DENVER — Republican Victor Marx’s unconventional first campaign for public office ended Tuesday when AP projections showed Democrat Phil Weiser would become the winner of Colorado’s race for governor.
With 11.6% of precincts reporting, Weiser led Marx 75.3% to 24.7% as of 7:17 p.m. Tuesday.
Watch Denver7's coverage of this race call in the video below:
Marx, a longtime religious nonprofit leader who had never previously run for office, emerged from a closely contested Republican primary to become his party’s nominee. He campaigned as a political outsider and argued that Colorado voters were frustrated with the direction of the state.
Before Election Day, Marx sat down with Denver7 for an extensive interview about what he believed had propelled his candidacy.
“It’s more than an election; it’s a crisis point,” Marx told Denver7. “The pain point people feel from the Western Slope to inner city… they’re done with politics as normal, and they’re done with the one-party rule.”
He predicted that the political moment was right for a Republican victory.
“The timing is just right for me to win,” Marx said.
Instead, Coloradans chose differently.
An outsider takes the Republican nomination
Marx consistently portrayed himself as an alternative not only to Democrats, but also to the Republican establishment.
Asked by Denver7 where he fit within the Republican Party, Marx called himself a “Western conservative centrist.”
“They’ve tried to place me in MAGA,” Marx said. “I’m like, ‘I’ve never worn a hat.’ I appreciate Trump as a president; I like his leadership in some areas. Others, I don’t agree with.”
Marx noted that President Donald Trump had not endorsed his campaign and said he was not seeking the endorsement.
“I’m here to help the people of Colorado, and I’ve seen the dysfunction as an outsider,” he said.
That approach also meant rejecting some conventional campaign tactics.
Before the Republican primary, Denver7, The Denver Post and Colorado Public Radio held a debate with two of Marx’s opponents, state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and state Rep. Scott Bottoms. Marx declined the invitation.
Asked about that decision after winning the nomination, Marx was unapologetic.
“Debates don’t win elections, and the fact that I’m sitting here as the nominee proves my point,” he told Denver7.
Marx said his campaign instead focused on rallies and direct outreach to voters.
“I’ve always wanted to reach the people of Colorado to find out what their pain is, and to start putting solutions together and run a campaign differently in order to win,” he said.
What Marx said he would do as governor
As the general election approached, Marx focused heavily on affordability, crime and the size and effectiveness of state government.
He gave Polis an “F” for his eight years as governor, arguing Colorado had become less affordable and less safe.
On Medicaid, Marx rejected a Denver7 question that presented cutting eligibility, benefits or provider reimbursement as three potential ways to contain growing costs.
Instead, he said he would order an audit of the program and use zero-based budgeting to identify fraud and waste, arguing that savings could be redirected toward services and potentially TABOR refunds.
“The key is to audit it, put the right people in the places of leadership. Measure outcomes,” he said.
Marx also promised to fight for Colorado’s share of the Colorado River and said he would appoint a water liaison in the governor’s office.
Asked whether he would accept mandatory reductions in Colorado’s river allocation during dry years, he did not directly answer at first.
When Denver7 asked whether his position amounted to fighting such cuts, Marx said, “Well, we shouldn’t have to.”
Marx also attributed Colorado’s destructive wildfires more to forest management practices than to human-caused climate change.
“I’d say poor management of our forestry system is more to blame than anything,” he said when asked whether human-caused climate change was contributing to increasingly destructive fires and floods.
Faith played a central role
Marx’s Christian faith was a prominent part of his public identity and campaign.
Before entering politics, Marx and his wife, Eileen, founded All Things Possible Ministries, a religious nonprofit involved in humanitarian and trauma-support work.
The Denver Post reported that Marx’s nonprofit had spent more than $4.3 million on overseas efforts in recent years, according to tax records. The newspaper also reported that Marx worked in support, funding and training roles on humanitarian missions in the Middle East and Myanmar.
Marx told Denver7 there should be no conflict between his public expressions of faith and the constitutional separation of church and state.
“The separation of church and state is not to keep people of faith out of the public domain, politics,” Marx said. “It’s to keep the government out of people’s faith.”
He said he was “not someone that is running to be a minister.”
“I’m running to uphold our constitution, to be here for the people, and protect all faiths,” he said.
Marx on abortion
Abortion presented Marx with one of the sharper policy questions during his Denver7 interview.
Colorado voters enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution in 2024. Denver7 asked Marx whether he would support exceptions for rape or incest if an abortion ban were considered.
Marx did not directly answer yes or no.
“For me, I tell people simply this: [I’m] for life,” he said.
Marx discussed his own childhood and said his mother became pregnant with him under violent circumstances. He also described encountering a young girl during his humanitarian work whose pregnancy threatened her life.
“I’m just for life, all the way around, best we can,” Marx said.
When Denver7 asked whether that meant he opposed rape and incest exceptions, Marx responded: “I am happy with my answer.”
Asked whether he would try to rescind the protections already in Colorado’s constitution, Marx said, “It is what it is, right now.”
Questions about Marx’s biography
Marx also entered politics with an extraordinary personal history that became a source of both interest and scrutiny during his campaign.
The Denver Post reported that Marx has said he suffered profound childhood abuse, including that his stepfather forced him to kill a man when Marx was 7 years old. The newspaper reported that aspects of Marx’s account were difficult to independently verify and that the sheriff in the Mississippi county where Marx said the killing occurred had not responded to its requests for comment.
Denver7 asked Marx directly about the experience he described.
“It was devastating,” Marx said. “That was one incident in my young childhood of many that was horrible, horrific.”
Marx has also faced questions about statements he made concerning whether his actions could have resulted in deaths while he was an adult.
He told Denver7 those statements referred to humanitarian missions in combat zones in the Middle East, where he said he sometimes traveled with Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
Marx said there were occasions when his group came under fire and he returned fire in self-defense. But he said he could not say whether he had killed someone.
“I cannot tell you that I ended someone’s life because I didn’t go and check,” Marx said.
The Denver Post previously reported that another humanitarian who worked with Marx confirmed Marx had traveled and worked in the region, primarily in support, funding and training roles. The newspaper reported that it had been unable to independently verify some of Marx’s other claims about his overseas experiences.
Campaign finance violations
Marx’s campaign also faced scrutiny over excessive campaign contributions.
A state hearing officer found Marx’s campaign committed 200 violations of contribution limits and 10 violations involving cash contribution limits, totaling more than $83,000 in excess contributions, and imposed a fine of more than $57,000.
Marx told Denver7 his campaign planned to appeal the decision, while defending his team’s handling of the donations.
“We brought so many people into this political process who’ve never given. They don’t know the rules of giving, and there were so many people that were so generous that they were giving. We got overwhelmed,” Marx said.
He said excess contributions had been returned and acknowledged the campaign had since changed its procedures.
The campaign’s final verdict
Throughout the campaign, Marx argued that his lack of conventional political experience was an asset rather than a liability.
He told Denver7 that if elected, he expected to work with lawmakers who had opposed him and described himself as a negotiator rather than a debater.
“I’m looking forward to working with people who maybe, perhaps right now, don’t want me in office or don’t agree with me,” Marx said. “But if the people elect me, I think folks will be surprised.”
Near the end of Denver7’s interview, Marx was asked to choose three words to describe the governor he hoped to be.
“Measured, prayerful, and intentional to help the people of Colorado,” he answered.
But on Tuesday, Colorado voters chose Weiser to become the state’s next governor.
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