Lawsuit seeks clarity on Colorado Republican Party leadership dispute

Eli Bremer, a former El Paso County GOP chairman, speaks to a crowd intent on ousting Colorado GOP Chair Dave Williams, on July 27, 2024. Bremer already announced his intent to run for chair if Williams is removed. (Andrew Fraieli for Colorado Newsline)

Eli Bremer filed a lawsuit against the original Colorado Republican Party executive board members who continue to reject the results of a vote that organizers say ousted them and installed Bremer as the new state party chair. 

Dave Williams, Hope Scheppelman and Anna Ferguson — the executive board members all elected in 2023 — are named as defendants, and El Paso County Republican Party Vice Chair Todd Watkins and Jefferson County Republican Party Chair Nancy Pallozzi are named as plaintiffs alongside Bremer and the party. Watkins and Pallozzi led the effort to oust Williams as chair and gathered enough signatures to hold a meeting and vote on Aug. 24. 

“Defendants — the officers removed — refuse to acknowledge their removal and continue to exercise control over party property including bank accounts, office space, and web domains,” the lawsuit says. “This lawsuit seeks to vindicate the party’s control over its own affairs and leadership.”

Bremer told Newsline the lawsuit was filed against Williams personally on behalf of the party, so Williams cannot use any party legal resources in his response. 

Williams did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

At an Aug. 24 meeting with central committee members, an overwhelming majority of the credentialed members present — about 180 people of the 400-plus central committee membership — voted to remove Williams and elected Bremer chair. Williams claims that meeting and vote were “fraudulent” and invalid, and he plans to hold a meeting with the same purpose Saturday in Castle Rock, despite members at the Aug. 24 meeting voting to cancel it.

If a meeting is held Saturday, Bremer said it won’t be considered a legal meeting of the central committee. 

“They can pretend that they’re the United States Congress, the government of Venezuela, or the Colorado Republican Party — it has absolutely no legal bearing,” Bremer said. 

The group first attempted to meet over the issue at the end of July, but Williams sued and an Arapahoe County judge issued a temporary restraining order to block the meeting. The judge ultimately concluded that the courts do not have jurisdiction over the internal party matter.

“Under Colorado law, the courts have no jurisdiction to interfere in internal party disputes, but once a party has made a final determination, the courts have the right to enforce that action,” Bremer said. 

Bremer’s lawsuit, filed in El Paso County district court, asks the court to declare the Aug. 24 meeting and its results valid, and all party actions from defendants that occurred after that meeting invalid. Bremer, former chair of the El Paso County Republicans, has already taken action asserting himself as party chair, setting up a “satellite” office and working with county GOP chairs to order yard signs and handouts for former President Donald Trump’s campaign. He said he’s confident the courts will back him and the newly elected party leadership.

“We’ve made sure every step along the way we followed the right procedures,” Bremer said. “The actions of the former officers are nothing short of bizarre … We followed the law and they’re just making stuff up.” 

Bremer said the situation with Williams parallels what happened with the Michigan Republican Party earlier this year, and their new chair has been “very helpful” to him throughout this process. Members of the party voted to remove former chair Kristina Karamo, and she refused to step down claiming the vote was illegitimate. A legal battle between Karamo and new chair Pete Hoekstra is still ongoing.