Lots of new stories that came out on Valentine’s Day were lovely little puff pieces about love and such. Many of these stories made you feel good, which isn’t a bad thing on a day dedicated to lovers.

But I’m not going to talk about any of that.

Instead, I’d like to draw your attention to a very different type of story that also appeared on February 14th, a story that reported on the remarkable turn of events in the El Paso County Republican Party.

If you have been following any of the stories about my lovely county’s GOP as it marchs toward self-destruction and unimportance, you know the basics: Long time county party chair Vickie Tonkins was battling with, well, lots of folks. The state party was mad at her, as were a number of more traditional Republicans.

It went as far as an “alternate” county GOP organization popping up and claiming to be the “real” county GOP, and the state party sending election monitors for the GOP county party election (like they do in corrupt third world elections). Law suits were tossed about, and it all came down to the big “reorganization” meeting held every two years. Those meetings pick the party leaders and set the party structure for the next election cycle.

Now, to be fully transparent, I know about these party details because after my failed run for congress back in 2008, I was elected chair of the Democratic county party here. Both parties actually run things like reorganizations in very similar, if not near-identical, ways. And so, dear reader, I readily admit that I read the reports of the GOP here flailing about with both interest (as a political columnist) and pleasure (as a Dem who wants to elect more Dems). So yes, I am not unbiased, but I am reporting factually on what happened, as seen in the CP article.

You see, Tonkins was the chair of the party when the GOP got, well, walloped, thumped, squashed, or whatever clever word you would like to use in recent state-wide elections. El Paso County is, and likely will remain, deep red, so there were no surprising elections of Dems to city or county offices. But what we did see was that the slate of extreme folks supported energetically by Tonkins all lost badly in their GOP primary elections. There were lots and lots of complaints from GOPers about her leadership, which is to be expected if the people you handpicked get beaten badly.

And the more traditional GOPers here also wanted the county (and state party) to step away from the extreme rhetoric and away from the crazy Trump supporters who claim elections were stolen and more. That, in fact, is a major reason why the breakaway GOPers wanted to hold their own county reorganization meeting – to stave off the crazy.

For a while, it looked like that might work, in that Tonkins announced she would hold her own separate reorg, as it is called, potentially creating two different central committees heading into the 2024 election cycle. What could go wrong with that?

As it happened, it appears that her foes may have dramatically underestimated Tonkins. As reported in CP, in the single reorg meeting held, which was overseen by a state party official, Tomkins kicked butt.

Not only did she win reelection to a third term of her own, her slate of candidates running for party offices within the county party also cruised to victory. Additionally, her supporters also won 23 of the 28 bonus seats up for election. The El Paso County Republican Party is now firmly and decisively under the firm control of Vickie Tonkins. As a retired political science professor, I must say I’m impressed with her skills.

And as a Dem and former county chair, I’m delighted. This new and improved Tonkins GOP will support the most extreme and divisive candidates they can find. I imagine we’ll see folks who claim Trump is still president, January 6th was just a bunch of tourists, and the rest of the big lie agenda.

That pleases me.

Why? Well, I know the Dems are a long way from winning outright in El Paso County. But I’m much more interested in in state-wide elections. While there are lots and lots and lots of Republicans here in El Paso County, there are, somewhat surprisingly, lots and lots (that’s one fewer “lots”) of Dems here also. In fact, there are more Dems here than anywhere else in Colorado other than Denver/Boulder. The conventional wisdom is that if a Dem can get between 38% and 42% of the vote here in El Paso County, he or she is almost assured to win statewide. Back when I was chair, when (my future boss) Senator Michael Bennet was running for his first full-term in the Senate, he came to our lovely county no less than 26 times during the campaign. Bennet understood the vital role of this county in state-wide elections, and profited from that insight.

The more extreme and nuttier the candidates that a far-right county party puts forward, the more traditional GOPers and independents will be turned off, or at least away toward the Dem alternative. Heck, I’m really hoping Trump wins the GOP nomination nationally, as he hasn’t got a chance to win in the general election. I fear the far more rational and reasonable Nikkie Haley and think she would make a very difficult candidate to beat, especially if President Biden seeks a second term. I’m hoping the GOP will continue to be as nutty nationally as they appear to be locally.

And so, I guess congratulations are in order for Vickie Tonkins on her winning another term. And I hope she and her team continue to be as outspoken and out of touch as they have been.