Donna Ellingsen Persecution Back — The persecution of popular Chesco GOP Area 19 Chairwoman Donna Ellingsen has restarted.
Mrs. Ellingsen was subjected to a bizarre purge attempt by allies of County Boss Val DiGirogio in early 2016 alleging that she violated party bylaws in supporting a candidate other than the nominated one.
It was thought that her overwhelming re-election in April 2016 and her easy election as area chair in June 2017 put the matter to rest.
Oh well.
Mrs. Ellingsen announced in late December she was running for State Committee. Val’s heart must have been warmed by that bit of Christmas news. In early January, Mrs. E got a letter from the county GOP demanding she appear before a new inquisition on Feb. 19 for something or other. They weren’t exactly clear about what. She is trying to find that out but they aren’t telling her despite repeated requests.
She also got a letter from county voter services — run, certainly coincidently, by Kara Rahn who is wife of Val confident Alex Rahn and previous Area 1 chair– demanding all spending receipts going back to 2014.
Donna notes that she has chaired her area since 2017 but is not the treasurer who is responsible for record keeping and financial filings. She was nevertheless told by Chesco Voter Services not to destroy the records she doesn’t have.
Donna further notes that she will run for the Republican State Committee post whether the party establishment endorses her or not. Obviously Val wants her out. The well-connected operator won his promotion to state GOP Chairman by just two votes a year ago.
For the record, Donna happily endorses Sheriff Bunny Welsh for state committee and points out that she couldn’t run against her if she wanted to as Donna is in Republican State Committee Region 2 and Bunny is in Region 3. Rumors had been spread — who could have done that Val? — that Donna was taking on the popular sheriff.