Today, April 30, The Mountain-Ear received two letters from Gilpin County Republicans regarding the concerns one Commissioner candidate from District 1 has regarding the actions of the County Chair – who is, not coincidentally, the other District 1 Commissioner candidate and incumbent.

The first letter, from Jessica Kays, describes the concern she has about the ongoing campaign. This letter has been edited for length, primarily because it repeats what is set out clearly in the second letter. This is a formal complaint addressed to the Colorado State Republican Party. This complaint is included in its entirety.

From: Kays for Commissioner

Date: Tue, Apr 30, 2024 at 11:09 AM

Subject: Official Complaint

Filed - GOP Chair

Attached is a letter submitted to the Colorado State GOP, as well as Gilpin Republican Chair Marie Mornis detailing the May 2nd Republican Central Committee (GCRC) meeting.

You will find in the letter … the many attempts to reach out to Ms. Mornis about the event she is unilaterally planning – without consulting the Executive Board or the Committee as a whole. Questions have also been raised as to how the GCRC can host such an event, given the Pre-Primary Neutrality rules in the State and County by-laws.

Additionally, you will find Ms. Mornis’ refusal for a legitimate debate, hosted by a neutral party, included in the attachments. This debate would have allowed for both campaigns to collaborate on an event that was agreed to on all levels….

While I wish this email did not have to be sent, you will find that in the letter we asked for the May 2nd event to be canceled….Those of us that signed this letter believe Ms. Mornis needs to be held accountable for these despicable actions. This is a tragedy for the residents of Gilpin County, who truly deserve better.

Sincerely,

Jessica Kays

The second letter is published below, in its entirety.

April 25, 2024

Colorado GOP

5950 S. Willow Drive

Suite 210

Greenwood Village, CO 80111

RE: Gilpin County – Official Complaint Against an Officer (County Chair)

To Whom it May Concern:

Pursuant to Article XV, Section C. of the Colorado Republican State Central Committee Bylaws, the below individuals are submitting a formal complaint against Marie Mornis, Chair of the Gilpin County Republican Central Committee (GCRCC). While this process would typically fall to the local party, we find no confidence in her abilities to remain neutral or impartial. Her track-record clearly shows a constant inconsideration for conflicts of interest where she is personally involved or has a potential for benefit.

Ms. Mornis has received public backlash for the 2024 Caucus. The event purposefully excluded the participation of the entire Executive Committee, excluded communications with all candidates including information on presentations and speeches, Ms. Mornis exploited the Caucus for her personal gain by not only speaking nearly 4 minutes over the allotted time, she also presented her personal website before the start of the Caucus through introductions of the event. Furthermore, Ms. Mornis attempted to skew the delegates for County Assembly by removing legitimate delegates and replacing with herself and her supporters, or removing votes completely. Thanks to the diligent work of Hope Scheppelman and Christopher Patrick, the County Assembly had the proper delegates, and the event was conducted appropriately.

This complaint is directly tied to Article 1. Section 4. Pre-Primary Neutrality. We believe Ms. Marie Mornis has continuously violated this provision of the GCRCC bylaws.

GCRCC Chair (and Candidate) Marie Mornis contacted Jessica Kays (Candidate and GCRCC Treasurer) on Thursday, April 18th asking if she would be interested in a debate. Ms. Kays says she was interested so Ms. Mornis said she would be in communication on the details of the debate. The phone call ended after 1m 19s. During this short call, there were no details given.

Ms. Kays reached out to fellow party members about the possibility of the GCRCC debate and was reminded there was a debate being offered by the Editor of a local newspaper. This would be a large-format debate opportunity with extended notice to residents of Gilpin County. Given that additional information, Ms. Kays emailed Ms. Mornis within an hour to decline the event. She additionally called and left Ms. Mornis a voicemail stating the same. Since the initial phone call neither Ms. Kays, nor the Kays campaign, has been contacted by Ms. Mornis to discuss rules, format, advertisements, etc.

Weeks ago, Rick Wenzel (GCRCC Vice-Chair) proposed a wide, well-publicized debate hosted by The Mountain Ear. Last Thursday, Ms. Mornis tried to bulldoze a tiny, largely unpublicized debate, with little leadtime, made her own announcement, created her own rules, selected her own moderator, and chose her own forum with NO consultation or input from Ms. Kays or her campaign. Then, Ms. Mornis sent notice to members of the GCRCC via an e-mail service over which Ms. Mornis has sole and exclusive control. Information in the announcement directed residents to submit their questions to an email address solely controlled by Ms. Mornis.

Ms. Kays’ campaign NEVER agreed to any of this. Worse, she has no meaningful way to address these issues because Ms. Mornis refuses to respond to emails. Furthermore, Ms. Kays has no way of contacting any of the Gilpin Republican Party members due to the fact that Ms. Mornis has sole control over the email distribution services currently used by the GCRCC. Notices of the event continue to be distributed by supporters of Ms. Mornis (who are also GCRCC Committee Members) via social media. These notices are not simply reposts of the original notice, but edited to express information such as “If one of the candidates does not attend, the event will go on with other candidate(s)” and another which stated there would be “Limited Seating” at the debate. This is a reprehensible way for the Chair of the Gilpin Republican Party to conduct herself and this party’s business.

Ms. Mornis unilaterally decided to cancel the monthly meeting to promote herself. In doing so, the Gilpin GOP is losing precious time for planning and strategizing with an Election merely months away. We have ~90 minutes a month for our meetings, this is our opportunity to focus on earning seats in the General Election, it should not allowed or accepted for the County GOP Chair to abuse her position and commandeer the time we have to self-promote.

We ask that the debate be canceled, all publications be rescinded, and that the following statement be issued: “The GCRCC looks forward to hosting events in the future where we will ensure all campaigns are collaborated with to give the residents of Gilpin County an honest look at each Candidate for Commissioner.”

If there is no resolution, and the debate is not canceled by Monday, April 29, 2024, we will release all information to the public.

Sincerely,

Jessica Kays

GCRCC Treasurer

Candidate, Gilpin County Commissioner

Mary Lorenz,

Gilpin County Treasurer

Rick Wenzel,

GCRCC Vice-Chair

John Bryan,

GCRCC Precinct Captain

Chris Patrick,

GCRCC Precinct Captain

As of press time, Mornis has not responded to our email.

The Mountain-Ear will continue coverage of this important community news. For updates that happen between print dates, check out our website at www.themtnear.com.