A recent exchange with a radio talk show host reveals the disconnect between the newly elected chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, Dave Williams, and the reality of an electorate that has rejected Republicans for four straight elections.

The legendary Peter Boyles of 710 KNUS contends that Colorado Republicans were mired in the “stench” of defeated former President Donald Trump’s stolen election conspiracy theories in 2022 that resulted in massive Republican losses.

Williams, who has consistently said the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump, disagreed saying he would need “empirical evidence” before conceding the damage done by Trump. A few days before former Colorado Republican Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown left office, she released the results of a poll of unaffiliated voters conducted in February that showed Trump and his stolen election conspiracies are terribly unpopular and are barriers to considering support for Republicans.

Unaffiliated voters comprise 46 percent of the electorate with Democrats at 27.6 percent and Republicans at only 24.5 percent as of March 1, 2022

Overall, unaffiliated voters are souring on Democrats and their dangerous policies that coddle criminals, encourage illegal drug abuse, and tolerate rampant homelessness.

But the poll also says Trump is “deeply unpopular among unaffiliated voters with barely half of conservatives holding a favorable opinion” and that “over half of likely voters say that Trump and election denial are the main reasons not to vote Republican.”

Trump lost Colorado to Hillary Clinton by four points in 2016 and that was the high point of Trump’s performance in the past four elections. Trump was deeply unpopular in 2018 when Republicans lost every statewide election along with losing control of the Colorado State Senate.

Trump’s approval was mired in the mid-30’s with disapproval in the mid50’s according to public polling at the time.

Trump lost Colorado by fourteen

Trump’s obsession with conspiracies following his defeat in 2020, his despicable efforts to overturn the results of the Electoral College and his acquiescence to the attack on the U.S. Capitol, set the stage for the drubbing of Colorado Republicans in 2022.

points when he was unseated by Joe Biden in 2020. Trump’s drag on Republicans took down incumbent U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner who ran ahead of Trump by five points but he still lost by nine.

Trump’s obsession with conspiracies following his defeat in 2020, his despicable efforts to overturn the results of the Electoral College, and his acquiescence to the attack on the U.S. Capitol, set the stage for the drubbing of Colorado Republicans in 2022.

Republican candidates lost every statewide race along with the new 8th Congressional District and all seven competitive races for the state Senate.

Williams and other MAGA conspiracy loyalists contend that had those Republicans campaigned in the image of Trump, they would have won, which flies in the face of the near-disaster in the overwhelmingly Republican 3rd Congressional District.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert was expected to win easily in a newly configured district that had a nine-point Republican performance advantage. It would be hard to find a more loyal and outspoken MAGA acolyte than Boebert who made pilgrimages to Mara Lago. Her Democratic opponent was ignored by national Democrats and yet she barely won reelection by just 546 votes despite that massive Republican advantage in her district. Boebert initially blamed Republican statewide candidates for pulling her down but they actually did much better in CD3 than she did. All but one of those statewide candidates totally rejected MAGA conspiracy theories.

Meanwhile, Williams has confirmed he offered positions to his six former opponents to work in Colorado Republican state headquarters although they would have to raise the money to pay for their own salaries.

Criminally indicted Tina Peters might be hired. Peters goes to trial in August on several criminal indictments for illegally tampering with election equipment in Mesa County when she was county clerk. Williams said Peters could lead the party’s efforts on “election integrity.” No joke.

Also on tap to possibly work on the Williams staff is Aaron Wood, who organized the “Save Colorado Project” rally in November where speakers declared “RINOs” (“Republicans in Name Only”) were “traitors, liars, whores and ass wipes.” Later, a rally participant said it was time to consider “bullets over ballots.”

The rally personally attacked Kristi Burton Brown for allegedly having a “plastic smile” after having work done on her face. Maybe Wood can lead outreach to suburban women. The “empirical evidence” of Trump’s damage to Colorado Republicans is right in front of Williams.