Is it possible for Colorado Republicans to win the governor’s race in 2026?

Of all the elected positions in Colorado, the governor’s office has vexed Republicans for decades.

Democrats have won five consecutive elections for governor since Gov. Bill Owens was overwhelmingly reelected in 2002. Owens is the only Republican governor to be elected in the past 54 years.

Since then, Gov. Bill Ritter won in 2006, Gov. John Hickenlooper won in 2010 and 2014 and Gov. Jared Polis won in 2018 and 2022.

Before the razor-close victory by Owens in 1998, by just 8,151 votes, Democrats had won six straight elections for governor including Gov. Dick Lamm in 1974, 1978 and 1982 and Gov. Roy Romer in 1986, 1990, and 1994. Ironically, those six victories came after Republican Gov. John Love won three consecutive elections in 1962, 1966 and 1970.

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Owens was no sure thing in 1998. Romer was leaving office with very high approval ratings and the Democratic nominee, Gail Schoettler, was his lieutenant governor who benefited from Romer’s popularity.

Polis is term limited in 2026, so Republicans are emerging for the open seat.

The first Republican to announce is state Rep. Scott Bottoms of Colorado Springs who is a Navy veteran and pastor. He claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen from President Donald Trump and he is a defender of criminally convicted former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. Bottoms is a strong ally of the controversial outgoing chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, Dave Williams, who spent state party funds attacking Republican U.S. Reps. Jeff Crank, Jeff Hurd and Gabe Evans in competitive primaries.              

Also announced is state Sen. Mark Baisley of Douglas County who says he will fight against the “blatantly unconstitutional” policies of Democrats. Baisley says he will prioritize economic opportunity, education and public safety in his campaign.

There are other potential candidates:

After unsuccessful runs for the Republican nomination for governor in 2018 and 2022, former U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez won the special congressional election to serve out the term of U.S. Rep. Ken Buck who resigned in 2024. During the 2022 Republican State Assembly, he said as governor he would consider pardoning Tina Peters if she was convicted of illegally tampering with election equipment.

State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer is a former Weld County Commissioner who also served in the administration of Gov. Bill Owens. Kirkmeyer is a member of the powerful Joint Budget Committee where she has exposed the misuse of state funds on questionable Democratic projects. She was the Republican nominee for Congress in the newly created 8th Congressional District in 2022.

Dan Caplis is a prominent lawyer and Republican activist who has been a conservative radio talk-show host for many years. His daily radio show is on KHOW in Denver, KCSJ in Pueblo and Colorado Springs, and KCOL in Fort Collins.

Colorado Republicans have excellent state legislative leadership in Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen and House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese. Both would be strong candidates.

Former U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner was swept away in the anti-Trump fervor in Colorado in 2020 but he is a formidable statewide political figure.

Colorado remains very challenging for any Republican statewide candidate. More than 800,000 people have moved to Colorado since 2011 resulting in unaffiliated voters now making up 48.7% of the electorate with Democrats at 25.7% and Republicans trailing at 23.2%. These new voters were the driving force behind Donald Trump losing Colorado by 4 points to Hillary Clinton in 2016, by 14 points to Joe Biden in 2020 and by 11 points to Kamala Harris in 2024.

Mid-term elections are almost always problematic for the party that holds the presidency, so President Trump will probably not be an asset in 2026 as was the case in 2018 and 2022 when Democrats won every statewide election.

Further complicating the 2026 campaign is the incompetent and destructive Colorado Republican leadership that spends its time trying to expunge Republicans it considers impure even to the point of trying to cancel the 2026 Republican primary and disenfranchise 950,000 Republican voters.

Anyone who wants to be elected governor should take a hard look at why Owens won in 1998 and 2002 after six straight Democratic gubernatorial wins.

He ran on a mainstream conservative agenda to cut taxes, reform education and improve transportation that won the primary against a respected state Senate president and also won the general election. He did not dive to the far right in the primary thinking he could reel those positions back during the general election campaign.

Owens ran an aggressive, disciplined campaign that drove clear contrasts with his Democratic opponent and he did not allow himself to be pulled into extraneous, controversial issues that detracted from his agenda.

He was overwhelmingly reelected in 2002 by 62% to 33% because he implemented the agenda he ran on in 1998 and he left office with more than 65% approval by Colorado voters.

It will not be easy for a Republican to be elected governor next year but ruling Democrats seem intent on making Colorado as physically unsafe and fiscally unsound as they can. If Colorado is weary of Democratic Socialists running the state into the ground, a strong candidate who talks about the real issues could catch fire.

One thing is for sure. Claiming the 2020 presidential election was stolen, calling for the pardoning and release of the criminally convicted Tina Peters and seeking to cancel the 2026 Republican primary election are sure losers with the Colorado electorate.

Only a candidate with a clear mainstream agenda and the ability to draw contrasts with the Democratic candidate — as Bill Owens did — can possibly win.

Dick Wadhams is a former Colorado Republican state chairman who was campaign manager for Gov. Bill Owens in 1998 and served as his press secretary in the governor’s office.