Tom Stone, former chairman of the Eagle County Board of Commissioners, said Friday that he is running to unseat state GOP chairman Dick Wadhams.
“Republicans have suffered losses in the last three elections, and it’s time to turn things around,” said Stone, 55, who owns a real estate and development firm in Gypsum. “I think Dick Wadhams has done a good job, but I think it’s time to move on. I feel my collaborative style of leadership is exactly what the party needs. Dick doesn’t offer that.”
The election is March 21.
Wadhams, known for his hard-hitting rhetoric and at-times brutal campaign tactics, said Friday that he was “proud” of his accomplishments during his two-year term: paying off a $597,000 debt that preceded him, personally visiting 46 out of 64 counties in the state and attracting a “record-breaking” 70,000 Republicans to the precinct caucuses.
“The Colorado Republican Party is much stronger financially and organizationally at the end of my first term as chairman,” he said.
Stone is running his three-week campaign by car, by phone and by computer. He plans to drive to as many counties as he can, call as many of the roughly 500 Republicans who vote at the election as possible and get the word out on Facebook and Twitter.
And he said he is re-crafting the GOP message to show voters how the party’s principles affect their daily lives.
“There was a Harvard study recently that showed that the largest factor in rising house costs is government regulations,” Stone said. “When we talk about limited government, we need to talk about what it really means.”
