(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Republican primary in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District becomes $1 million fight for soul of GOP [1] ['Sandra Fish', 'More Sandra Fish', 'Data Journalist', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width'] Date: 2024-06-05 The Republican primary in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District is becoming a battle for the soul of the GOP, with conservative groups spending $1.3 million and counting to beat state party chairman Dave Williams, who has been endorsed by Donald Trump. Williams is running against conservative commentator and activist Jeff Crank, who has been endorsed by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, in the El Paso County district where U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, is retiring at the end of his ninth term. Whoever wins the primary is almost certain to win the general election in the highly Republican district. That’s why the 5th District spending by outside political groups, more than what’s spent by outside groups in any of the state’s other congressional primaries this year, is so notable. It’s not to help the GOP win in November — it’s to shape the direction of the party at the state and federal levels. Crank and Williams, while both highly conservative, hail from opposing sides of a divided party, clashing in both style and substance. Williams, who is brash and confrontational, favors far-right positions and is prone to punishing Republicans he sees as insufficiently conservative or disloyal. Crank is a longtime political player who rejects election conspiracies, believes the U.S. should aid Ukraine and has been embraced by the GOP’s traditional power brokers. Republican candidates Jeff Crank, left, and Dave Williams, right, participate in a debate at Centennial Hall in Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, May 16, 2024. The candidates are running for the U.S. House 5th Congressional District seat that is being vacated by U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn. (Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP) Williams has said he sees no need for compromise, saying of Democrats at a Monday debate they’ve “gone crazy and they’ve lost their minds — and we don’t need to work with them.” Crank has said he’s open to working across the aisle to get things done. The same divisions are playing out in state-level parties across the country as Republicans square off over Trump and differences in governing styles, said Julia Azari, a political scientist at Marquette University in Wisconsin. She pointed to the discord sown by the House Freedom Caucus, whose political arm endorsed Williams. The caucus has been blamed for much of the dysfunction in the Republican-controlled U.S. House. “There is a group of House Republicans who will be willing to risk a debt-ceiling crisis, willing to risk default on the debt, of a government shutdown,” she said. “These are all things that I think people who are really invested in stability and political outcomes are concerned about.” Williams, meanwhile, is drawing controversy for using state party funds to bolster his House campaign. It’s money that is supposed to be used to help Republicans win in the general election, not in primaries. The super PACs working to defeat Williams Of the $1.3 million spent by outside groups to defeat Williams in the 5th District Republican primary so far, 65% has gone specifically to oppose Williams, while the rest has gone to support Crank. The biggest spending has been by two national super PACs that have spent $765,000 combined to oppose Williams. Conservatives for American Excellence and America Leads Action previously targeted candidates endorsed by the political arm of the House Freedom Caucus. America Leads Action has reported spending more than $623,000 on ads criticizing Williams’ past work for his father-in-law’s business, which imported goods from China. “Some politicians believe in ‘made in America.’ That’s not Dave Williams,” a narrator says as a photo of Trump appears. “Colorado Republicans say Dave Williams put China first in his business dealings with a Chinese company.” Walmart heir and Denver Broncos co-owner Rob Walton and conservative entrepreneur Jay Faison have been the biggest donors to America Leads Action this election cycle thus far. But it’s unclear if their money is fueling the anti-Williams ads. TV ads from Conservatives for American Excellence accuse Williams of being “another politician looking to get rich quick.” The super PAC is spending nearly $142,000 on the ad, according to a Federal Election Commission filing. Top donors to the PAC include hedge fund billionaires Kenneth Griffin and Paul Singer. Attempts to reach representatives of the two super PACs were unsuccessful. A third super PAC — Colorado Dawn, based in Colorado Springs — recently spent nearly $49,000 on text messages opposing Williams. Two of the four messages sent by the PAC highlight how Williams was fired as a volunteer surrogate for Trump’s 2020 campaign in Colorado, which appears to be an attempt to weaken the effect of his endorsement by Trump. Super PAC Colorado Dawn spent nearly $49,000 to send these four text messages to 5th Congressional District voters. They are critical of Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams who faces conservative commentator Jeff Crank in the June 25 primary contest. Americans for Prosperity Action, the super PAC affiliated with the national conservative political nonprofit Americans for Prosperity, has spent $438,000 on mailers, digital ads and canvassing supporting Crank. Crank is regional vice president at AFP. But a letter sent last week to voters from Jesse Mallory, a senior adviser for the super PAC, was the first criticism of Williams by the group. “People have to, as a party, come together and decide whether they think this is a good use of state party time and resources to pick winners and losers in primaries,” Mallory told The Sun. “I know there’s a lot of strong feelings. I think there’s more folks who are opposed to it than support it.” Crank is airing his own TV ads, spending at least $54,000 based on contracts filed with the Federal Communications Commission. Williams has spent about $15,000 on cable ads on conservative stations Fox News and Newsmax. How Williams is fighting back While Williams is endorsed by the House Freedom Fund, the super PAC for the House Freedom Fund. That PAC had only $750,000 in the bank at the end of April. The fund has endorsed 21 candidates, including several incumbents in close contests. Through May 30, the group hadn’t spent any money to help Williams, whose campaign has limited cash. Crank outraised Williams in the first three months of the year, bringing in $302,000 to Williams’ $171,000. Williams loaned his campaign $100,000 of that sum. Candidates will report their fundraising and spending through the end of May to the FEC on June 13. Williams is fighting back against the super PAC spending to beat him by using the Colorado GOP’s war chest to boost his profile and attack Crank. That’s despite the party’s anemic fundraising under Williams’ leadership. It’s a move that’s drawn criticism and a campaign finance complaint with the FEC. The first time he did it was in late February, when he used party money to send a mailer to El Paso County residents criticizing Crank and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Then there was the party fundraising letter featuring a photo of Williams at the top and a Trump quote praising Williams. Finally, the Colorado GOP last week paid for a mailer that went out to 5th District residents encouraging them to vote for Williams, citing Trump’s endorsement. This mailer paid for by the Colorado GOP urges voters in the 5th Congressional District to support party Chairman Dave Williams in the June 25 primary election. He faces conservative commentator and activist Jeff Crank. On Sunday, the GOP sent an email endorsing a wide range of primary candidates, including Williams. Williams and his campaign spokesperson didn’t respond to requests for comment. At a debate Monday, he avoided questions from Crank about whether the China-related ads are untrue. “The fact is, Donald Trump supports our campaign, and we have dark money groups and the media that want Jeff Crank to win this race,” Williams said. The 5th District is considered a solid Republican district. Lamborn won the 2020 election in the 5th District by 20 percentage points and the 2022 election by 16 points. But there are signs that it could be in play in the coming years, which may be another reason Republican groups are targeting Williams. Trump won in El Paso County with 56% of the vote in 2016 54% in 2020. But Republican gubernatorial candidate Heidi Ganahl received only about 51% of the vote in 2022 to Democrat Gov. Jared Polis’ 47%. And last year, Colorado Springs voters elected unaffiliated candidate Yemi Mobolade as mayor. Two candidates — science educator River Gassen and Army veteran and nonprofit administrator Joe Reagan — are vying for the Democratic nomination. Got a question about Election 2024 in Colorado? Submit your inquiry about this year’s elections to The Sun’s politics team. We’ll be answering them through election season. [END] --- [1] Url: https://coloradosun.com/2024/06/05/dave-williams-jeff-crank-colorado-republican-battleground/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/