Nine Republican candidates for next year’s gubernatorial election participated in a debate this month hosted by the Denver Press Club, where they faced questions on host of issues that included the state budget, cost of living, and Medicaid.

Reporters Marianne Goodland and Ernest Luning of Colorado Politics moderated the debate.

Those candidates were:

• Sen. Mark Baisley of Roxborough Park, an engineer who was elected to the state legislature in 2018
• Bob Brinkerhoff, a retired state trooper
• Jason Clark, an Army veteran from Centennial on his third run for governor
• Jon Gray-Ginsberg, an IT professional and cybersecurity specialist from Frisco
• Joshua Griffin, a former Colorado State University football player and Army veteran
• Kelvin “K-Man” Wimberly, an Oklahoma native who has lived in Colorado for more than 50 years
• Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer of Brighton, a former Weld County Commissioner who was elected to the state legislature in 2020
• Greg Lopez, a former mayor and director of the Colorado branch of the Small Business Administration, who served as a U.S. Representative from 2024-2025
• Will McBride, a trial attorney from Lone Tree

How to balance the state budget

When asked how they would balance the state’s budget, which is currently facing a deficit of over $1 billion, several candidates suggested “cutting red tape” and slashing regulations.

Kirkmeyer argued that current Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, could “take care of this issue” right now if he wanted to and advocated for “across-the-board” budget cuts like, she said, former Gov. Bill Owens made during the 2001 recession.

McBride, meanwhile, advocated for eliminating the state income tax, adding that he plans to bring a ballot measure on the issue in the coming election. Doing so would bring $35 billion in revenue back to the state, McBride said, adding that he would “unleash free markets and slash government overreach.”

Lopez highlighted his experience serving on committee meetings for the federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), arguing that the state should adopt a similar approach to eliminate “zombie” programs. He also said he plans to move away from the state’s current practice of using baseline budgeting. Instead, he said he would submit three budgets to the General Assembly’s Joint Budget Committee: one based on the projected revenue for the upcoming fiscal year, one 10% above that, and one 10% below it.

State’s Medicaid program is mismanaged, candidates say

All nine candidates agreed that the state’s Medicaid program, Health First Colorado, is not functioning the way it should be. To fix this, some argued the state should end health care coverage for people who are in the country illegally.

Clark admitted his opinion on health care is “a little bit controversial” for a Republican: “I think that every American should have free health care.”

“However, the problem is that the government does it, and there’s nothing the government has ever done, other than our military, that works,” Clark said. “The way to solve it is to get the government out of health care.”

Gray-Ginsberg argued that Republicans should be more open to negotiating with Democrats on Obamacare to “break the deadlock”.

“It seems like the Democrats will budge if the Republicans move on health care issues,” he said.

Griffin alleged that his wife was fired from her job in health care because she “refused to deny veterans health care” when her workplace told her to prioritize care for “people of the illegal lot.”

He also expressed support for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s orders to remove certain artificial dyes from food and advocated for more education on healthy eating and exercise.

Candidates advocate for ‘cutting red tape’

The cost of living has consistently been a top worry for Colorado voters in recent years. When asked what two things they would do to make living in Colorado more affordable, many said they would reduce regulations and eliminate state-imposed taxes and fees.

If elected governor, Lopez said he would make sure the state is building starter homes that cost no more than $235,000.

“Our younger generations need to live the American Dream,” he said. “It can be done.”

Kirkmeyer said she would continue the work she’s done as a state senator on lowering property taxes and partner with local governments to find solutions to affordable housing issues, rather than work against them, as she believes the Polis administration has done.

Griffin said major corporations manipulated the housing market during the pandemic by purchasing single-family homes. If elected, he said he would return those homes to the people.

Griffin also advocated for a sovereign wealth fund, which he said would “allow us to invest in ourselves” and incentivize “Republican corporations” to come to rural parts of the state.

Clark, who admitted support for certain Libertarian positions, put it bluntly: “There is nothing the government’s going to do to reduce housing costs.”

Lightning round features questions about Peters, wolves, and working with the Democrats

During the lightning round, candidates were asked whether they would pardon Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk who was convicted of multiple charges tied to her role in tampering with election equipment and records during the 2020 election. The majority of candidates said they would pardon Peters, while Griffin said he would commute her sentence and Kirkmeyer said she would only consider a pardon “if faced with new facts” on the case.

All nine candidates said they supported removing gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act, which would allow them to be hunted and trapped. Gray wolves were reintroduced to Colorado in 2023 and have since caused an uproar among the ranching community for preying on livestock.

“There’s literally a thousand other things that are more important” than the wolves, Clark quipped.

Candidates were split on whether they’d ask their lieutenant governor to head a state agency or major office, as Polis has done with Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera and the Office of Saving People Money on Health Care.

McBride said he would task his lieutenant governor with focusing on education policy, while Clark said he would ask them to “fix our roads.”

Wimberly, Griffin, Baisley and Gray-Ginsberg said they would consider it, depending on that person’s specialties.

Kirkmeyer also said she would consider it, but “it would have to be a department, not an office,” while Lopez and Brinkerhoff said they would not do so.

Candidates also had mixed feelings on whether they’d support the deployment of military troops to Colorado, similar to what President Donald Trump has done in cities like Portland and Los Angeles.

Clark, a West Point graduate and former army officer, said he would not support it; McBride said the same. Baisley said the idea of using the military domestically made him “nervous,” but he would support it if it were necessary to assist law enforcement.

Griffin, who did 16 deployments to the Middle East, said he would never use the military as law enforcement “because we’re trained to kill, not to police.”

“When it comes to protecting our communities, I will rely on our police officers,” said Lopez, adding that he would ensure the state’s law enforcement understood that he would bring in the military if absolutely necessary.

When asked to name a Democrat they respected and believed they could work with politically, McBride, Wimberly and Griffin could not answer.

Lopez named U.S. Rep Diana DeGette, whom he worked with during his time in Congress.

“We both share the love of Colorado, and I think we both understand that it’s about people,” he said.

Both Kirkmeyer and Baisley said Rep. Shannon Bird, a moderate Democrat from Westminster who sits on the Joint Budget Committee. Clark named former President Barack Obama, Brinkerhoff said U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and Gray-Ginsberg pointed to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“Even though we’re different, she cares,” he said. “I want Ms. Cortez in Cortez, Colorado.”

Even if a Republican were elected governor, they would likely have to work with a Democratic majority in both chambers of the legislature, the candidates. The two current state lawmakers also said their strategies for working with Democrats involve showing respect and finding common ground.

“I beat up the bills, I don’t beat up the person,” said Baisley, who has sponsored a number of bipartisan measures during his time in the legislature.

Wimberly agreed, saying he would listen to the other party’s concerns and “see what works and what doesn’t work.”

Lopez and McBride called for an end to the name-calling and divisiveness from both sides so we can focus more on what brings us together.

“Put people over politics,” McBride said.

Clark, with a shoutout to a member of the Colorado Libertarian Party in attendance, said, “We don’t need to work with the other side” if there is less government.

The Denver Press Club will be hosting a Democratic debate later this year.