January 1, 2022
Colorado GOP Chairman Kristi Burton Brown's decision to dissolve all GOP District Organizations is the result of a bad interpretation of the Bylaws of the Colorado Republican Committee.
- Redistricting added a NEW Congressional District 8 and changed some boundary lines in Colorado’s Congressional, State House, and State Senate Districts.
- State Chairman Kristi Burton Brown has declared that ALL District are as NEW as CD 8, and ALL must hold an Organizational Meeting to elect new officers and adopt new bylaws.
- There are no supporting articles to this claim in the CRC Bylaws, and the Chairman has no authority to single-handedly nullify bylaws or remove officers.
- This bad interpretation of the CRC Bylaws has dissolved 107 Colorado Republican Organizations; 7 CDs, 35 SDs, and 65 HDs.
- This bad interpretation of the CRC Bylaws removed from office approximately 189 elected Republican District Officers. (There are 328 District Officer positions, but GOP records show 139 positions were vacant prior to redistricting.)
- Chairman Brown could withdraw her orders that were based on her bad interpretation of the bylaws and instead assist the duly elected District Chairmen in creating strong grassroots Republican organizations throughout Colorado.
- The newly created Congressional District 8 has recently been organized (elected officers and adopted bylaws) as per the CRC Bylaws because it was the only District that did not hold an Organizational Meeting in the Spring of 2021 as per State Statute and CRC Bylaws.
- The District Officers removed by this bad interpretation were duly elected in the Spring of 2021 to serve until the Spring of 2023. Only the elected officer’s District’s Central Committee can legally remove them, and it requires 2/3 of the district’s qualified electors to vote them out.
- If the elected GOP officials of a district resign or are removed by a vote of their committee, the district’s bylaws provide instructions for filling the vacancy. The chairman of the Colorado Republican Committee may not create the vacancy but may appoint new officers if the vacancy persists.
- Each District has established bylaws which only the District’s Central Committee has the authority and process to amend. It requires 2/3 of the district’s qualified electors to vote for each change.
- The changed district lines do not change the elected officials in the Legislature or the Committee that worked to get them elected.
- The district line changes were drawn and numbered by an unelected committee that has no authority to remove a seated legislator or the duly elected district officers of a private political party, so this bad interpretation is not based on state law.
Pertinent Links:
Chairman Kristi Burton Brown’s letter declaring “the redistricting process requires all Congressional, Senate, and House Districts in the state to host re-organizational meetings.”
https://mailchi.mp/a81dd858112d/why-are-we-having-so-many-district-re-org-meetings-find-out-here?e=b7207bf2f9
The Colorado Republican Committee (CRC) Bylaws – (Note, all districts have established bylaws which may differ. The CRC Bylaws, Appendix B, contains bylaws suggested for districts to adopt at their first Organizational Meeting and are used here for reference.)
https://www.cologop.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/CRC-Bylaws-and-Appendices-with-standing-rules-as-amended-9-18-2021.pdf
Previous CRC Bylaws
https://www.cologop.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CRC-Bylaws-09.21.2019.pdf
Interim bylaws set by Kristi Burton Brown:
https://mycoloradogop.org/images/PDFs/Interim_bylaws_for_re-district_meeting.pdf