DELTA, Colorado (AP) — The chairwoman of the Delta County Republican Party who was accused of favoritism and posting a racist meme on her Facebook page has resigned.
Party officials were upset after a photo compared President Barack Obama to a chimpanzee appeared on Linda Sorenson web page, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported (http://tinyurl.com/h3nbu3s ).
Sorenson stepped down after an accountability meeting was convened by the county's Republican Central Committee investigating the allegations. She announced her decision to resign in an email to supporters.
The committee was investigating allegations that Sorenson and others made that her Facebook page was "hacked" and whether she violated party rules by endorsing a primary candidate.
Sorenson said her Facebook page was hacked, but Colorado Party Chairman Steve House said that was not the case.
Don Suppes, mayor of Orchard City, who is running for the Delta County Commission, said he wasn't at the meeting, but he got the email and agreed with the decision.
"There's no room for racism, intended or unintended, in society," he said. "It's best for the party, best for the county, that she step down."
Party members said Sorenson also urged people to vote for U.S. Senate candidate Daryl Glenn, even though six Republicans were competing for the right to challenge Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in the June 28 Republican primaries. Glenn won the primary.
Under party rules, officials of state and local parties, including their leaders, are not allowed to endorse one primary candidate over another.
"That is one of the hardest parts of that job," Suppes said. "You have to stay neutral no matter how strong your feelings are one way or another. You have to stay neutral."
