Teller Favorite “Outsider” Pulls Upset; Makes Resounding Showing
Rick Langenberg
The June 30 Colorado primary election has finally concluded, with a winner declared in the closely contested GOP gubernatorial race.
Late last week, Victor Marx, the popular outsider candidate, the founder of All Things Possible Ministries, retained slight margin over Barb Kirkmeyer, the state Senator for District 23, in the Colorado Republican primary battle for governor. As a result, he was confirmed as the winner of the race by leading news outlets. Election officials have reportedly completed the task of reviewing all the pending ballots, including provisional votes.
Since the evening of June 30, this race has teetered back and forth with Kirkmeyer appearing that she would capture the nomination that evening. But a surge of ballots the following afternoon took the race to an entirely different level, with the ministry co-founder grabbing the lead. By the last count, he was still ahead by close to 2,000 tallies.
If the vote margin between the candidates had slipped to 1,033 or fewer tallies, then a mandatory recount would have occurred, and no winner could be declared. However, competing candidates can also foot the costs for a recount for races that are this close.
No announcement has been made that any of the competing GOP candidates for governor plan to take this step.
State Republicans have remained divided over their preferred candidate in the three-way GOP gubernatorial primary. However, Teller County voters have clearly favored Marx, who has built a strong local following. According to the latest tabulation, Marx led Kirkmeyer among Teller primary voters by a 46 to 30 percent margin, while the third candidate, Scott Bottoms, received 24 percent of the local vote.
This local GOP count in the governor’s race isn’t too surprising, as Marx visited the area on several occasions, doing smaller forums with various groups. His role as an outsider candidate struck a chord with Republican voters in the Teller high country. In fact, during a highly publicized debate among the three Republican contenders, local comments posted on social media outlets gave Marx the overwhelming edge in the contest.
Marx, who has received lukewarm support from his competing GOP rivals, faces an uphill battle in his general race showdown against the Democratic primary winner, Phil Weiser.
Other Key Races
In other key races, Teller Democrats, according to the latest count, supported U.S. Senator Michael Bennet over Attorney General Phil Weiser in the Democratic primary for governor by a 54 to 46 percent margin. Statewide, however, Weiser won the Democratic nomination by nearly 15 percentage points. The result was the biggest surprise of the primary, as Bennet had been considered the favorite several months ago.
With Weiser’s victory, the attorney general will assume the driver’s seat in the general election, as only one Republican has won this seat in the last 50 years. In the early stages of the governor’s race, a record number of GOP contenders entered the arena, including Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell.
The interest in this race has been propelled due to the exit of lame-duck Governor Jared Polis, who can’t seek the seat again due to term limits.
No real changes occurred in the local results for Attorney General locally on both sides of the aisle. Teller Republicans continued to rally behind Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen by a 64 percent support margin. At the same time, Democratic front-runner for this seat, Jena Griswold, captured 65 percent of local Dem tallies. Griswold is the current Secretary of State who has gained national prominence for her role in challenging President Donald Trump on a variety of issues, including the validity of Colorado’s mail-voting system and in the jailing of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters.
During the general election, this forthcoming battle between Allen and Griswold could get quite lively. This contest could feature the most heated debates.
In the race for Colorado’s U.S. Senate seat, local tallies heavily followed state trends with Dems supporting incumbent John Hickenlooper, the former Colorado governor and mayor of Denver, on the Dem side. At the same time, local Republicans threw their political muscle behind state Senator Mark Baisley, a frequent fixture at local forums.
The two will face off in this high-profile race.
Mail-in Ballot System Under Scrutiny
Besides questions determining the GOP race for governor, the fate of the state’s mail-in ballot system is still unclear with pending federal legislation, proposed by Trump, and a slew of court cases.
But at least for now, local and state election officials, including Teller County Clerk and Recorder Stephanie Kees, say no changes are expected for the upcoming election.
The participation numbers for the primary contests were impressive, with more than 40 percent of registered voters partaking in the primary vote. The county operated with four 24/7 secure ballot box outlets. This method has become the most fashionable way area voters use in returning their ballots.
Only a small percentage of local voters use the U.S. Postal Service when turning in their ballots.
