Do you remember the 2022 Colorado Republican Party’s Assembly and Convention? Do you remember the clickers and the controversy and the last-ditch effort to vote the assembly on paper ballots? Do you remember how those choices impacted the primaries?
If you want a different outcome, you need to start planning now. The convention is where the voting members of the party determine which candidates make the primary ballot. Given that we are rushing towards the 2024 GOP conventions, let’s recap what happened in Colorado in 2022.
Dan Schultz has done a great job of educating Republican Party members around the country about the “precinct strategy,” and the role of Precinct Committeemen in the selection of candidates. Here in Colorado, longtime America First Republicans like Peg Cage were holding coffee shop meet ups in early 2021 to educate party newcomers and fill those positions.
They were successful in taking over the party in several counties and, by the time of the 2022 GOP Assembly and Convention, America First grassroots filled enough of the GOP voting positions to make an impact. Outsider America First candidates had a strong showing.
Bob Lewis — a completely unknown candidate — was nominated from the floor to primary Ken Buck. Lewis took 62% of the vote. None of the establishment candidates for U.S. Senate at assembly made the primary ballot except for Ron Hanks, who swept. Across the state, America First won the day.
That’s Lesson One from 2022: Fill the empty voting positions in the GOP. Strategically, the GOP has kept these positions empty, but they will fill them with neocons if necessary.
The morning of the assembly, a group of delegates made a motion for paper ballots. Unfortunately, the complexity involved made the entire process confusing to the delegates. Chairwoman Brown refused to allow debate and framed paper ballots as an impossibility. The motion failed on two separate votes, and the clickers were in.
The clickers were a disaster, further eroding trust in elections and even leading to lawsuits. Some of the clickers had serial numbers and some didn’t. Delegates and chairs from multiple counties reported shortages of clickers — reasons for the shortages varied. Fremont was missing one. Adams was missing 10, but then stated that the shortage was related to an issue with their delegate list. The official answer was that the GOP was short three clickers in total, because they just didn’t have any more.
Training delegates on the clickers felt a lot like trying to help your parents with technology, only with 3,770 additional (and confused) elderly parents. Delegates were told it mattered that the screen said “COUNTED,” but throughout the day, delegates reported that their clickers did not read “COUNTED” after voting. There was no recourse. There was no help desk. Delegates with issues were out of luck.
People with guest badges (not delegate badges) were voting with clickers. I found clickers lying around, and overheard a delegate confirm their choices with a person near them before handing them their clicker, hugging goodbye, and leaving the arena. In a system with integrity, none of those actions would be permissible, but there were zero controls in this process.
That is Lesson Two from 2022: Demand paper ballots now. During the party elections earlier this year, America First assumed party leadership roles, including former State Representative Dave Williams becoming the Colorado GOP Chair. Amend the rules now. Demand paper ballots now.
For the most part, candidates that petitioned onto the ballot without facing voters in the assembly won the Republican primaries. These candidates didn’t campaign, but they “won” against the America First candidates with all the enthusiasm, energy, and public Republican support.
That’s Lesson Three from 2022: Close the Primary. Republican candidates should be selected by Republican voters. I am not a Republican, I understand the impact of what I am saying, and I will say it again: Close the Primary. America First will win with Republican voters.
Let’s recap: The precinct strategy should be the top priority for Republicans; Republicans must work now to ensure that the 2024 candidate selections are conducted with integrity; and, finally, close the Primary so Republican voters determine Republican candidates.
Class dismissed.
Ashe Epp is a writer and activist. You can find all her work at Linktree.com/asheinamerica