2026 Republican Primary
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Turnout surges and winning margins stretch as final returns post in Colorado’s 2026 primary
County clerks finished posting unofficial results in Colorado’s primary election on Friday, drawing a line under a series of nominating contests that witnessed upsets, surprises and outright shockers by the time the votes were tallied. While the outcome changed in only one major, top-ticket race after the initial returns were reported on June 30, several…
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Victor Marx defeats Barb Kirkmeyer as Colorado’s Republican gubernatorial primary crosses finish line
Republican Victor Marx won Colorado’s Republican gubernatorial nomination on Thursday after maintaining a razor-thin lead over state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer for more than a week as county clerks finished reporting final, unofficial vote totals. Marx, a missionary leader and first-time candidate, will face Democratic nominee Attorney General Phil Weiser in November for the office held…
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Republican Victor Marx maintains slim lead over Barb Kirkmeyer in Colorado gubernatorial primary
Republican Victor Marx held on to a narrow lead Monday over state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer as county clerks continued to count ballots in Colorado’s gubernatorial primary. Following an update posted at 3:30 p.m. by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, Marx had 206,477 votes to Kirkmeyer’s 204,527, for a lead of 1,950, or about 0.38%…
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Barb Kirkmeyer takes lead over Marx, Bottoms in Colorado’s Republican gubernatorial primary
State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer jumped out to an early lead over ministry leader Victor Marx and state lawmaker Scott Bottoms in Colorado’s Republican gubernatorial primary as initial returns posted Tuesday night. In returns posted shortly after polls closed, Kirkmeyer secured 44%, Marx got 37.5% and Bottoms had 18.5%. The margin tightened as the night wore…
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Colorado’s primary turnout tops 10% as election officials warn it’s too late to mail ballots
Colorado election officials cautioned on Tuesday that it’s too late to mail ballots for the June 30 primary and urged voters to use drop boxes and their county’s voting centers instead. Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a release that 437 secure drop boxes and 137 in-person voter centers are open throughout the state.…
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Democratic ballots outpace Republicans’ as Colorado’s primary vote starts to trickle in
With less than two weeks left before ballots are due in Colorado’s primary election, election officials have logged in ballots from just under 6% of the state’s 4 million active, registered voters, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Thursday. As of noon Wednesday, county clerks reported receiving 230,436 ballots, with ballots cast in the…
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Colorado’s 3 Republican gubernatorial candidates face off in heated primary debate
The three Colorado Republicans running for governor defended their qualifications, described their visions for the state and traded jabs over each other’s character at an often contentious televised debate that routinely veered into unusual territory Tuesday night in Denver. The 60-minute debate at the University of Denver, sponsored by 9News, The Denver Gazette and Colorado…
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Colorado Republicans elect software engineer Craig Steiner to fill vacant state chairman position
The Colorado Republican Party on Saturday elected Craig Steiner to fill the party’s vacant state chair position at a state central committee meeting in Buena Vista, just over a week before primary ballots go out to voters and five months before the general election. The former Douglas County GOP chair takes over from Eric Grossman,…
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Republicans Kirkmeyer, Bottoms say they won’t back Marx if he wins Colorado’s gubernatorial primary
Two of the Republicans running for governor of Colorado said Tuesday night in a debate that they won’t support the third candidate if he wins next month’s primary election. State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer and state Rep. Scott Bottoms said that Colorado Springs-based ministry leader Victor Marx, the race’s fundraising leader, won’t have their backing if…
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Ron Hanks, Scott Bottoms sue to stop Colorado’s unaffiliated voters from participating in June primary
Three Republican candidates in Colorado filed a lawsuit in Denver District Court this week seeking to prevent unaffiliated voters from participating in next month’s primary, arguing that the state’s semi-open primary system violates their constitutional rights by forcing Republicans to let outsiders help choose the party’s nominees. Ron Hanks, Scott Bottoms and David Willson are…