BRIGHTON, Colorado — At a Brighton church Saturday, members of the Colorado Republican Party voted to remove Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams, as well as his vice chairman Hope Scheppelman and secretary Anna Ferguson. Cheers erupted as the vote was 161.66 to 12 in favor of Williams’ removal.

“This was not a fiat. This was not a coup. The board decided to remove her, and the board decided who would replace her,” said Todd Watkins, vice chairman of the El Paso County Republican Party. “So this was a real grassroots movement, an initiative by us, the people.”

Watkins explained that this meeting was necessary to remove state party officials and directly pointed to problems with Williams’ leadership.

“This is about leadership or the lack of it. It’s about performance. It’s about competence and, most importantly, professionalism,” Watkins said. “He has shown none of what you would call a professional or competent leader, none of that.”

During this meeting, Eli Bremer was elected interim chair, Britta Horn was elected vice chair, and Kevin McCarney was elected secretary.

“I think the people have spoken today, our congressional candidates have supported impeachment, that says a lot,” Bremer said. “I think it’s time to close the chapter. It’s time for the Republican Party to move forward. We’re going to support our candidates, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Williams said in a statement that it was a “fraudulent meeting” and that “they clearly do not have three-fifths of the entire party to expel anyone. But that will not stop them from further damaging the party and wasting time nearly 70 days before the election.”

However, Watkins and Bremer both stated that they had followed the statutes and were confident they had done everything correctly.

“Well, the statute and the legal aspect is immense,” Bremer said. “We had several lawyers on the stage today. We had three lawyers: Kristi Burton Brown, former chair of the Colorado Republican Party, and Wayne Williams, former Secretary of State. Chris Murray, counsel for the RNC, so we had several lawyers review this. It’s a very complex area of ​​law, but we had some of the best lawyers helping us and making sure we did everything by the book.”

While this meeting was taking place in Brighton, the El Paso County Republican Central Committee was holding another meeting in Colorado Springs to unseat Todd Watkins. Vickie C. Tonkins, chair of the El Paso County Republican Central Committee, officially called the meeting and said the Central Committee members were concerned about what was happening in the county and the state.

Colorado Republicans vote to remove party leadership at meeting Dave Williams calls ‘fraudulent’

“Dave was at that meeting and spoke out against me, which is what I expected,” Watkins said. “But she needed two-thirds of the members present, our charter is written, the members are present. She needed two-thirds of that body to remove me, and she didn’t even get half of it.”

Saturday’s meeting in Brighton is the latest attempt by members of the Colorado Republican Party to oust Williams, after the chairman accused the LGBTQ+ community of being made up of “ungodly groomers” who want to harm children in a June flood of emails he signed. The state’s Republican leaders condemned the chairman’s conduct in a statement.

Last month, an Arapahoe County judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing any official decision on Williams’ fate as chairman. However, the same judge overturned the decision a few days later, citing incorrect information.

An appeal for a preliminary injunction before the Colorado State Court of Appeals has not yet been heard.

Colorado Politics reported that Williams and his supporters argue that his political tone is what Republicans wanted when he was elected chairman in March 2023.