Colorado Republican Chair Dave Williams and the Colorado Sun
By Valerie Maez
Dave Williams Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore
When current Colorado Republican Chair Dave Williams succeeds at his job is where the left leaning journalists and their publications pounce along with Republicans who have agendas of their own. The latest case in point was the recent GOP State Assembly in Pueblo.
Everyday citizens who don’t follow day to day politics in Colorado were treated to a barrage of online and in print tirades that left the impression that Mr. Williams was a threat to democracy.
Not even close.
Dave Williams isn’t the bad guy here. Neither was the previous State GOP Chair, Kristi Burton Brown. Although both clearly have different perspectives on how to move the Colorado Republican Party forward, and clearly have issues with each other, neither is out to do in the Republic. Oh, but how to make hay (money or political gain) out of such a division so as to keep the uniparty dominant and those pesky grassroots activists grousing about Constitutional rights at bay?
It really isn’t ground breaking news to say most of the political reporting online and in print leans to the left of center in Colorado.
To illustrate this point, a recent example. Ballentine Communications, who owns our local paper of record, The Journal, printed a BANNER HEADLINE on their front page regarding the removal of a reporter from the State GOP Assembly on Pueblo. This reporter was notified previously she would not be allowed in. Unfortunately, she erroneously did gain access. When that was discovered, she was escorted out. End of story!
Conversely, the Democrat mayor of Montrose, Barbara Bynum, used official City letterhead to correspond her approval of the proposed National Monument on the Dolores River to environmentalists. Yet nothing of magnitude was reported. Ms. Bynum was, until a few days ago, also an announced candidate for State Senate District 5. Oh, the hypocrisy! Imagine the headlines if that happened to be a Republican mayor advocating the opposite. You just know there would be the inevitable calls for removal along with demands for ethics investigations of the Mayor.
So, why the double standard by much of the media in Colorado?
Three words: Climate Change Agenda.
There is such a thing as unintended bias, where one’s belief system unconsciously influences thoughts, deeds, and actions while the conscious part of the brain does not recognize any perceived bias being exhibited.
That is not the case here.
The Colorado Sun was fully cognizant in their actions.
Dave Williams is clear with his leadership, as to how to move the Colorado Republican Party forward in these trying times. As everyone knows, success has a thousand fathers and failure is an orphan. Rightly or wrongly, Kristi Burton Brown, who sought a big tent approach to attract unaffiliated voters, was judged by the failure of Republican candidates to win elective office state wide, and then there was a tense transition after the State GOP Organizational meeting that elected Dave Williams.
The recent State GOP Assembly in Pueblo approved the first step in limiting the Republican Party’s primary process to only registered Republicans beginning in 2026.
The Assembly also saw a return of hand counting of ballots as opposed to a remote digital count. Ultimately, Dave Williams will also be judged by the success of Republican candidates winning elective office.
Considering there is a very real possibility that Dave Williams might succeed where Kristi Burton Brown did not, and the interests of progressive politics that some Colorado media openly embrace might be be at risk, it isn’t difficult to see the bias.