The head of Colorado's Republican Party did something earlier this month that political bosses rarely do when he publicly unveiled the state party's strategy for the 2024 election more than a year before voters will begin casting ballots.

It's not like state GOP Chairman Dave Williams revealed any deep, dark secrets when he announced which Democrats the Republicans intend to target next year — anyone could have compiled a similar list by reviewing the results of the last election — though it's unusual to outline a detailed strategy while the opposition is watching.

But that's what Williams did on Aug. 5 at a special meeting of the state Republicans' central committee.

The nearly eight-hour meeting, held at a church in Castle Rock, mostly generated news in its final minutes, when the central committee voted down a measure that would have paved the way to exclude unaffiliated voters from next year's GOP primary. The defeat of the controversial proposal — which would have changed party rules to count no-shows as votes in favor of canceling next June's primary — likely dashes Williams' and other party leaders' plans to consider the question at another meeting in late September.

At the same meeting, Republicans elected Hope Scheppleman, the La Plata County GOP's secretary, to fill the vacant state vice chair position. She replaces Priscilla Rahn, who resigned this summer to run for Douglas County commissioner.

The central committee also heard an update on a lawsuit the party recently filed that aims to overturn Proposition 108, the 2016 voter-approved ballot measure that allows Colorado's unaffiliated voters to cast ballots in either the Democratic or Republican state-level primaries.

During a lull in the proceedings, Williams revealed what he described as the state party's "game plan for 2024."

"We all come from different backgrounds, and I think success lies in recognizing the diversity within our ranks," Williams told the hundreds of Republicans. "Our party’s a tapestry of voices united by our conservative principles."

Then he got down to brass tacks.

"We have suffered devastating losses, and if we're going to come out of this, it's going to be because we're working together," he said, alluding to the string of thumping losses Republicans have suffered in Colorado in the last three general elections. Since 2018, Democrats have swept every statewide office, won five of the state's eight congressional seats and taken historic majorities in both chambers of the legislature, leaving the GOP with less power than it's held in nearly 100 years.

"What we’ve already achieved towards building winning coalitions is making a historic deal with Libertarians to stop them from running spoiler candidates in our competitive races," Williams said, describing a pact he inked with the state's largest minor political party earlier this summer.

The Libertarians have agreed that they won't run candidates in battleground races if Republicans can guarantee they'll nominate candidates who pass muster on a set of issues the Libertarians released this week. While some of the points have raised eyebrows — including working to abolish national intelligence agencies and supporting a presidential pardon for the founder of a marketplace on the dark web that facilitated the sale of narcotics — Williams told Colorado Politics he expects enough Republicans will participate to make the accord worthwhile.

Williams told state Republicans in Castle Rock that he's on the verge of expanding the plan.

"I'm also pleased to announce that we're very close to making a similar deal with the American Constitution Party," he said to cheers, referring to the state's fourth-largest minor political party.

For years, Republicans have maintained that conservative third-party candidates drain votes that would otherwise go to Republicans, costing victories in close races when Democrats win by narrow pluralities. While available data doesn't necessarily support that contention, Williams argues that keeping third-party candidates out of targeted races will increase chances Republicans can win some of them.

That's where something Williams calls the Freedom Initiative comes in.

"The goal of the Freedom initiative is to compete in at least 10 targeted districts with conservative candidates who share our free market, free people and limited government values," Williams said.

"I thought it best to share with you the targeted seats we are making a top priority," Williams said as an array of 11 Democratic incumbents appeared on screen behind him.

"This is the Colorado GOP’s Most Wanted Democrats," he said, pausing to soak in the applause.

The priority seats included Democrats representing one U.S. House district, one state Senate district and nine state House districts.

At the center of the screen was U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, the Thornton pediatrician who won election last year by just under 1 percentage point in the 8th Congressional District, Colorado's newest district.

In that race, a Libertarian nominee, Richard Ward, pulled nearly 4% of the vote, fueling Republicans' contention that the third-party candidate cost them the election. An analysis of the voted ballots in Adams County, which makes up nearly two-thirds of the district, suggests otherwise. The anonymous, individual ballots — available for anyone to review on the county clerks' website — show that voters who picked the Libertarian in the congressional race voted for the Democratic governor and U.S. Senate candidates by overwhelming margins, challenging the assumption that Ward took more votes from Kirkmeyer than Caraveo.

Nonetheless, it's no surprise Caraveo held a prime position on Williams' display — her district has been targeted by both national parties and ranks as a toss-up on lists compiled by every election forecaster.

Radio host Scott James, a former chairman of the Weld County GOP, is so far the only Republican running for the seat. First-term state Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Hudson, has been circling the race and is expected to announce his intentions within weeks.

Although she didn't appear on the Most Wanted list, Williams assured the Republicans that the party also plans to put effort into protecting U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, the Silt Republican who won reelection last year to a second term in the 3rd Congressional District by an even slimmer margin than Caraveo won her first term.

Boebert is already facing multiple challengers, including Adam Frisch, the Democrat who came within 546 votes of unseating her. This week, Grand Junction Republican Jeff Hurd jumped in the GOP primary.

The legislators on Williams' target list included several who won with pluralities in three-way races against a Republican and Libertarian, though a few won their their last elections by relatively wide margins:

• State Sen. Chris Kolker, D-Centennial, in Senate District 16, won his first term in 2020 by 11 points but will be running next year in a redrawn district that's less favorable for Democrats

• State Rep. Stephanie Vigil, D-Colorado Springs, in House District 16, won by about 2 points in a race where the Libertarian got slightly more votes than Vigil's winning margin

• State Rep. Marc Snyder, D-Manitou Springs, in House District 18, won by more than 8 points while the Libertarian got about 3%

• State Rep. Jennifer Parenti, D-Longmont, in House District 19, beat a Republican incumbent by just over 3 points with the Libertarian getting nearly as many votes as her margin

• State Rep. Tammy Story, D-Evergreen, in House District 25, also beat a Republican incumbent by just over 1 point, with the Libertarian getting slightly more than her margin

• State Rep. Meghan Lukens, D-Eagle, in House District 26, won by 7 points without a Libertarian on the ballot

• State Rep. Robert Marshall, D-Highlands Ranch, in House District 43, beat the Republican by just under 1 point

• State Rep. Mary Young, D-Greeley, in House District 50, won by nearly 2 points, with the Libertarian getting just over 3% of the vote

• State Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, in House District 57, beat the Republican by more than 7 points without a Libertarian on the ballot

• State Rep. Eliza Hamrick, D-Centennial, in House District 61, won by about 3 points, with the Libertarian taking about 2%

The opposition greeted Williams' target list with derision when it appeared on social media.

His counterpart across the aisle, state Democratic Chair Shad Murib, responded succinctly on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: "lol"

"Gee, it's so flattering to be wanted...even by the GOP," tweeted Marshall, who surprised nearly everyone by winning a seat in traditionally Republican Douglas County last year, adding: "Funny part is even if in some fantasy land they could conceivably win all 9 targeted seats . . . they would still be a minority in the state house...."

Democrats hold a 46-19 majority in the House, leaving Republicans 14 seats short of winning the gavel.

Ernest Luning has covered politics for Colorado Politics and its predecessor publication, The Colorado Statesman, since 2009. He's analyzed the exploits, foibles and history of state campaigns and politicians since 2018 in the weekly Trail Mix column.

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