In Rare Rebuke, GOP Leader Calls For Tina Peters To Suspend Campaign After Indictment

The leader of the Colorado GOP is asking one of the party’s candidates to abandon her 2022 statewide campaign.

Driving the news: Colorado Republican Party chairperson Kristi Burton Brown and other party leaders issued a statement Wednesday calling on secretary of state candidate Tina Peters to suspend her campaign for secretary of state after being indicted by a grand jury on 10 criminal charges related to election tampering.

What they’re saying: “It is our belief, as leaders of the Colorado Republican Party, that any Republican candidate who is indicted with felonies by a grand jury and who will be charged by a Republican district attorney should suspend their campaign while they undergo the legal challenges associated with those indictments,” the statement reads.

Why it matters: The criminal charges against Peters, who is favored by supporters of former President Trump, threatens to upend the GOP’s chances in a key race and spoil its broader message.

• Even before the charges, top Republican consultants told Axios Denver that Peters’ candidacy could prove “disastrous” for the party. Now those fears are being amplified.

Zoom in: Burton Brown, who previously sought to walk a fine line and not overtly criticize Peters, acknowledged the trouble ahead.

“The Republican Party is the party of law and order, and we need every Republican voter focused on getting Republicans and constitutional conservatives elected across Colorado in 2022,” she said in the statement. “Today, we are asking clerk Peters to consider what is best for the Republican Party in Colorado.”