell (R–Colorado Springs) with a Republican Primary challenge for reasons that aren’t entirely clear’. Bradley also goes after Rep. Lori Garcia Sander (R-Eaton) for supporting Weinberg. 

Meanwhile, The Colorado Sun is the first news outlet to report on the sexual harassment allegations made against Weinberg.

Weinberg denies the allegations, pointing out the curious timing considering the Minority Whip election. Bradley celebrates the allegations and positions herself as a whistleblower of sorts.  

Weinberg’s wife, Carolyn, publicly defends her husband and disputes the sexual harassment allegations.

July 8, 2025

The Denver Post reports on sexual harassment allegations.

House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese (R-Colorado Springs) forwards allegations against Weinberg to the Legislative Human Resources Division. Because the allegations took place before Weinberg was elected to the state legislature, it is unclear what role the House GOP can or should take regarding disciplinary measures. 

The women who are alleging sexual harassment from 2021 and 2022 appear on Ryan Schuiling Live on KHOW radio. Bradley also appears on the show to tease further allegations of her own, claiming that House GOP leadership ignored her previous concerns about Weinberg. Bradley says that House GOP leadership advised her to file a formal complaint. 

July 9, 2025

Megan Schrader of The Denver Post publishes a column praising Weinberg’s accusers for coming forward. Schrader writes:

[Weinberg] quickly stepped down from his bid for a leadership position for Colorado House Republicans. This is progress, even though House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese did not use her position of influence to pressure him to drop his bid.

Meanwhile, Rep. DeGraaf alleges via ‘X’ that the election for House Minority Whip was rigged and the real vote took place before the official meeting on Monday, July 7 (DeGraaf misspells the name of Carlos Barron):

July 10, 2025

Weinberg begins posting letters of support on his Facebook page from associates who basically say that he has never sexually harassed them. As of this writing, Weinberg has release four such letters (HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE). 

July 11, 2025

Bradley responds to Carolyn Weinberg speaking out for her husband; she apparently views this as an attack on Bradley. 

The House Minority office issues a statement to the press signed by caucus leadership disputing Bradley’s claim that she had previously complained about Weinberg’s behavior in the legislature. Bradley is mad about this. 

Here’s that statement from the House GOP leadership, signed by Pugliese; Assistant Minority Leader Ty Winter; Minority Whip Barron; and Caucus Chair Anthony Hartsook: 

July 14, 2025

The Colorado Sun reports on new allegations against Armagost related to double-dipping on mileage reimbursements:

A Colorado Sun analysis of state Rep. Ryan Armagost’s campaign finance and mileage reimbursement records shows the Berthoud Republican charged nearly $1,000 in gas station trips to his campaign during the 2024 legislative session, as well as more than $100 in car washes. He also collected more than $4,700 in mileage reimbursement from the state for his trips to and from the Capitol that year.

In 2025, Armagost, who until recently was the No. 3 Republican in the House, charged about $750 in gas to his campaign from the start of the legislative session through the end of March, in addition to more than $100 in car washes. He was paid nearly $5,000 in mileage reimbursement from the state during the entire legislative session, which ended in May. 

It’s worth wondering how or why these allegations against Armagost are surfacing now, considering that Armagost has already resigned from the legislature. 

We’ll update this post as the red-on-red action continues…which it certainly will.