Colorado Republican Party threatens to ignore presidential primary after making candidates pay thousands of dollars for access to the ballot

After making presidential candidates pay up to $40,000 to participate in Colorado's Republican presidential primary, the State GOP is now threatening to ignore the results of the primary if former President Donald Trump isn't on the ballot.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled this week that Trump engaged in an insurrection on January 6 and, under the 14th Amendment, is ineligible to run for office.

The Implications of the Colorado GOP's decision are significant. The presidential primary determines how delegates are awarded at the national convention, where the candidate with the most delegates from each state becomes the party's nominee. 

Colorado Republican Party Chair Dave Williams says, if the leading GOP candidate isn't on the ballot, state Republicans will award delegates at caucuses instead.

"We're trying to make the best choice out of a very bad situation," he said. 

Williams says he would prefer to use the results of the primary, but he says the Colorado Supreme Court left him no choice.

"When you have unelected judges who are appointed by our opposition party dictating who we may nominate and who we may potentially vote on, we can't allow that to stand," he said. 

The Colorado Secretary of State's Office says, if Williams follows through, he will likely end up in court. But he may win. 

State law says political parties "shall use the results of the election to allocate national delegate votes in accordance with the party's rules."

"The fact is it's a private party and they have a right to nominate the way they want to nominate," said former Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Taheri. 

But she says moving to a caucus could upset some of the Republican candidates.

The state party required every presidential candidate to pay up to $40,000 for access to the ballot, and they had to go on social media and say they were excited about it.

"I'm embarrassed every time I see it on X(Twitter): somebody announcing their excitement which is really just something they're being required to say to get on the ballot," said Taheri, who is a member of the Colorado Republican Party Central Committee. "But what redress does a candidate have, is it to get their $40,000 back? That's almost not even worth going to court for."

Williams says the money would give candidates access to the caucus instead.

"No campaign has contacted me yet, objecting to what we're doing," he said. 

He says he simply wants to give every candidate a chance to compete fairly, even as some members of the state GOP's Central Committee try to force a vote next month to endorse Trump and ask the other candidates to withdraw. 

Taheri opposes the effort. Williams says he would prefer the party not endorse any candidate, but he says he can't stop a vote if 25% of the central committee wants it.

"I don't know what will happen but I can only imagine in light of the Supreme Court ruling to kick Donald Trump off the ballot, it only makes it that much more likely that the endorsement will pass," he said. 

Williams needs permission from the Republican National Committee before he can change how delegates are awarded. 

He is hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the State Supreme Court's ruling and make the change unnecessary.