(Campfire Colorado founder Matt Connelly interviews former Colorado GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams early Saturday morning at the Colorado GOP Assembly in Colorado Springs.)
The Colorado Republican Party held its State Assembly, on Saturday, April 9, 2022, at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, CO, nominating Republican candidates for Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, At-Large State Board of Education, and United States Senate to the 2022 Republican Primary Election ballot.
Following the opening speeches, in which delegates heard from Rep. Lauren Boebert (CD-3), Rep. Ken Buck (CD-4), as well as numerous state representatives and senators, delegates made a motion to use paper ballots. This motion died after Kristi Burton Brown, chairwoman of the Colorado Republican Committee, said this would make the convention last past midnight.
In the race for governor, Greg Lopez received 34% of the vote and Heidi Ganahl received 32%, placing both candidates on the primary ballot. Ganahl previously qualified to be on the ballot by petition; she only needed 10% of the votes at the assembly to remain on the ballot.
Danielle Neuschwanger received 27% of the vote but has refused to concede due to claims that the electronic voting system was malfunctioning.
Colorado Sun reporter Sandra Fish noted on Twitter that Neuschwanger’s appeal is unlikely to be enough to put her over the edge:
In response to her claims, the Colorado GOP is issuing an audit of the delegate votes.
In the race for Secretary of State, Tina Peters and Mike O’Donnell qualified for the ballot, with Peters receiving 61% of the votes and O’Donnell receiving 39%.
Pam Anderson qualified for Secretary of State via petition.
Out of the six candidates for US Senate at the convention, only Ron Hanks qualified for the ballot. Joe O’Dea, who was not at the convention, qualified via petition earlier this month.
Hanks received 39% of the vote. Deborah Flora followed with just under 29%, only a 1.07% away from qualifying for the ballot.
In the race for State Board of Education At-Large, Dan Maloit, the only candidate, preceded to the primary uncontested.
The race for Attorney General was not as uneventful.
John Kellner, the only candidate prior to the convention, faced a surprise challenger in Stanley Charles Thorne, who was nominated from the floor. Although Thorne admitted to not meeting the constitutional requirements of the position because he is not licensed by the Colorado Supreme Court, he received 42% of the vote, placing him on the ballot at the convention.
The Colorado Republican Party has since invalidated his spot on the ballot because Throne is registered as an unaffiliated voter.
Lang Sias, the only candidate for State Treasurer, preceded to the primary uncontested.