Long-simmering tension between competing factions in the local Republican Party spilled into public view on March 31 when El Paso County GOP Chairwoman Vickie Tonkins tore into U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn in a combative email denouncing the Colorado Springs Republican as dishonest and corrupt after Lamborn accused Tonkins and her allies of rigging the nomination process.

By Friday afternoon, the chairwoman of the state GOP was attempting to calm the waters with an email to local Republicans reminding them that party bylaws prohibit party officials from taking sides in primaries and urging them to “stay above the fray,” even when candidates criticize the county party.

The email from Tonkins went out Thursday night to more than 1,200 delegates and alternates elected to attend the Republican 5th Congressional District assembly on Saturday in Peyton, where some of the GOP candidates hoping to deny Lamborn a ninth term in Congress vied for a spot on the June primary ballot.

She was responding to an email sent earlier Thursday night by Lamborn, who qualified for the primary last month by petition. In his email to the delegates, Lamborn said he had decided to skip the assembly, citing “troubling irregularities” he said demonstrate county GOP officials’ favoritism toward state Rep. Dave Williams, one of his potential primary challengers.

Lamborn is facing five GOP candidates hoping to make the ballot in the heavily Republican, El Paso County-based 5th CD. They include Navy veteran Rebecca Keltie, who learned last week that she made the ballot by petition, and businessman Andrew Heaton, who was awaiting word on Friday whether the petitions he submitted have enough valid signatures.

The other three potential Lamborn challengers – Williams and first-time candidates Christopher Mitchell and Brandon Mimiaga – plan to go through Saturday’s assembly, where it will take the votes of at least 30% of delegates to make the primary ballot.

Prior to Thursday’s announcement, Lamborn had said he planned to also seek support at the district assembly – “I’m taking the belt-and-suspenders approach,” he told Colorado Politics – though he would have only needed support from 10% of delegates since he’d already qualified by petition.

“When a politician breaks their word to voters in this way, the Party would normally stay silent and let the campaigns settle the matter,” Tonkins wrote in an extraordinary broadside aimed at the local GOP’s senior elected official. “However, as the Party Chairwoman, I will not let any person besmirch our Party’s good name nor attack the tireless volunteers who have served so honorably to ensure our efforts are successful in November.”

Following a litany of insults, including calling Lamborn “dishonorable” and claiming he harassed the county party and “broke his word” to local Republicans, Tonkins concluded by saying she hopes fellow party members “take into consideration Lamborn’s misbehavior” when they vote in the June primary.

She capped the email with a link to a report issued in January by the House Committee on Ethics describing its plans to review allegations Lamborn misused official resources for personal purposes, based on complaints filed by a former congressional staffer.

“Speaking of corruption and ethics issues,” Tonkins wrote, “it would be worth your time to read this congressional investigative ethics report.”

Kristi Burton Brown, the state Republican Party chairwoman, declined through a spokesman to comment on the dispute but sent an email to Republican Party delegates from El Paso County on Friday, noting that “[i]n the interest of running fair elections, with integrity and a process that our delegates can trust,” she had a few things to say.

“No county party officer should be opposing any candidate in the CD5 primary by sending negative emails to delegates or by refusing to provide the same lists to all candidates,” Burton Brown said, adding that she grew up in El Paso County and knows “how passionate campaigns in CD5 become, on all sides.”

Added Burton Brown: “However, it is the clear duty of every county party and its officers to stay above the fray. Even if a candidate criticizes the county party, the county party chairman has an obligation to run the operation he or she is entrusted with in a way that every candidate and voter can trust. The El Paso County GOP bylaws are clear on this.”

Burton Brown also sought to reassure county Republicans that delegates and alternates to the April 9 state GOP assembly in Colorado Springs will be seated if they were properly elected.

“I look forward to seeing each of you at the World Arena next weekend,” she said. “Let’s stop attacking our fellow Republicans. Our disagreements are minor in comparison to our true fight with the liberal, socialist Democrats.”

Lamborn said in his email that he has “complete confidence” in the Republicans in charge of the 5th Congressional District assembly but added, “Sadly, I do not have confidence in the El Paso County Republican leadership.”

Lamborn said he had “witnessed a shocking lack of transparency and basic competence in the handling of the delegate and alternate list for the 5th CD Assembly,” including one candidate – later identified as Williams – who received a list of delegates “significantly before others” and some candidates who “appeared to be disfavored (and) received a defective and incomplete list.”

Said Lamborn: “Republicans are supposed to stand for election integrity. Participants can’t have confidence in the process if there is concern that the list has been tampered with. The image of a smoke-filled back room comes to mind, where a ‘hand-picked’ candidate receives preferential treatment.”

Tonkins addressed this charge directly in her email by invoking unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump and referring to ongoing attempts by some Republicans to overturn a state constitutional amendment that lets unaffiliated voters cast ballots in Democratic and Republican primaries.

“The El Paso County Republican Party will not be lectured about election integrity by Doug Lamborn, especially when he supported the continued use of Dominion Voting Systems counting Republican primary ballots by forcing our Party to stay in a rigged open primary system controlled by Democrats,” Tonkins wrote.

Williams echoed some of the points Tonkins made in her email in a statement that rebuked Lamborn for dropping his assembly bid.

“What’s troubling is that Doug Lamborn was dishonest with the voters once again by breaking his promise to stand for a vote at the CD5 Assembly. If he can’t face his leading contender, or the Party base, then how can we expect him to have the guts to stand up to Biden or Pelosi?” Williams said in a text message.

“It’s cowardice on Lamborn’s part and further shows how we desperately need new leadership in our community that won’t run away from a fight, just like Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene.”

Numerous Republican candidates have been complaining for more than a month that Tonkins and her allies – including Williams – have been hoarding lists of Republicans who attended precinct caucuses and party assemblies, where the party designates candidates to the primary ballot and conducts other business.

Tonkins has routinely denied she’s put her thumb on the scale for her favored candidates, including when she moderated a recent candidate forum that only featured select candidates, including Williams.

“In reality, every CD5 campaign and candidate have been treated fairly and given all information on time,” Tonkins wrote in Thursday’s email. “Anyone who falsely claims otherwise is deliberately ignoring the record.”

The other congressional candidates, however, tell a different story.

Heaton said he’d been planning to go through the 5th CD assembly until late Thursday but decided to put all his chips on qualifying for the primary by petition after the county party never delivered the information his campaign expected.

“Although we respect the assembly process, my campaign has requested the most recent delegate list three times, yet never received a list,” Heaton said in a text message. “We also have not received the rules or the names of the chairs, teller or credential committee, although those, too, were requested by my campaign manager several times. Due to these unfortunate circumstances, we believe our strongest path to victory includes relying on the more than 3,000 signatures we turned into the secretary of state’s office over two weeks ago.”

Keltie said in a Friday email to supporters that she regretted bypassing the assembly but felt she had no choice after watching it “degraded into an absolute circus by those who disregard the rules.”

“Unfortunately, I have seen firsthand the unethical tactics and antics that continue to define the El Paso County GOP,” she said. “I want no part of these dishonest tactics.”

Mitchell said he’s struggled with the county GOP and was unable to obtain a list of delegates from the party until Thursday afternoon.

However, he still plans to participate in assembly and said Lamborn’s decision shows a lack of leadership.

“A leader has to show up to the fight, even if you don’t like the fight – the conditions on the ground – you got to show up,” Mitchell said.