Colorado Republican Party

Colorado Republican Party
Chairperson	Brita Horn
Senate Leader	Cleave Simpson
House Leader	Vacant
Headquarters	Greenwood Village, Colorado
Membership (2025)	940,271 [1]
Ideology	Conservatism Trumpism Christian right Anti-LGBTIQA+ [2] [3] Factions: LGBTIQA+-affirming [4]
Political position	Right-wing [5] [6]
National affiliation	Republican Party
Colors	Red
U.S. Senate	0 / 2
U.S. House	4 / 8
Statewide offices	0 / 5
Colorado Senate	12 / 35
Colorado House of Representatives	22 / 65
Colorado State Board of Education	4 / 9
University of Colorado Board of Regents	4 / 9
Election symbol
Website
www.cologop.org
Politics of the United States Political parties Elections

The Colorado Republican Party is the state affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Colorado. The party's headquarters is located in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

The Republican Party was dominant in the state as recently as the mid-2000s, however it has declined over the subsequent decades. After the 2020 elections, Republicans held the smallest amount of political power in the state government since World War II. This decline has been attributed to various factors, including the party moving too far right for the state, changing demographics, mismanaged campaign money, internal party divisions, a better organized Democratic Party, and the unpopularity of Donald Trump in the state. ^[7]

The party fared even poorer in the 2022 elections, in which Democrats swept every statewide office by a double-digit margin, expanded their majority in the state's U.S. House delegation, and further expanded their supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature. ^[8] Since 2023, the party has faced revenue loss and party infighting, with the party veering further towards the far-right and overall further decline of influence in the state. ^{[9] [10]}

History

2010s

Ted Cruz won all of Colorado's delegates during the 2016 presidential primaries. Colorado's delegation to the 2016 Republican National Convention stagged a walkout as part of the Never Trump movement. However, Ken Buck and other members of the delegation later became Trump supporters after initially opposing him. ^{[11] [12]}

According to Frank McNulty, fringe candidates began winning in safe Republican seats in the 2010s. ^[13] Republicans in Colorado shifted rightward following the election of Trump. From 2018 to 2020, Republicans lost all of their statewide offices, except for the at-large Board of Regents seat held by Heidi Ganahl. ^{[14] [5]} Between 1984 and 2016, the Republicans had more registered voters than the Democrats. ^[15] In 2020, the Republicans lost control of the Regents of the University of Colorado for the first time in 41 years. ^[13]

Patrick Neville was elected minority leader in the state house in 2016, which gave him control of the caucus' bank account. Neville renamed the account to Values First Colorado and registered it under his brother Joe Neville. The previous vendor was fired and replaced with Rearden Strategic, which was run by Joe. $207,800 was given to Rearden Strategic from 2017 to 2020, and two other committees managed by Joe, Citizens for Secure Borders IEC and Take Back Colorado, were given $274,200 and $545,000 respectively. Representative Larry Liston stated that it was embarrassing for those who contributed funds and Representative Lois Landgraf was critical of the lack of oversight and not supporting "appropriate candidates". ^[13]

2020s

Since Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, elements of the Colorado GOP and its voter base have espoused support for Trump's false claims of election fraud. ^{[16] [17] [5]} While top Colorado Republicans have defended Colorado's local elections, they have cast doubt on the validity of the election results in other states or stayed silent on Trump's allegations of fraud. ^[18] On December 7, 2020, a group of Republicans requested to the Speaker of the House KC Becker that a committee be formed on "election integrity" to conduct an audit of the Dominion Voting Systems used in Colorado in spite of no evidence of issues. The request was rejected, with Becker criticizing it as "a dangerous stunt" and a promotion of "debunked conspiracy theories." ^{[19] [20]}

Also in December, Colorado congressional Republicans supported a lawsuit aimed to overturn the election results. ^[21] On January 6, 2021, congressional Republicans from Colorado objected to certification of the results, with Lauren Boebert and Doug Lamborn objecting to certification of the results. ^{[22] [23]}

The party performed poorly in the 2022 elections; Democrats won every statewide office by double digits, expanded their numbers in the state's U.S. House delegation, and further expanded their majorities in both chambers of the legislature. ^[8] In the aftermath of the heavily lopsided results, Republican state representative Colin Larson lamented that "Colorado Republicans need to take this and learn the lesson that the party is dead. This was an extinction-level event." ^[8]

In 2023, former state representative Dave Williams was elected to chair the state's Republican Party; he has been noted for promoting false claims of election fraud. ^{[6] [24]} Since 2023, the party has faced a significant loss of funding, an increase in infighting and party division, controversial leadership, the party veering further to the right, and a further decrease of influence within the state. ^{[25] [9] [10] [26]}

In March 2025, former Routt County treasurer Brita Horn was elected chairperson of the party. ^{[27] [28]}

Current elected officials

After the 2022 Colorado elections, the Colorado Republican Party controls none of the statewide offices and holds minorities in the Colorado Senate and House of Representatives. Republicans currently hold half of the state's U.S. House delegation, having erased the Democrats' majority after the 2024 elections when Gabe Evans defeated incumbent Democrat Yadira Caraveo.

