CO GOP chair who said he wanted to 'burn all the Pride flags' loses congressional primary



While June is typically celebrated as LGBTQ+ Pride month, Colorado Republican Party chairman Dave Williams has spent the last several weeks bashing the LGBTQ+ community. And on Tuesday night, Centennial State Republicans handed him a major loss.

The Advocate, which covers LGBTQ+ news, reported Thursday that Williams lost his bid for the Republican nomination in Colorado's 5th Congressional District race to Jeff Crank, who is a conservative talk radio host. Williams' loss is notable, given that he's chaired the Colorado Republican Party since 2023, and was a state representative from the Colorado Springs area in the six years prior.

Williams' loss wasn't even remotely close. According to Politico's final tally, Crank trounced Williams by more than 30 points, garnering more than 54,000 votes to Williams' 30,000. He will face off against Democrat River Gassen in November and is heavily favored to win in the reliably red district. The seat became open after current Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado) announced earlier this year he would not be seeking a 10th term.

READ MORE: 'Burn all the Pride flags': Colorado GOP sends 'disgusting' email bashing LGBTQ+ community

The Colorado GOP chairman likely didn't do his campaign any favors by refusing to back down from his anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, which had even fellow Republicans urging him to walk back his comments. Williams sent an email at the start of the month with the subject like "God hates Pride," and referred to the LGBTQ+ community as "godless groomers." The Advocate pointed out that Williams also used derogatory terms like "barbaric," "creeps," “degenerates" and "reprobates" to describe the queer community.

Gay Republican Valdamar Archuleta, who won the Republican primary for Colorado's 1st Congressional District (which represents the deep-blue Denver Metro area), demanded Williams apologize for his remarks and threatened to push him out of his position if he didn't relent.

"He doesn't have the talent to make a convincing argument and win over minds. He also does not understand teamwork. He should not be in politics, he should not be in party leadership, and he definitely should not represent CD5 in Congress," Archuleta tweeted earlier this month. "Building an effective winning team takes skills and talents not everyone has. Dave Williams should resign... or be removed."

Republican state representative Richard Holtorf, who unsuccessfully lost the GOP nomination for Colorado's 4th Congressional District to Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado), also called for Williams' resignation. When the Guardian asked Holtorf if Williams should resign over his comments disparaging the LGBTQ+ community, he told the publication, "hell yeah."

READ MORE: 'Resign or be removed': CO Republicans give GOP chair an ultimatum after anti-LGBTQ+ email

“He’s incompetent and he should step down,” Holtorf said. “He’s done so many destructive things in Colorado to not promote unity and [done] things that are outside the boundary and the scope of his role and responsibility as the state party chair.”

One of those prior gestures Williams was criticized for last month was pushing Republican candidates in congressional primaries to sign onto a statement endorsing former President Donald Trump's "populist, America-first agenda." Republican candidates argued that this was a departure from the traditional system of district GOP assemblies blessing their preferred candidates.

"Grassroots conservatives spoke at the [Congressional district] Republican assembly," Colorado Board of Education member Stephen Varela, who unsuccessfully ran for the GOP nomination in the state's 3rd Congressional district, said at the time. "I won top line. Why would a handful of party bosses disrespect the grassroots and consider endorsing someone else?"

Click here to read the Advocate's full report.

READ MORE: CO Republicans revolt after state GOP demands support of Trump's 'America-first agenda'




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