First & Fourteenth prevailed for the National Republican Congressional Committee and members of Colorado’s Republican congressional delegation in opposing the Colorado Republican Party’s, and later state candidates’, effort to change the primary rules on the eve of the 2026 primary election in Colorado.
The Colorado Republican Party in federal court, and later state candidates in state court, sought to bar the Secretary of State from including unaffiliated voters in the June 30, 2026 Republican primary—just days before certification and ballots were scheduled to be mailed. Both courts denied the requests.
First, the federal court held that the Colorado Republican Party missed the statutory deadline to opt out of Colorado’s semi-open primary system and was seeking relief not supported by state law. The court further emphasized that changing election rules so close to an election risks voter confusion and administrative disruption under the Purcell principle.
Second, the state court declined to grant similar emergency relief, finding that the candidates’ delay satisfied the requirements of laches and that, as individual party members, they lacked a legally protected interest sufficient to establish standing. For those reasons, and given the burden a new primary voting system would impose on voters and election administration, the court declined to grant preliminary-injunctive relief.
As a result, the 2026 Republican primary will proceed under the existing semi-open system—the same system that has been used since 2018.
First & Fourteenth attorneys Chris Murray, Julian Ellis, and Erin Gust represented the NRCC and Colorado’s Republican congressional delegation.