The Colorado Republican State Executive Committee voted 15-9 Thursday evening to reject a resolution that would have authorized emergency federal litigation to block unaffiliated voters from the June 2026 Republican primary. The single-issue special meeting, called with only one day’s notice under an emergency provision, drew sharp debate over party strategy, candidate fairness, and the risk of acting mid-primary cycle.
The motion asked the committee to authorize party resources for attorneys to file an emergency preliminary injunction in existing federal litigation over Proposition 108 — Colorado’s open primary law. Voting yes were Vice Chair Eric Grossman, Republican National Committeeman Randy Corporon, CD1 Representative Michael DiManna, CD5 Representative Brad Collins, CD6 Representative Temple, CD7 Representative Laurel Imer, Elected Large Counties Representatives Hugo Chavez-Rey and Temple, and Elected Small Counties Representative DeVos. Voting no were Chair Brita Horn, Secretary and Treasurer Russ Andrews, Minority Leader Simpson, Proxy for Minority Leader Caldwell, National Committeewoman Christy Fidura, CD2 Representative Steve Peck, CD3 Representative Peters, CD4 Representative Kathleen Chandler, CD8 Representative Weiss, Appointed Large Counties Representatives Hunter Rivera and Alice Bumgarner, Appointed Small Counties Representative Trish Leone, Proxy for Small Counties Representative Thomas, Appointed At-Large Representative Laura Carno, and Proxy for At-Large Representative Jerry Sonnenberg. The motion failed 15-9.
The meeting was called pursuant to a written request signed by one-third of the Executive Committee voting members under Article 9, Section C2 of the CRC bylaws. The emergency declaration waived the standard five-day notice requirement, citing approaching election-related deadlines. Horn, who announced in March she plans to resign the chair position in April, opposed the motion.
Republican National Committeeman Randy Corporon opened debate by disclosing that the chair had asked him to withdraw from the case. He said he could not file a formal notice of withdrawal in federal court and would pursue another route, but participated in the evening’s discussion as a committee member, not legal counsel. Two other party attorneys — Alexander Haberbush and John Eastman, who serves in an advisory capacity — were invited onto the call for a 15-minute Q&A session.
Haberbush told the committee that federal Judge Philip Brimmer struck down the 75-percent supermajority requirement on March 31. The ruling found that requirement an unconstitutional burden but did not eliminate the open primary law outright. Because the party’s September 2025 opt-out vote passed by a simple majority but failed under the unconstitutional 75-percent threshold, the October 1st statutory deadline came and went without a valid opt-out. Haberbush argued that forcing the party into the June primary under those circumstances was unconstitutional under the judge’s own logic. He said the injunction had to be filed by Friday or the court would likely dismiss it under laches.
Eastman, who co-initiated the original litigation, told the committee the case was well-positioned for eventual U.S. Supreme Court review. He compared it to a case he argued 25 years ago, California Democratic Party v. Jones, and called the March 31 ruling “about 80% there.”
Opposition centered on timing and candidate impact. One member argued that unaffiliated voters receiving a Republican ballot amounted to free name recognition for candidates heading into a general election, especially in competitive districts. Laura Carno argued that candidates — many heading to assembly the following day — had already built campaign strategies around unaffiliated participation and that changing the rules mid-primary hurt them directly. CD3 Representative Peters, who said he had consulted outside attorneys familiar with the suit, warned the injunction was likely to fail given the active election cycle and that counter-lawsuits could follow.
Secretary and Treasurer Russ Andrews noted that most prior litigation costs had been covered by an outside institute in California rather than party funds and that the party’s finances were thin. Haberbush said the retainer agreement with current counsel did not put the party on the hook for legal fees.
The 15-9 vote closes the door on any party action to restrict the June 30 primary to registered Republicans. Unaffiliated voters, who make up more than half of Colorado’s active registered voters, will receive both Republican and Democratic primary ballots as currently scheduled.
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