State Rep. Dave Williams Begins GOP Primary Challenge To U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn

By Sara Wilson, Colorado Newsline

December 14, 2021

Republican state Rep. Dave Williams announced his bid Tuesday to unseat longtime Rep. Doug Lamborn in next year’s primary election.

“Our new district deserves a new Congressman with a proven conservative record of always fighting for regular workers and families and never selling out to corrupt DC power brokers the way Doug Lamborn already has so many times,” Williams said in a statement announcing his candidacy.

Lamborn has represented Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, centered on Colorado Springs, since 2007. The redrawn district is limited to El Paso County and leans 20 percentage points to the right.

The Republican incumbent is currently under investigation from the House Ethics Committee into allegations that he allowed his son to live in the U.S. Capitol basement and directed his staff to perform personal tasks for him and his wife. Additionally, he is facing a federal lawsuit from a former staffer that alleges he did not have employees follow COVID-19 protocols.

Williams said Lamborn’s defeat is a moral and political necessity, and called him a RINO — a pejorative meaning “Republican in name only.”

“Lamborn’s lack of effective leadership and compromised integrity have cost our community dearly over the last 15 years all while he’s been getting rich off the backs of taxpayers who never voted to give him, his wife, nor his kids our tax dollars so they can just help themselves while abusing staff and volunteers who are just trying to save America from the Democrats,” Williams said.

Williams has represented House District 15 since 2017. In the General Assembly, he has sponsored bills consistent with far-right conservative politics, including one to expand who can request election recounts and one to prohibit abortions after 22 weeks. He also introduced legislation that would have allowed any Colorado law enforcement officer to arrest undocumented people living in the state.

“It’s not difficult to know what kind of Congressman I will be because during my service in the State House I’ve been a passionate advocate for the working families of Colorado and been an outspoken leader to expose and fix election fraud and to stop illegal immigration,” he said, also adding his positions against abortion, for gun rights and against tax increases.

Williams joins Rebecca Keltie, Christopher Mitchell and Brandon Kyle Mimiaga in the primary challenge against Lamborn.

At the end of September, Lamborn had just under $450,000 in his campaign account. His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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