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Both Parties Re-Elect Chairmen

Credit Call photo courtesy @RyanRCall on Twitter / Palacio photo courtesy coloradodems.org

Democrats and Republicans keep their local leadership. 

When he was first elected in March of 2011, Ryan Call inherited a divided and divisive party. He told the GOP they needed to reach out to Latinos and unaffiliated voters – sound familiar?

Call defeated former Douglas County GOP chairman Mark Baisley, 272 votes to Baisley’s 158 2/3, while Democrats re-elected Rick Palacio as chairman. He ran unopposed.

“…Interestingly he [Call] has recently unveiled a complete new package he says which fundamentally changes the way the Colorado Republican Party engages with voters,” said Colorado Statesman Publisher Jody Hope Strogoff in an interview with KUNC earlier this week.

When asked about Call’s record during his first term, Strogoff says “if you look at the record of wins and losses – not well. The primary race which was for president the Republicans as we know lost. Mitt Romney also failed to carry Colorado which was one of the real hopes of the state Republican Party. They also lost control of the state house. This follows 2010 when they lost the Governor’s seat and an open U.S. Senate seat so the trend hasn’t been looking for Republicans and it certainly wasn’t bolstered this past election.”

Republicans gave an unexpectedly strong showing at the party’s reorganization meeting at Cherry Creek High School in Denver. Democrats met in downtown Denver.

Call and Palacio will both serve two-year terms.

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