DENVER (KDVR) — The Colorado Republican Party has a new chairperson after the party elected former county treasurer and volunteer fire chief Brita Horn to the role, following a year of infighting related to the previous party chair.
Horn, who served as Routt County treasurer from 2012 to 2018 and is currently the chief of the Rock Creek Volunteer Fire Department, thanked her team and supporters for their “dedication, hard work, and belief in our vision” in a Facebook post Sunday morning. Her election comes as then-Colorado GOP chair Dave Williams faced numerous calls for his removal last year after sending an email from the state party stating that “God hates flags,” and then posting to X that Americans should “Burn all the #pride flags this June.”
On her website, Horn said the state GOP “needs a rescue plan, and it needs it now.”
“The Colorado GOP is in trouble,” she said. “Our state party is out of funds and lacks a clear strategy to win elections. But I’m not one to run from challenges. As a long-time political activist AND a fire chief, I’ve faced countless emergencies head-on, saving lives, protecting our community, all while defending our rights from an overreaching Democrat-controlled government.”
The Colorado Democratic Party on Saturday responded to the election, saying it still “promises to exacerbate the issues facing their Party following years of lawsuits, frustration, and national embarrassment.”
Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib called Horn the “perfect fit” for the current state of U.S. politics under President Donald Trump.
“Donald Trump demands that the Chair of the Colorado GOP bends the knee and puts Coloradans last in service of his agenda to jack up costs, make a joke of our veterans, gut Medicaid, and force you to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. It’s no surprise that the Colorado GOP elected Brita Horn — best known for using her government job to extract political favors and cost Routt County millions of dollars through her failed job as treasurer — to their top leadership spot. She’s a perfect fit for the new age of corruption that Trump requires of his puppets.”
Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib
Among Horn’s platform priorities for her first 100 days are to “unify the party,” strengthen county parties, election integrity, fundraising and financial integrity, candidate recruitment and voter registration.
Horn’s plan, according to her website, is to elect more republicans after 18 seats were left unchallenged last cycle, grow the party and fundraise to win.
“To succeed, we must adapt, pivot, and overcome any obstacles,” she said on her website. “It is up to each and every one of us to get the Republican candidates across the finish line.”
