The Colorado Republican Party is scheduled to decide whether to endorse former President Donald Trump’s reelection bid later this month, more than seven weeks before state voters cast ballots in the state’s Super Tuesday presidential primary, the party announced Monday.

In a break from the party’s longstanding policy of staying neutral in contested primaries, the state GOP’s central committee plans to consider formally endorsing Trump in a special meeting held via a teleconferencing app on Jan. 14, the eve of the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses.

Organizers behind the endorsement proposal say the Colorado Supreme Court’s recent ruling declaring Trump ineligible to appear on Colorado’s primary ballot on constitutional grounds “lit a fire” under the effort.

As things stand, Trump is one of seven Republicans set to appear on the state’s March 5 president primary ballot – but that could change if the U.S. Supreme Court either declines to hear appeals in the Colorado case or decides against striking down the Colorado ruling.

“This will be a show of support for President Trump, especially as we head into the Iowa caucuses,” said Darcy Schoening, a former Monument City Council member and the author of the endorsement resolution. “Given that he is so ahead in the polls and he’s going to get the nomination, let’s give him a good sendoff into Iowa.”

Trump leads national primary polls by a wide margin, with his chief rivals – former South Carolina Gov. NikkiHailey and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – trailing by double digits.

Although there haven’t been any publicly released polls gauging support in Colorado’s upcoming presidential primary, Trump dominated a November straw poll conducted by the state party at its annual fundraising dinner, scoring 87% of the vote.

“Obviously, President Trump is going to win the GOP nomination,” Schoening told Colorado Politics. “It’s an endorsement to encourage other Republicans in the party to vote for Trump.”

She initially included a call for Trump’s GOP opponents to withdraw from Colorado’s primary in the resolution but decided to drop that portion, Schoening said.

“Voters will still have a choice, but let’s come together at this point behind the candidate who’s largely ahead, but also the candidate who’s previously served as president and who’s shown he can get us out of this mess we’re in now.”

Other Republicans qualified for Colorado’s primary ballot include Georgia pastor and CEO Ryan Binkley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Ohio businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

Schoening said she was inspired to push for the endorsement last month when the Ohio GOP voted nearly unanimously to endorse Trump, becoming the first state Republican Party  to do so this cycle.

Colorado Springs Republican Mark Waller, a former El Paso County commissioner and three-term state lawmaker, has been sounding the alarm about the potential endorsement, calling the proposal “an absolute travesty.”

“I 100% think that this is completely wrong, and it sets a bad precedent,” Waller told Colorado Politics on Tuesday.

“They’re thinking about expediency; they’re not thinking about what happens another cycle down the road,” he said. “If they weren’t in charge of the party and some establishment Republican was doing this, they would be losing their minds over this.”

Waller, an attorney and political consultant who doesn’t sit on the state GOP central committee, said he hopes state Republicans think hard before abandoning the state party’s neutrality.

“it’s unnecessary,” he said. “What are the chances that Trump doesn’t win Colorado on Super Tuesday? So, why do you even have to step out and do this? There’s no great gain for Trump here, because he’s already the odds-on favorite. So, why does the party have to go contrary to 100 years of bylaws and tradition to do it? It’s no way to run a political organization.”

When he was the incumbent four years ago, Trump swept Colorado’s 2020 presidential primary with 92% of the vote against nominal opposition.

Waller suggested that the move is a transparent attempt by state GOP leaders to “curry favor with the Trump team,” a contention Schoening rejected.

“This is 100% about supporting the leading candidate, coalescing, and standing against the (Colorado) Supreme Court and (Secretary of State Jena) Griswold, while admitting that the way we have been playing the game is resulting in nonstop losses,” Schoening said in a text message. “Let’s try a more aggressive approach.”