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Resolution calls on El Paso County GOP chair to resign • Colorado Newsline [1]

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Date: 2024-07 

Some members of the committee that oversees the El Paso County Republican Party voted Monday to censure the party’s chairwoman, the party’s vice chair said.

Members of the county party’s executive committee who were present voted on a resolution that alleged county party Chair Vickie Tonkins had improperly used party resources to benefit her husband’s political campaign and improperly withheld information from other officers, county party Vice Chair Todd Watkins told Newsline. Committee members passed the resolution to formally censure Tonkins and call for her resignation.

The rift among party officers in El Paso, site of the state GOP’s largest county party, reflects a broader conflict in the Colorado Republican Party, in which a growing contingent of members have called for the removal of Dave Williams as state chair. Watkins has helped lead the campaign against Williams, a Tonkins ally.

Watkins said the El Paso party executive committee members present at the meeting Monday also passed a resolution to call for Williams to resign or be removed as chair, alleging that he improperly used party resources to benefit his unsuccessful campaign for the GOP 5th Congressional District nomination and issued statements that were “inflammatory, insulting, and defamatory to all party members.”

Watkins said the members had a quorum for the votes.

Reached by text Tuesday, Tonkins dismissed the resolution votes.

“A fake meeting of disgruntled agitators who met in a parking lot does not mean actual business occurred and it’s not worthy of your reporting,” she said. “The El Paso County Republicans support Dave Williams and will continue to do so.”

Tonkins’ husband, Rex Tonkins, challenged state Sen. Larry Liston in the Republican primary election last week for Senate District 10. Rex Tonkins received only 17% of the vote and lost, though he had been endorsed by the state party. The resolution Monday alleges that Vickie Tonkins used county party resources to directly support her husband and Williams in violation of bylaws that require party officers to remain neutral in contested primaries. The resolution adds that “Vickie Tonkins allowed her husband’s campaign free access to (county party)-sponsored events (to wit: candidate campaign tables) where other candidates were charged for such access.”

Asked if she used party resources to support her husband’s campaign and Williams’ campaign to the disadvantage of other Republican candidates, Tonkins said, “No … our office helps all candidates that ask.”

The day after Williams lost his primary last week, Watkins submitted a petition and request for a vote on removing him as head of the party. The primary complaints from backers of the anti-Williams effort are that he did not relinquish his position as head of the party when he entered the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn in the 5th District, even though the dual positions created a conflict of interest; that the state party under his leadership eliminated a tradition of neutrality in primary races and instead endorsed Williams and other favored candidates; that the state party spent money on behalf of Williams in his primary race against a fellow Republican; and that the state party under Williams has engaged in anti-LGBTQ and other messaging that could alienate voters.

Watkins said he expects Tonkins to initiate a process to remove him as vice chair of the El Paso County Republicans.

“She already last night unceremoniously locked me out of my vice chairman GOP email. I can’t access it,” Watkins said. “She’s removed my access to communicate officially as the elected officer of the party. I cannot imagine where she thinks she has the authority to do that. I was elected just as equally as she was. I’m not her employee.”

Asked if she plans to remove Watkins, Tonkins said, “That is not the job of Chairs or Vice Chairs. That is the job of the people at election time.”

Williams did not reply to a request for comment.

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[1] Url: https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/el-paso-county-gop-chair-resign/

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