Republican Party members gather, voice concerns about GOP Chairman Dave Williams

BRIGHTON, Colo. (KRDO) – After a judge granted Colorado Republican Speaker Dave Williams a restraining order in an attempt to stop a scheduled meeting to vote on him, GOP members continued to gather at a Brighton church to voice concerns about the Colorado Republican Speaker Saturday morning.

“The current leadership is not serving the party well and therefore not serving us well in getting elected. You can’t govern unless you win, and right now we don’t have a winning strategy. Our officials are failing us in terms of getting that winning strategy,” state central committee member Kathleen Chandler told our partners at 9 News.

The rally came after months of controversy surrounding Williams that came to a head in early June when Williams commented on Pride Month. Many in the Republican Party viewed the comments as a misrepresentation of the rest of the party.

Other members raised concerns about his use of party finances and that he ran for Congress while holding the party seat.

This all came to a head when several Republican party members spoke out to call for a special meeting to remove Williams from his seat. However, their call for the special meeting was deemed invalid and illegal by state officials, as they allegedly violated party bylaws and failed to verify the votes needed to hold the meeting in the first place.

In response, Dave Williams filed a lawsuit against two of the leading members of those seeking his ouster; Todd Watkins and Nancy Pallozzi. The lawsuit sought an injunction to stop the meeting scheduled to vote on Williams’ ouster, but this ultimately failed.

Instead, on Friday night, an Arapahoe County judge granted William’s request for a restraining order against the meeting scheduled for the next morning.

But Republican members still gathered at a Brighton church on Saturday morning to air their grievances.

Now, a meeting scheduled for August will potentially resolve the partisan differences. The meeting will be chaired by Hope Scheppelmen, the GOP vice chairwoman.