State GOP (and Colorado) will be worse off without unaffiliated voters

Colorado Republican Party Chair Dave Williams is going to extremes to ensure that his party remains unpopular with a majority of Colorado voters.

Williams’ goals seem to be building higher and higher fences around a smaller and smaller group of voters while using his office to promote his own political ambitions.

First, he tried to make it easier for the GOP to block unaffiliated voters from participating in primary elections by pushing for a rules change that was ultimately rejected by his own central committee.

At the same time, Williams recruited Trump’s election-denying — and likely to be disbarred — attorney John Eastman to lead a lawsuit that attempted -- and failed -- to overturn Colorado’s voter-approved ballot initiative that opened primaries to unaffiliated voters.

Then, he said he intends to remain as the state party chair even as he is running for the

5th Congressional District seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Doug Lamborn — an unprecedented level of self-dealing.

Finally, at Williams’ urging and with complete disdain for voters, the state party ignored their own bylaws and endorsed former president Donald Trump in the GOP primary (after charging candidates’ a ransom of up to $40,000 for their names to appear on Colorado’s primary ballot) before a single vote had been cast.

These anti-democratic antics would be laughable if they weren’t potentially harmful to having an effective, functioning two-party system in the state.

The efforts by Williams and other extremists to embrace election deniers while turning their backs on independent voters is a strategic misstep that will have far-reaching consequences for the Colorado GOP’S future success.

One of the fundamental tenets of a healthy democracy is the participation of a diverse and engaged citizenry.

Independents make up nearly half of active Colorado voters, compared to 27% for Democrats and 24% for Republicans. Ten years ago, the figure was more closely divided between independents (35%), Republicans (33%) and Democrats (32%).

Seeing where the trend line was heading, and with an understanding that active and engaged voters should be able to be heard in primaries that they pay for, I proudly led the 2016 campaign to open primaries in Colorado to independent voters.

The measure was opposed by leaders from both parties. But when voters approved Proposition 108, they sent an unmistakable message that Coloradans overwhelmingly value the choice to engage in elections — and that the parties needed to get on board. To that end, the measure has been a resounding success, with nearly 2 million unaffiliated votes cast in state primaries since 2018.

It is my firm belief that voters have a right to choose any candidate in any election and they are rightfully leery of insiders gaming the system, which is why I support initiatives that will ask Coloradans this year to create a single, all-candidate primary with the top 4 advancing to the general election; to institute instant-runoff voting in the general election for federal and many state offices; and to reform the process for filling vacancies.

These reforms will modernize our elections and give voters better choices and a greater voice.

But at Williams’ direction, the Colorado GOP seems to be dead set on moving democracy backwards by limiting participation and putting a thumb on the scale of democracy to advance a narrow agenda.

By attempting to lock independents out of the primary, the GOP is effectively shutting the door on a significant portion of the electorate and inviting isolation.

It is a misguided move that could have significant negative implications for the party’s long-term prospects — and the health of our democracy itself. This collapse of the Republican party’s relevance has the effect of limiting Democrats’ ability to withstand pressure from the extreme left, leaving the majority of voters without attractive choices.

Our republic needs a strong two-party system to balance and shape our laws and policies.

In an era where voter engagement and inclusivity are crucial for the health of democracy, Williams’ efforts send a signal that the Colorado GOP is willing to sacrifice these principles in favor of some sort of party purity.

I am a firm believer in two principles: Every voter should be able to vote for any candidate they want, and a candidate should be required to earn a majority of votes to win. We let the political fringes deny voters these rights at our own peril.

Kent Thiry has cochaired five successful Colorado citizen ballot initiatives, including the 2016 efforts to restore the state’s presidential primary election (Proposition 107), to open Colorado’s primary elections to unaffiliated voters (Proposition 108) and 2018 efforts to ban political gerrymandering and create independent commissions to draw Colorado’s congressional and legislative voter maps (Amendments Y and Z, respectively). He is the former chairman and CEO of Davita.