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When Victor Marx decided to run for governor of Colorado, a Republican National Committee leader gave him some advice: “You have to unite the party,” Marx recalled during his election watch party on Tuesday, June 30.
“And I did. … Against me,” Marx quipped.
The GOP race is still too close to call. But as of Thursday night, Marx was leading by just over 2,000 votes, according to preliminary results from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. The controversial ministry leader and political newcomer has received 39.84% of the votes, compared to 39.44% for State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and 20.72% for State Rep. Scott Bottoms.
It’s the culmination of an ugly and absurd primary battle, during which the candidates have had to confront extreme parts of their politics, including Kirkmeyer’s past effort to make northern Colorado its own state and Bottoms’ baseless claim that pedophile rings are operating at the State Capitol. Marx’s many strange tales have attracted the most attention, however. The list includes claiming to kill a man at age 7, performing exorcisms over the phone, and allegedly exaggerating the impact of his humanitarian work.
Though Marx may soon claim victory in the race, the close result and contentious primary reflect ongoing disunity within the Colorado Republican Party.
Running for governor in Colorado is a tall order for any Republican; it has been more than 23 years since the party won a gubernatorial race in the solidly blue state. The difficulty is exacerbated for a candidate as polarizing as Marx. Even some of Colorado’s most provocative right-wingers have disavowed Marx, including recently-freed election conspiracist Tina Peters and Joe Oltmann, a podcaster who called for political executions.
Both Kirkmeyer and Bottoms have said they will not support Marx in the general election if he is the nominee. A member of Bottoms’ campaign team, Trent Leisy, is already spreading unsubstantiated accusations of election fraud, suggesting the vote was somehow rigged in favor of Marx.
Chase Woodruff and Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline
Even the Democratic gubernatorial nominee is getting frustrated. Following his primary victory, Attorney General Phil Weiser told 9News that the entire state is “worse off” when the local GOP is this uncompetitive.
“It’s not healthy for any state to have one party who’s dominant because another party is dysfunctional,” Weiser said. “If the Republicans aren’t putting forward functional Republican candidates, it makes my job harder because I’ve got to look harder for that counterargument. … I want to make sure I’m in relationship, I’m in dialogue with Republicans.”
Former chair of the Colorado GOP, Brita Horn, stepped down just two months before the primary election, citing party division and legal attacks. Her resignation was the third in under a year, coming one month after vice chair Richard Holtorf quit, and nine months after Holtorf’s predecessor, Darrel Phelan, did the same. Both Holtorf and Phelan blamed their departures on an inability to work with Horn.
Amid this power struggle, the party is also facing financial strain. The Colorado Republican Committee was over $270,000 in debt and had less than $43,000 cash on hand at the end of May, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The financial issues can be traced to a legal battle between Horn and previous party chair Dave Williams over an effort to recall Williams for, in part, his anti-LGBTQ statements, endorsing candidates in a previous Republican primary, and using party resources to promote his own failed run for Congress.
The party’s newly elected chair, Craig Steiner, seems to be a return to form for the Colorado GOP. The software engineer describes himself as a “Reagan Republican.” He is hesitant to speak about election denialism and says he briefly left the GOP after President Donald Trump’s election in 2016, though Steiner went on to support Trump in the 2020 and 2024 elections.
But even if Steiner himself is more even-keeled, he is now tasked with convincing the state’s mostly unaffiliated voters to rally behind a candidate who could not even secure majority support in the Republican primary.
“[Primary voters] are definitely sending a mixed message,” Steiner said in a 9News interview. “On one hand, we have a very experienced Barbara Kirkmeyer. … At the same time, we have a very similar number of people who are looking for an outsider,” he added, referring to Marx.
“That will be an interesting bridge to build.”