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

• None

Both of Colorado's U.S. Senate seats have been held by Democrats since 2021. Cory Gardner was the last Republican to represent Colorado in the U.S. Senate. First elected in 2014, Gardner lost his bid for a second term in 2020 to John Hickenlooper who has held the seat since.

U.S. House of Representatives

District	Member	Photo
3rd	Jeff Hurd
4th	Lauren Boebert
5th	Jeff Crank
8th	Gabe Evans

Statewide offices

• None. ^[29]

Republicans have not won a statewide office since 2016, when Heidi Ganahl narrowly won the at-large seat on the University of Colorado Board of Regents. ^[30]

Legislative leadership

• Senate Minority Leader: Cleave Simpson
• House Minority Leader: Rose Pugliese

Election results

Presidential

Colorado Republican Party presidential election results

Election	Presidential ticket	Votes	Vote %	Electoral votes	Result
1876	Rutherford B. Hayes/William A. Wheeler	No popular vote		3 / 3	Won
1880	James A. Garfield/Chester A. Arthur	27,450	51.26%	3 / 3	Won
1884	James G. Blaine/John A. Logan	39,514	54.25%	3 / 3	Lost
1888	Benjamin Harrison/Levi P. Morton	50,772	55.22%	3 / 3	Won
1892	Benjamin Harrison/Whitelaw Reid	38,620	41.13%	0 / 4	Lost
1896	William McKinley/Garret Hobart	26,271	13.86%	0 / 4	Won
1900	William McKinley/Theodore Roosevelt	93,072	42.04%	0 / 4	Won
1904	Theodore Roosevelt/Charles W. Fairbanks	134,661	55.26%	5 / 5	Won
1908	William Howard Taft/James S. Sherman	123,693	46.88%	0 / 5	Won
1912	William Howard Taft/Nicholas M. Butler	58,386	21.88%	0 / 6	Lost
1916	Charles E. Hughes/Charles W. Fairbanks	102,308	34.75%	0 / 6	Lost
1920	Warren G. Harding/Calvin Coolidge	173,248	59.32%	6 / 6	Won
1924	Calvin Coolidge/Charles G. Dawes	195,171	57.02%	6 / 6	Won
1928	Herbert Hoover/Charles Curtis	253,872	64.72%	6 / 6	Won
1932	Herbert Hoover/Charles Curtis	189,617	41.43%	0 / 6	Lost
1936	Alf Landon/Frank Knox	181,267	37.09%	0 / 6	Lost
1940	Wendell Willkie/Charles L. McNary	279,576	50.92%	6 / 6	Lost
1944	Thomas E. Dewey/John W. Bricker	268,731	53.21%	6 / 6	Lost
1948	Thomas E. Dewey/Earl Warren	239,714	46.52%	0 / 6	Lost
1952	Dwight D. Eisenhower/Richard Nixon	379,782	60.27%	6 / 6	Won
1956	Dwight D. Eisenhower/Richard Nixon	394,479	59.49%	6 / 6	Won
1960	Richard Nixon/Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.	402,242	54.63%	6 / 6	Lost
1964	Barry Goldwater/William E. Miller	296,767	38.19%	0 / 6	Lost
1968	Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew	409,345	50.46%	6 / 6	Won
1972	Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew	597,189	62.61%	7 / 7	Won
1976	Gerald Ford/Bob Dole	584,367	54.05%	7 / 7	Lost
1980	Ronald Reagan/George H. W. Bush	652,264	55.07%	7 / 7	Won
1984	Ronald Reagan/George H. W. Bush	821,818	63.44%	8 / 8	Won
1988	George H. W. Bush/Dan Quayle	728,177	53.06%	8 / 8	Won
1992	George H. W. Bush/Dan Quayle	562,850	35.87%	0 / 8	Lost
1996	Bob Dole/Jack Kemp	691,848	45.80%	8 / 8	Lost
2000	George W. Bush/Dick Cheney	883,745	50.75%	8 / 8	Won
2004	George W. Bush/Dick Cheney	1,101,255	51.69%	9 / 9	Won
2008	John McCain/Sarah Palin	1,073,629	44.71%	0 / 9	Lost
2012	Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan	1,185,243	46.13%	0 / 9	Lost
2016	Donald Trump/Mike Pence	1,202,484	43.25%	0 / 9	Lost
2020	Donald Trump/Mike Pence	1,364,607	41.90%	0 / 9	Lost
2024	Donald Trump/JD Vance	1,377,441	43.14%	0 / 10	Lost

