The Colorado GOP spent $39,000 on two mailers in June supporting Chairman Dave Williams’ failed 5th District congressional bid, pushing the party’s overall spending on his campaign to nearly $60,000, a report filed early Sunday morning shows.
The party also paid Williams’ company $16,000 for “chairman consulting” in June and July, payments he receives in lieu of a salary for his official party work. Williams also received nearly $900 in travel reimbursement on June 25, the day he lost the 5th District primary to conservative commentator and activist Jeff Crank, according to the party’s Federal Election Commission report.
At a three-hour meeting Sunday evening to inform GOP State Central Committee members about party finances, Treasurer Tom Bjorklund and two other officers faced tough questioning about the mailers, which encouraged voters to support Williams’ campaign. Williams didn’t speak at the meeting, an audio recording obtained by The Colorado Sun shows, and it wasn’t clear if he attended.
In all, the Colorado GOP sent three mailers between late May and early June telling voters in the 5th District in El Paso County to choose Williams, at a cost of more than $58,000. Under Federal Election Commission rules, the Colorado GOP is limited to spending no more than $61,800 to help candidates in each congressional district.
The party also sent a mailer supporting former state Rep. Janak Joshi in his unsuccessful campaign for the 8th Congressional District, but didn’t report that as a coordinated expense in its FEC filing. Unlike Williams, Joshi didn’t report donating money to the party through the end of June.
Bjorklund told those at the meeting Sunday that the party allowed candidates endorsed by the party to use the party’s nonprofit mailing permit, but only Williams and Joshi took advantage of the offer.
That could be problematic, because a candidate cannot pay or reimburse the party to send out a mailer on their behalf using the discounted rate, according to U.S. Postal Service rules.
Bjorklund refused to respond to questions from The Sun about whether printing costs included postage.
At the Sunday meeting, state Rep. Richard Holtorf of Akron criticized the party’s decision to endorse candidates in competitive primaries. He was one of six candidates running in the 4th Congressional District, which party-endorsed U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert won, though she turned down assistance from the party.
“I didn’t get the offer. … I was not one of the chosen few who got the coveted state GOP endorsement,” Holtorf said.
Questions also arose at Sunday’s meeting about pay for Williams and Bjorklund. Neither is paid a salary or benefits. Instead, their companies are paid consulting fees. Party officials said the executive committee agreed to pay Williams’ company $8,000 a month and Bjorklund’s company $4,000 a month. Bjorklund is also the treasurer for Williams’ campaign committee.
With the most recent payments, the Colorado GOP paid Williams’ Fox Group $86,500 and Bjorklund’s Tactical Data Solutions $64,000 since last August.
A $60,000 donation from Williams’ campaign to the party accounted for more than half the Colorado GOP’s $108,000 in receipts during the month of June. Bjorklund said the money wasn’t intended to make up for the party spending on Williams’ behalf, but he also said the “donations to the party exceed any expenses that may have been associated with (Williams’) campaign.”
Efforts to remove Williams continue amid parliamentary, legal maneuvers
Some central committee members plan to meet Saturday in Brighton in an attempt to remove Williams as chair, a meeting he’s trying to get an Arapahoe County District Court judge to prevent.
The day after filing that lawsuit, a handful of state central committee members led by GOP Vice Chairwoman Hope Scheppelman held a meeting under a bridge in a park in Bayfield to postpone consideration of any action on state party officers until a previously scheduled meeting Aug. 31.
But those opposed to Williams’ continued leadership are emailing central committee members about Saturday’s meeting in Brighton. The committee of about 400 people includes elected officials and those appointed from county, legislative and congressional districts. The meeting would require at least one-third of the committee’s voting members, with 60% of those voting to remove an officer.
Douglas County GOP Chairman Steve Peck sent an email to committee members late Sunday, noting that Williams ordered former Vice Chairwoman Priscilla Rahn to resign when she decided in July 2023 to run for Douglas County commissioner, but Williams refused to resign as chairman when he launched his run for Congress in January.
“When members of the (state central committee) called for a meeting to vote on removal, Mr. Williams hid behind party officers to dodge the meeting and marshaled procedural gimmicks to avoid accountability,” Peck wrote. “When that didn’t work, he sued them. This is defensive, divisive and dysfunctional.”
At Sunday’s meeting, Holtorf criticized the apparent conflict of interest with the party led by Williams helping his congressional campaign.
“The state party is here to lift everybody up, all Republicans, and help all candidates,” he said, noting that other candidates also “feel like the state party is not giving them the love and not the support and help that they may need.”
Holtorf is one of several people courting central committee members as a potential replacement for Williams if he is removed. It’s possible the committee could also vote to remove Scheppelman and Secretary Anna Ferguson. Bjorklund was appointed by Williams, while the others were elected in March 2023.
Williams didn’t return text messages seeking comments, but Scheppelman, Ferguson and others defended him in Sunday night’s meeting, including in a closing prayer: “I hope that people truly listen and pay attention to see that Dave Williams has done nothing wrong.”