Election posts lead to chair’s removal

Danny Moore, the chair of Colorado’s congressional redistricting commission, was removed from his chairmanship Monday after previously sharing conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election on Facebook.

After more than 90 minutes of debate, the commission voted 110-1 to remove Moore from the leadership post, with Moore abstaining. He will remain on the commission and former vice chair Carly Hare, an unaffiliated commissioner, will be the chairwoman.

Moore is a Republican member of the 12-person Colorado Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission, which is tasked this year with redrawing the state’s congressional districts. The commission is evenly divided among Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated members.

Moore, a military veteran who lives in Colorado Springs and owns a defense firm, repeatedly declined commissioners’ requests to resign in the hour before the vote and urged the commission to instead vote to remove him. Afterward, Moore said he was not bitter or resentful about his removal.

“My hope and prayer today is that no other commissioner experiences what I have experienced,” he said. “My comments were intended to create a broader discussion around political correctness and the problems that are impacting our society. I meant no harm or malice against any group or any person.”

On March 22, Moore was elected by eight of his 12 fellow commissioners to chair the committee, beating out three other candidates after several rounds of voting. The next week, news outlets reported Moore had shared voting conspiracy theories on his Facebook page.

In recent months, Moore has falsely claimed on Facebook that President Joe Biden was “elected by the Democrat steal” and not “elected by the people” — claims first reported by 9News. He has also claimed, without evidence, that mail-in ballots can be modified by mail carriers and poll workers. He urged Republicans to use the court system to “erase those gains” Democrats made in the 2020 election.

Last year, he cast doubt on the deadliness and contagiousness of the coronavirus, accusing the media of lying about COVID-19. In October, he claimed that 9News “staged” a deadly interaction between a security guard and a conservative protester by goading the protester.

Before the vote to remove Moore, each of the commissioners

spoke.

They asked Moore to step down, called his comments troubling and said they distract from the commission’s important and impartial work.

“Commissioner Moore is unfit to serve as chair and possibly unfit to serve on the Colorado Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission at all,” said Commissioner Paula Espinoza, a Democrat from Littleton.

Bill Leone, a Republican commissioner from Westminster, said that some of Moore’s social media posts were “personal, ad hominem attacks” that were “devoid of evidence” and call into question his ability to be impartial.

“We should get a chair of this commission that can reflect in every way the nonpartisan nature of what this commission is supposed to be,” he said.