Gubernatorial

Colorado Republican Party gubernatorial election results

Election	Gubernatorial candidate/ticket	Votes	Vote %	Result
1876	John Long Routt	14,154	51.53%	WonY
1878	Frederick Walker Pitkin	14,308	49.98%	WonY
1880	Frederick Walker Pitkin	28,465	53.28%	WonY
1882	E. L. Campbell	28,820	46.91%	LostN
1884	Benjamin Harrison Eaton	33,845	50.74%	WonY
1886	William H. Meyer	26,816	45.55%	LostN
1888	Job Adams Cooper	49,490	53.84%	WonY
1890	John Long Routt	41,827	50.11%	WonY
1892	Joseph Helm	38,806	41.79%	LostN
1894	Albert McIntire	93,502	51.95%	WonY
1896	G. H. Allen	23,945	12.66%	LostN
1898	Henry R. Wolcott	51,051	34.17%	LostN
1900	Frank C. Goudy	96,027	43.53%	LostN
1902	James Hamilton Peabody	87,684	46.94%	WonY
1904	James Hamilton Peabody	113,754	46.80%	LostN
1906	Henry Augustus Buchtel	92,602	45.59%	WonY
1908	Jesse Fuller McDonald	118,953	45.16%	LostN
1910	John B. Stephen	97,691	43.48%	LostN
1912	Clifford C. Parks	63,061	23.73%	LostN
1914	George Alfred Carlson	129,096	48.67%	WonY
1916	George Alfred Carlson	117,723	41.28%	LostN
1918	Oliver Henry Shoup	112,693	51.15%	WonY
1920	Oliver Henry Shoup	174,488	59.55%	WonY
1922	Benjamin Griffith	134,353	48.29%	LostN
1924	Clarence Morley	178,078	51.92%	WonY
1926	Oliver Henry Shoup	116,756	38.11%	LostN
1928	William L. Boatright	114,067	31.85%	LostN
1930	Robert F. Rockwell	124,164	38.06%	LostN
1932	James D. Parriott	183,258	40.78%	LostN
1934	Nathan C. Warren	162,791	39.91%	LostN
1936	Charles M. Armstrong	210,614	43.65%	LostN
1938	Ralph Lawrence Carr	296,671	59.50%	WonY
1940	Ralph Lawrence Carr	296,671	54.37%	WonY
1942	John Charles Vivian	193,501	56.23%	WonY
1944	John Charles Vivian	259,862	52.40%	WonY
1946	Leon Lavington	160,483	47.89%	LostN
1948	David A. Hamil	168,928	33.67%	LostN
1950	Daniel I. J. Thornton	236,472	52.43%	WonY
1952	Daniel I. J. Thornton	349,924	57.08%	WonY
1954	Donald G. Brotzman	227,335	46.44%	LostN
1956	Donald G. Brotzman	313,950	48.66%	LostN
1958	Palmer Burch	228,643	41.59%	LostN
1962	John Arthur Love	349,342	56.67%	WonY
1966	John Arthur Love	356,730	54.05%	WonY
1970	John Arthur Love/John D. Vanderhoof	350,690	52.46%	WonY
1974	John D. Vanderhoof/Ted L. Strickland	378,907	45.71%	LostN
1978	Ted L. Strickland/Hank Brown	317,292	38.53%	LostN
1982	John Fuhr/Robert E. Denier	302,740	31.67%	LostN
1986	Ted L. Strickland/Kathy Arnold	434,420	41.03%	LostN
1990	John Andrews/Lillian Bickel	358,403	35.43%	LostN
1994	Bruce D. Benson/Bob Schaeffer	432,042	38.70%	LostN
1998	Bill Owens/Joe Rogers	648,202	49.06%	WonY
2002	Bill Owens/Jane E. Norton	884,583	62.62%	WonY
2006	Bob Beauprez/Janet Rowland	625,886	40.2%	LostN
2010	Dan Maes/Tambor Williams	199,792	11.1%	LostN
2014	Bob Beauprez/Jill Repella	938,195	45.95%	LostN
2018	Walker Stapleton/Lang Sias	1,080,801	42.80%	LostN
2022	Heidi Ganahl/Danny Moore	983,040	39.2%	LostN

