By Dick Wadhams

Colorado Republicans are fighting to be relevant in the face of gross mismanagement by Democrats who totally control state government.

While the Colorado Republican Party is mired in controversy, several Republican elected officials and candidates represent the very best of what the party should be and how the state should be led.

Colorado elected three new Republican members of Congress in 2024 and they have already distinguished themselves as strong, effective leaders who first and foremost fight for their districts and state while fending off attacks from shrill, extreme voices within their party.

The common thread that runs through U.S. Reps. Jeff Crank of Colorado Springs in the 5th District, Jeff Hurd of Grand Junction in the 3rd District, and Gabe Evans of Weld County in the 8th District is they know who elected them to Congress, and those constituents are their first and foremost priority.

Crank fought valiantly to keep the U.S. Space Command in Colorado Springs even while knowing that President Trump was likely to move it to Alabama. But rather than condemning the decision and burning bridges with the White House, Crank joined local leaders in promoting the vast military infrastructure in Colorado Springs as an integral part of America’s defense. 

Hurd incurred Trump’s ire by voting against the president’s tariffs citing the damage tariffs do to his district’s agricultural, energy and small business sectors. Trump responded by vetoing the Arkansas Valley Conduit water project bill even though Trump supported the project in his first term and even sent his Secretary of the Interior to the groundbreaking ceremony.

Hurd and his House colleague, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, led the effort to overturn the veto in the U.S. House with the support of Crank, Evans and Colorado’s Democratic House members but fell short when other Republicans were afraid to buck the president. Trump also refused to approve disaster declarations for fires in Rio Blanco County and flooding in Archuleta County in Hurd’s district.

Trump withdrew his endorsement of Hurd and now supports the fringe candidacy of Hope Scheppelman in the Republican primary.

Scheppelman was unseated as Colorado Republican vice chair after serving as the sidekick to former chair Dave Williams during his destructive tenure in 2023-2024. If Scheppelman wins the primary against Hurd, Republicans can kiss the 3rd District goodbye to an Aspen Democrat.

Evans narrowly unseated a Democratic incumbent in 2024 in the newly created 8th District, which is one the most competitive districts in the nation and both parties are targeting the district in 2026. Evans is a strong defender of 8th District agriculture and energy jobs which are under assault by Democrats.

Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson of Alamosa and House Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell of Colorado Springs make Colorado Republicans proud every day at the state Capitol with their principled, articulate opposition to the worst moves of a Democratic Party increasingly dominated by Democratic Socialists.

State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and state Rep. Rick Taggart are the Republican members of the powerful Joint Budget Committee, which drives public policy in the legislature. Kirkmeyer is also running for governor and she demonstrates what kind of chief executive she would be in every consequential debate at the JBC.

Another Republican candidate for governor, state Rep. Scott Bottoms, shamefully claims without any proof that pedophile sex rings operate throughout the State Capitol.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Republican State Central Committee continues to wallow in destructive recrimination.

Brita Horn was narrowly elected state chair over a Williams ally in 2025.  Horn has been under attack by those who harken back to the glory days of Williams when he used the state party as a weapon against any Republican he disagreed with. He inappropriately used state party funds to support his own failed campaign for Congress against Crank and he publicly opposed Hurd and Evans in their 2024 primaries.

Horn is vulnerable to criticism due to the increasing state party debt driven by legal fees. Incessant lawsuits initiated by both sides are sapping state party energy and finances. While Horn is a refreshing change from the vengeful era of Williams, she struggles to convey competence as state chair.

Ironically, many of Horn’s most strident detractors due to the legal debt are adamant that the state party pursue a foolhardy federal lawsuit to overturn Proposition 108 which was passed in 2016. Proposition 108 allows unaffiliated voters to choose to vote in one of the two major party primaries.

Unaffiliated voters are now more than 50% of the Colorado electorate with Democrats far behind at 26% and Republicans even further at 23%. Rather than trying to appeal to unaffiliated voters, these anti-Proposition 108 Republicans, unfortunately including Horn, want to steal the right of unaffiliated voters to vote in primaries.

Democrats are increasingly unpopular as voters watch their beloved state and their quality of life decline.

Crank, Hurd, Evans, Simpson, Caldwell, Kirkmeyer and Taggart and many other Republicans represent the very best of Colorado but others continue their race to the bottom which will drive Republicans into continued irrelevance.

Dick Wadhams is a former Colorado Republican state chairman who managed campaigns for U.S. Sens. Hank Brown and Wayne Allard, and Gov. Bill Owens.  He was campaign manager for U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota in 2004 when Thune unseated Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle.