The Denver Republican Party says it’s time for Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams to go.

The county party’s executive committee voted late Wednesday to join a chorus of Republican county organizations, party officers and elected officials calling on Williams to resign or face a vote to boot him from office amid complaints over emails Williams sent at the beginning of June denouncing Pride Month.

Organizers behind a petition to convene a special meeting of the state GOP’s central committee to consider whether to fire Williams told Colorado Politics they’ve gathered more than enough signatures and plan to submit the petition at noon on Friday.

At the same time, Williams’ allies pushed back, accusing his Republican critics of trying to “purge conservative Christians” from the state GOP and “helping the Democrats” by sowing division within the party.

In a resolution approved unanimously by county party officers, however, Denver’s GOP said it is Williams who is splintering the party by attacking fellow Republicans and threatening to expose those who disagreed with him.

Calling a June 10 email sent by the state GOP and signed by Williams “divisive and harmful to the unity of the party,” members of the Denver Republicans’ ruling board said they are “shocked and saddened at the attempt of Chairman Williams to suppress freedom of speech and dox those who do not agree with him.” They added that “threats and intimidation have no place in the Republican Party and must be condemned unequivocally.”

The Denver Republicans also ripped Williams for using state party funds to take sides in contested Republican primaries, including by pouring party resources into supporting his own campaign in the 5th Congressional District.

The resolution concluded with a call “for the immediate resignation or removal of Dave Williams from his position as Chairman of the Colorado State Republican Party, to restore integrity, transparency, and unity within the party.”

Earlier this week, Nancy Pallozzi, who chairs the Jefferson County GOP, told Colorado Politics a dozen other county Republican parties had passed resolutions demanding that Williams step down.

Williams sparked a furor when he sent a mass email last week titled “God Hates Pride” and posted a call to “burn all the Pride flags this June” on social media at the start of the month dedicated to celebrating the LGBTQ community. Williams insisted his focus was narrow, but his detractors said Williams used too broad of a brush in his attacks on what the GOP chairman described as Pride Month’s “pervasive evil agenda.”

Responding to critics, Williams vowed to “publicize” the names of anyone who signed on to a petition to fire him and said he would “notify all convention delegates and their respective central committees of their support for Pride Month.”

In an earlier email, Williams called Pride Month “demonic” and said June was when “godless groomers in our society want to attack what is decent, holy, and righteous so they can ultimately harm our children.”

Go ahead, countered numerous Colorado Republicans, who released statements through the week denouncing Williams’ message and demanding that he vacate his party post.

State Rep. Lisa Frizell, R-Castle Rock, announced on Thursday in a press release that she had signed the petition.

“As the Party of Rule and Law, I speak for most Republicans when I say, we do not condone the abuse of power, corruption, and hate coming from Chairman Dave Williams,” said Frizell, a former Douglas County assessor and a primary candidate in Senate District 2.

“He is using the Party resources and money for his personal campaign for CD5 and as a weapon to attack his political opponents,” Frizell said. “The role of the Party is to elect Republicans, and Chairman Dave Williams has done more to empower Democrats than help any Republican candidate.”

Also this week, members of the Chaffee County GOP’s executive committee released a letter saying they are “appalled by and vehemently disagree” with Williams’ statements about Pride Month.

“His statements are hateful and do not represent the views of the Republicans of Chaffee County,” said the letter, signed by Jennifer Barker, the county GOP’s secretary. “The Chaffee County Republican Central Committee does not condemn anyone because of their lifestyle or who they love. State Chairman Williams’ statements do not reflect those of Chaffee County, and most Colorado Republicans.”

Barker added that the county party officers who sit on the state Republicans’ central committee — including the county GOP chairman, who is also named Dave Williams — had joined the call for a special meeting to vote to remove the other Dave Williams as state chairman.

“Republicans do not stand for hate, exclusion, and the statements Williams doubled down on are not good for Colorado or for our Country,” Barker said.

Rich Wyatt, a member of the Jefferson County GOP’s executive committee, told Colorado Politics he plans to urge Pallozzi, who initiated the petition to remove Williams, to back down at a Thursday night meeting of the county party’s governing body.

“This whole thing is stupid, it’s ridiculous, and to come after a time when ballots have dropped, all it does is help Democrats,” Wyatt said, adding that several county Republicans are unhappy Palozzi had gone off on her own without running it by party officials first.

Pallozzi issued a press release on June 7 asking members of the state GOP central committee to join her and other, unnamed metro area county Republican chairs in their effort to force Williams from office.

“We’d just like her to stop doing stuff that wasn’t approved or got authorization to spend funds on,” Wyatt said.

He said he wants to impress upon Pallozzi that airing the party’s infighting is a mistake.

“Stop supporting Democrats by fighting inside of our own party,” Wyatt said. “You got a problem with somebody, take it to that person and talk about it. That’s what the Bible says, Matthew 1:18. She didn’t do that.”

In an email urging like-minded Republicans to attend the county party meeting, Wyatt said it is his intention to “let the party leaders know that the divisive actions of the Chair are not welcomed and must cease,” adding that Pallozzi might face a censure vote.

“We owe our fellow county organizations and Republicans the respect to show that decisive action has been taken so as to assertively end this rogue action,” Wyatt wrote.

Hope Scheppelman, the Colorado Republican Party’s vice chair and a Williams ally, told Colorado Politics on Thursday that the state party will be happy to defend Williams and his recent remarks.

“We look forward to the discussion over Denver’s defense of Pride Month and its harmful agenda against children,” Scheppelman said in a text message, “and will notify their constituents of their publicly aligned Pride position while exposing their intentions to purge conservative Christians, like Dave Williams, from the party.”

Scheppleman also distributed a lengthy video Thursday rebutting Williams’ critics by arguing that the Republicans who were complaining had voted overwhelmingly to let Williams do what he’s doing.

In the video, Scheppleman described various bylaws changes and resolutions approved since last year by the state GOP’s central committee, including one that allows the party to make endorsements in primaries and another that condemns what it calls the “transgender assault against children.”

“My question to you all is, is this buyer’s remorse? Did you guys not want this?” Scheppelman asks, addressing fellow Republicans. “You guys are now seeing what we are putting forward that you guys asked for your party leaders to start putting forward. So, I guess the bottom line is, if, in fact, you guys are looking for someone to blame for these resolutions that went forward, and the amendments, it shouldn’t be the party leaders.”

After comparing Republicans who want Williams to resign with a family whose members regret picking pizza over Mexican food for dinner — “the pizza tastes like cardboard, it’s awful, it’s undercooked, it’s not crispy” — Scheppleman maintained that isn’t how Republicans do things.

“We don’t just jettison people that are putting this forward, that the body has asked us to put forward,” she says. “So, I’m asking you to do the right thing, and instead of calling for the immediate resignation of chairman Williams, who has been doing an amazing job, let’s put forward a meeting to have this discussion and change the bylaws or change the resolution, have an amendment to everything.”