State Rep. Mike Lynch, the embattled top Colorado House Republican whose 2022 drunken driving arrest was revealed to the public and to other legislators last week, said Wednesday he was stepping down as minority leader.
Lynch made his announcement from the House floor, shortly after sending an email to the 18 other members of the Republican caucus. He is not resigning from the House overall. His decision came one week after The Denver Post first reported on his arrest.
He narrowly survived a first no-confidence vote Monday and was facing a second one Thursday, but in his speech, he said that efforts to oust him did not influence his decision.
“I wanted to be clear that I’m not stepping down because I won a close vote of no confidence. I’m not stepping down because a failed state party chair tried to influence the actions in this House,” he said from the House floor. Dave Williams, a former legislator and current chair of the Colorado GOP, was present at a Tuesday meeting at which Republican legislators criticized Lynch. “I am stepping down because it is the right thing to do because I’ve become a distraction for my caucus and that is getting in the way of the hard work.”
A three-term Wellington legislator, Lynch has served as minority leader since November 2022, taking over after the death of then-Minority Leader Hugh McKean. Lynch is also running in a crowded primary for the 4th Congressional District, a race that includes U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert.
Considered a relative moderate in a caucus that’s long been split along ideological fault lines, Lynch’s position as the top Republican in the House has been on the brink of collapse for several days amid fallout from his 2022 arrest.
On Jan. 17, The Denver Post reported that Lynch had been arrested for drunken driving and for a weapons charge in September 2022. During that altercation, he briefly reached for a handgun in his pocket and asked the Colorado State Patrol trooper arresting him to keep the incident quiet. He later pleaded guilty and remains on probation through June.
His arrest was a secret in the Capitol, even among his Republican colleagues. He was elected minority leader just weeks after the incident.
Right-wing members of his caucus, spurred on by Colorado Republican Party chair and former legislator Williams, had moved to oust Lynch from leadership this week. Lynch narrowly survived a 9-9 no-confidence vote on Monday. That vote did not include conservative Republican Rep. Stephanie Luck, who recently had a baby and has been excused from House floor work.
During that Monday meeting, Lynch said he didn’t believe his arrest had negatively impacted his ability to serve as minority leader. But three members of his caucus openly called on him to step down, in part because they felt the arrest had been hidden and also because they felt they were losing a moral high ground to Democrats, who until recently had been plagued with reporting about their own internal turmoil. Democratic House Speaker Julie McCluskie, for instance, told reporters on Tuesday that Republicans needed to get their house in order.
After Tuesday’s vote failed, Rep. Scott Bottoms, of Colorado Springs, called for another caucus meeting Wednesday for another no-confidence vote. Lynch and several other Republican lawmakers refused to attend that meeting, which quickly devolved into right-wing members of the caucus criticizing their leadership.
Williams, who is running for a separate congressional seat, sat in the back of the room and later called out questions to Bottoms that were critical of Lynch.
With more than half the caucus absent, no vote was taken Wednesday. But amid mounting criticism from critics within the caucus, Rep. Richard Holtorf, the House minority whip, announced that the caucus would meet Thursday morning for a second no-confidence vote.
With Lynch now out of leadership, Thursday’s meeting will now be used to elect his replacement from the other 18 House Republicans. His assistant minority leader, Colorado Springs Rep. Rose Pugliese, is one likely replacement. That would open up further jockeying for who would replace her in the no. 2 slot. Rep. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican, is also said to be interested in the role.
Some Republican legislators have privately called for a complete overhaul of their leadership team, including Holtorf (who’s also running for Congress) and caucus chair Rep. Mary Bradfield, who oversaw the contentious and poorly organized first no-confidence vote on Monday.
Rep. Ron Weinberg, a Loveland Republican, said he expected the minority leader race to be contested, and he lamented the spiraling infighting among legislators.
“What’s there to say?” he said. “Just when you think things cant get any worse in this building.”
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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