Thursday night, The Gazette and KOAA TV hosted two important candidate debates. The first featured incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank, who is just completing his first term representing El Paso County in Congress, and Jessica Killian, a Democrat who has served in the Army and has years of experience working in Washington, D.C. 

The second debate was between gubernatorial candidates including Democrat Phil Weiser, current Colorado attorney general and unaffiliated candidate Greg Lopez, former mayor of Parker and a brief interim member of Congress.  

Both debates were civil, earnest and predictable. Little news was generated. Front-runners Crank and Weiser remain favorites. But newcomer underdog Killian won valued publicity and credit for holding her own with the better-known Crank, who has been involved in Colorado Springs civic and political life for more than three decades. 

First, some comments on the governor’s race. Much was made of Republican nominee Victor Marx’s deliberate absence. He is a self-described maverick who is running a race concentrating on social media and selective personal appearances. 

Marx hurt himself by not participating. He very narrowly won his party’s nomination. He has not been endorsed by President Donald Trump. He was endorsed in his primary by U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert but doesn’t seem to have won endorsements by other prominent Republicans. 

Marx is hurt, too, by the fact Lopez, the unaffiliated candidate, has been a long-term Republican and espouses mostly Republican views. 

Democrat Phil Weiser was a decided underdog in his primary race against U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. He was outspent 2-to-1 but won comfortably. He is now the favorite and has a major fundraising advantage.  

Weiser’s challenge Thursday night was to avoid gaffes, downplay his left-of-center views and emphasize thoughtful centrist positions. He succeeded, though sometimes sounded vague, stiff and a little professorial. He was a long-term professor and dean at the University of Colorado’s law school, and that shows.   

But he had nimble answers for the predictable questions on data centers, affordable housing, transportation needs and taxes. He was less clear about how his administration would be different and better than the present administration. He plainly wants to run without the endorsement of the current governor because he knows that would hurt rather than help his cause. 

Greg Lopez said both the traditional parties “were broken” and that what we needed was an independent like him to really represent Coloradans — hoping people wouldn’t notice he was a very freshly reminted independent. He has run at least four times as a Republican. And predictably he mainly supports Republican views, though never mentioning Trump. 

Lopez boasted he would be the best to work with and help retain small businesses. He also talked at length about reducing permitting and regulatory requirements that could encourage the construction of modular homes priced in the $200,000 to $300,000 range. Weiser seemed to agree in general on this point and they joked about working together on these issues. 

Lopez embraced Republican views on reducing taxes, increasing parent control in schools and lessening restrictions on gun owners. He voiced opposition to introducing wolves in Colorado. 

Both Lopez and Weiser complimented one another on occasion. Lopez, for example, congratulated Weiser who, along with many other attorneys general, recently won a major settlement with the Meta corporation on the issue of social media’s effect on teenagers. 

Weiser lost no votes by his debate performance. Lopez may not have gained much, but he may have won over some traditional Republicans who are looking for an alternative to the unusual Marx campaign. 

Rep. Crank is favored in his reelection bid. He won by 14% of the vote in 2024, earning about 5% more than President Trump. He has a tougher, much better-funded opponent this year. And Trump, being in Congress, the Iran war and affordability issues all pose a challenge for him. 

His opponent Jessica Killian tried as hard as she could to portray Crank and as a rubber-stamp Trump supporter. Crank acknowledged he supports Trump most of the time. And Trump’s endorsement of him underscores this. But Crank ticked off a handful of matters where he disagreed with Trump. For example, he believes presidents should come to Congress asking for war support. And he disagrees with Trump’s midterm election redistricting campaign.  

Crank added he gladly worked with Democrats, citing he worked with Denver U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette who, he noted, was “sadly defeated” recently by a Democratic socialist. 

But Crank championed the Trump “Big, Beautiful” tax bill and tried to blame inflation and worries about defense munitions supplies on the Biden administration. He tried to link Killian with former President Joe Biden since she worked in the Biden executive office complex. 

Both Crank and Killian came across as polite, informed and well prepared. She consistently tried to tie him with Trump and for failing to deliver on affordability issues. He tried to tie her to Biden and “the mess” Biden left this current administration.

These were rather predictable strategies — and both worked at least a bit.    Crank had some difficulty defending tariffs and the high cost of housing.   

Killian agreed secure borders was an achievement but indicated it was time for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reform and comprehensive immigration legislation.   

Killian is proud of her military service in the army, her extensive service on Capitol Hill and her several years of serving veterans in the USAA insurance industry.   

She was born and raised in El Paso County yet returned here only a little more than a year ago. She is counting on the growing anti-Trump sentiment and the fact this district now has about 52% voters who register as unaffiliated.

On the other hand, Crank, who was born and raised in Pueblo and went to Colorado State University, has spent most of his life living in the area — working as an aide to former U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley, the Chamber of Commerce and local policy advocacy groups and hosting a talk-radio show.  

Crank’s membership on the House Armed Services Committee is a plus given the five military installations and 100,000 veterans in this district. But serving in this Congress may be a liability. 

Killian’s energetic campaign and successful fundraising combined with Trump’s low approval ratings are making this race much more competitive than in recent years.

Hooray for televised debates and thanks to the fearless candidates willing to show up and debate the issues. 

Tom Cronin is a news columnist who writes regularly about Colorado and national politics.