To the editor:

A recent editorial in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel requires a response.

First and most importantly, the local party does not set the election rules, nor does the state Republican party. Those decisions are made by the State Legislature. I am, as the local party chair, not allowed to alter those rules.

You might be surprised to learn that in 2020, when the Legislature altered the rules for the caucus/assembly because of COVID, I made a proposal for that year that we suspend the caucus/assembly process out of safety concerns. I was unsuccessful in that attempt.

Just last fall, the state GOP heard a debate at our fall meeting about suspending our participation in the primary. I was one of the leaders to keep the GOP in that process in spite of the knowledge that our opponents on the left were going to use the open primary process to attempt to influence the candidates in the Republican primary. 

One of the reasons there are no Democrats on the local ballots this year is the attempt for them to do just what was described above. We have seen countless letters in the Daily Sentinel urging Democrats to go unaffiliated and vote in the Republican primary instead.

I have long been a proponent of having as many candidates as possible to encourage the debate necessary in our political system. I have been chastised about this for years, but I do not view it as the job of the county chair to be the arbiter of who belongs on the ballot. 

That decision belongs to the voters.

It is the job of the candidates to convince those voters.

That process starts with the caucus, which the Mesa County Republican Party held on March 5. It took about 2 hours to complete the caucus. (Not really that significant amount of time). The party chose that date in order to give a maximum amount of time for candidates to campaign before the assembly. 

This year’s Republican assembly was held on March 26. Out of 413 delegates possible, we had 353 voting delegates. Those delegates voted on candidates for the following offices: county commissioner District 2, county clerk and recorder, county sheriff, county coroner, county assessor, county surveyor, county treasurer, and Colorado House District 55 and Colorado Senate District 7.

We had three contested races —  county commissioner, county clerk and county sheriff. Those three races produced two contested primary races — county clerk and county sheriff.

The voting and rules for the races are set out by Colorado state statutes, the Colorado Republican Party bylaws and the Mesa County Republican bylaws.

I do find it odd that the Daily Sentinel is complaining about an event they chose not to cover live. Yes, Tina Peters was there campaigning for secretary of state. So was U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert. So were candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and other statewide races. 

Seems like it might have been an event your local hometown newspaper would have wanted to cover live. They might even have learned why the voters voted the way they did in various races. The Daily Sentinel chose not to and to complain after the fact about the outcomes.

The caucus assembly process is a pain in the butt for county boards. It takes a tremendous amount of time and effort, costs a big chunk of money and always leaves unhappy feelings from losing candidates. 

It is also the closest thing in our political process to the way our country was formed and what the founders envisioned. Groups of people gathering with their neighbors to discuss the issues of the day and who is the best person to handle those problems. 

It was and is the founding basis of our republic. It would be a shame to dismiss them in order to make the political process easier.

Kevin McCarney, Chairman 

Mesa County Republican Party