See also

• Republican Party (United States)
• Political party strength in Colorado

References

1. "2024 Voter Registration Statistics". www.sos.state.co.us.
2. Clark, Kyle (June 4, 2024). "Colorado Republican Party issues call to burn all Pride flags". 9 News.
3. Coffey, Emily (10 June 2024). ""We make no apologies:" Colorado GOP Vice Chair doubles down on anti-LGBTQ+ statements". KRDO.
4. "Fallout from Colo. GOP's anti-LGBTQ+ messages continues as state Republican leaders call on chairman to resign". Denver 7 Colorado News (KMGH). 2024-06-07. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
5. Burness 2021.
6. "Colorado GOP selects combative, election-denying new leader". AP NEWS. 2023-03-11. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
7. "What happened to the Colorado Republican Party?". The Denver Post. 2020-12-20. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
8. Birkeland, Bente (14 November 2022). "'An extinction level event': Colorado Republicans react to deep election losses". Colorado Public Radio . Retrieved 2022-12-21.
9. "Colorado Republican party sees cashflow, spending plummet with election losses and leadership change". The Denver Post. 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
10. Frank, John (26 June 2023). "Colorado GOP Marred by Infighting Under New Leader Dave Williams". Axios Denver.
11. Frank 2016.
12. Frank 2020.
13. Swanson & Burness 2020.
14. Paul 2020.
15. Paul & Frank 2018.
16. Frank, John (25 February 2021). "Colorado GOP doubles down on Trump's baseless "stolen election" claims". Axios . Retrieved 9 October 2021.
17. Paul, Jesse (2021-08-30). "Colorado Republicans want to win over unaffiliated voters in 2022. Can they do it if their base is still focused on 2020?". The Colorado Sun . Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
18. "Ken Buck defends Colorado's election system against "conspiracy theory," angering fellow Trump supporters". The Denver Post . 2020-12-03. Archived from the original on 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2021-10-09. ...prominent Colorado Republicans, who tend to defend Colorado's election system even as they cast doubt on systems in other states, or remain mum on Trump's allegations of widespread fraud.
19. Birkeland, Bente (7 December 2020). "GOP State Reps Ask For Election Investigation In Spite Of Audit That Uncovered No Problems". Colorado Public Radio . Archived from the original on 2020-12-08. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
20. Hindi, Saja (2020-12-15). "No evidence of widespread voter fraud uncovered in meeting on Colorado election integrity". The Denver Post . Archived from the original on 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
21. Aedo, Zachary (2020-12-10). "Lamborn, Buck among 106 House Republicans backing Texas lawsuit to overturn election". KRDO. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
22. Case, Angela (2021-01-07). "How Colorado lawmakers voted in the Electoral College certification". FOX21 News Colorado. Archived from the original on 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
23. "Most Colorado Republicans in Congress will object to election certification". The Denver Post . 2021-01-04. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
24. Melnick, Kyle (13 March 2023). "Colorado GOP picks election-denying former state legislator to lead party". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2023-03-23.
25. Kim, Bente Birkeland,Caitlyn (14 June 2023). "In rare move, Colorado GOP goes after Republican Congressman". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
26. Dorman, John L. "Colorado Republicans reckon with string of major electoral losses as Democrats strengthen their hand in the onetime GOP stronghold". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
27. Paul, Jesse (2025-03-29). "Brita Horn, former county treasurer, elected to replace Dave Williams as Colorado GOP chair". The Colorado Sun. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
28. [e-mail], Ernest Luning (2025-03-29). "Colorado Republicans elect former county treasurer Brita Horn as state party chair". Colorado Politics. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
29. Paul, Jesse; Nelson, Delaney; Fish, Sandra (November 9, 2022). "Republicans must wait until 2026 before they have any real shot at winning back power in Colorado". The Colorado Sun. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
30. Paul, Jesse (September 10, 2021). "Republican Heidi Hanahl files to run for Colorado governor in 2022". The Colorado Sun . Retrieved September 21, 2021. "The University of Colorado regent, who is the only Republican official who holds statewide office, was expected to formally announce her bid next week."

Works cited

• Burness, Alex (December 11, 2021). "Election denialism and far-right activism sit firmly within the Colorado GOP". The Denver Post . Archived from the original on December 11, 2021.
• Frank, John (July 18, 2016). "Colorado delegates walk out in anti-Trump effort at Republican National Convention". The Denver Post . Archived from the original on September 22, 2020.
• Frank, John (August 25, 2020). "How Colorado Republicans transformed from "Never Trump" to Donald Trump loyalists in four years". The Colorado Sun . Archived from the original on September 2, 2020.
• Paul, Jesse; Frank, John (November 20, 2018). "Colorado Republicans, reeling from 2018 losses, wonder: Is it us or is it Trump?". The Colorado Sun . Archived from the original on May 27, 2025.
• Paul, Jesse (November 12, 2020). "Where do Colorado Republicans go from here?". The Colorado Sun . Archived from the original on November 12, 2020.
• Swanson, Conrad; Burness, Alex (December 20, 2020). "What happened to the Colorado Republican Party?". The Denver Post . Archived from the original on May 27, 2025.

External links

• Official website