The Central Committee of Colorado’s Republican Party voted 139-123 on Tuesday to remove El Paso County GOP Chair Vickie Tonkins from running the local party’s reorganization meeting on Feb. 11.
That’s a fairly strong vote of no confidence in Tonkins’ impartiality and inability to lead the county reorg, which includes her own reelection bid as county chairman.
Gregory Carlson, a former Fremont County GOP chair and an experienced parliamentarian, will lead reorg for El Paso County.
Colorado State Central Committee has officially & overwhelmingly voted to replace Vickie Tonkins to run the El Paso GOP Reorg meeting based on her bias & unfair practices as chairman! Thank you Kristi Burton Brown for holding a fair & transparent meeting. #copolitics @cologop
— Joshua T. Hosler (@JoshuaHosler) February 1, 2023
Colorado Politics reports the contentious, online meeting drew more than 300 central committee members plus an additional 500 viewers that included party members, party precinct and county officials, and elected officials.
Tonkins was accused of withholding the GOP voting list from challengers, which threatened to corrupt the election outcome.
Colorado Politics reports:
Colorado Springs City Councilman Dave Donelson, who lost a close race in a traditionally Republican legislative district in November and supported Tuesday’s motion, reminded the meeting that the state party formally censured Tonkins last month for publicly attacking a slew of local GOP nominees — including himself — just days before Election Day.
He also noted that the GOP’s share of the vote in the county fell to historic lows in the last election, an occurrence Donelson attributed in part to “a steady stream of news coverage about the problems in the El Paso County Republican Party.”
“Secret list, corrupt elections, declining membership, actively working to defeat Republican nominees,” he said. “All we’re asking for is a fair election on an even playing field.”
BREAKING: Colorado Republican Party’s central committee votes 139-123 to have neutral group of outsiders in place run El Paso County GOP’s Feb. 11 leadership election, rebuking incumbent county chair Vickie Tonkins at conclusion of unprecedented online meeting. #copolitics pic.twitter.com/meCcZedla7
— Ernest Lee Luning (@eluning) February 1, 2023
Tonkins tried to block the central committee vote by filing a lawsuit Monday and accused the state party of meddling in their business.
Tonkins’ lawyer told KRDO the state had no right to take over local party activities and was in violation of the concept not to dictate what happens on the local level.
Tonkins and her supporters are reportedly planning to challenge the decision of the party’s central committee in court.
We agree state party interference in local party matters should not be taken lightly and used only as a tool of last resort.
But El Paso’s antics are becoming legendary, and it’s obvious the party’s central committee has had enough.
The never-ending controversies are exhausting, and the media has had a field day covering it all.
The El Paso reorganization meeting is significant not just because party leaders there will select the county chair for the next two years, but also because they will vote on who to name the state GOP Central Committee, which will pick the next chair of the Colorado Republican Party in March, a selection many see as a referendum on the future of the party.
“We are at a critical point in the future of the Republican party, not just in El Paso, but in the state … We have to work hard to right this ship and have people come together,” said former state Rep. Lois Landgraf, who signed on to the letter asking the state party to oversee El Paso’s meeting.
If Republicans could only refocus their efforts to fight with Democrats instead of within their own ranks, maybe they could start winning elections, again.
It will be interesting to see what the El Paso reorg produces this year.