Marine Corps veteran Victor Marx won the Republican primary for Colorado governor on Thursday, inching past a state senator who had the establishment's backing. Marx, described as a "high risk humanitarian" and the fastest gun disarmer in the world, defeated Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, his stiffest competition, in the June 30 election. Too many votes remained outstanding after election night to call the tight race, but most counties, including the largest ones, have now reported their final results, the AP reports.
- In a video posted to social media Thursday, Marx thanked his supporters and invited those who hadn't voted for him to join his coalition. "If you're frustrated, skeptical, or wondering if anything can actually change," he said, "I just proved it by winning the primary."
Marx founded All Things Possible Ministries, and has said he's "led more than 150 high-stakes missions across some of the world's most dangerous regions." That includes, according to his campaign website, a mission into "ISIS territory" to save a group of kidnapped girls. He has also said his abusive stepfather effectively forced Marx, at 7 years old, to kill a man. During his campaign, he declined to provide evidence for the claim, or for his remarks about the group's work overseas, the Guardian reports. He also declined to say how many people he has killed. He said that if elected governor, he would continue to perform exorcisms.
- "You claim that you've been all around the world, armed to the teeth, rescuing women and children from captivity; that you stopped human smugglers at the Mexico border and made them pay a price; that you, as a civilian, called in a US military airstrike that killed 70 ISIS fighters; that you were the first American into Gaza during the war with Israel; that you've done 150 high-risk missions and every one has been a success," moderator Kyle Clark asked during a GOP debate last month. "How should voters decide whether you've lived one of the most extraordinary lives in human history, or whether you're a liar and a fraud?" Marx replied, "I can't help it if I've had an extraordinary life."
- Kirkmeyer thanked her supporters and volunteers in a statement Thursday evening, signing off by saying, "I'm still proud of the campaign we ran … and, for the record, I still haven't killed anyone." A third candidate, state Rep. Scott Bottoms, trailed both Marx and Kirkmeyer.
- Marx will face Democrat Phil Weiser, the state attorney general, in November, though the state has become an uphill battle for Republican candidates. Colorado hasn't elected a Republican as governor in more than two decades, and the state backed Democrat Kamala Harris for president by more than 10 points over Donald Trump in 2024.
- "From the little we know about Victor Marx, his views and style are far out of step with Coloradans, and his nomination for governor is a threat to our state's values and our future," Weiser said in a statement. "Governing is serious business, and Coloradans have a clear choice in this race: a politics of showing up, listening, and fighting for the rights and freedoms of all—or a politics of deception, demonization, and distraction."
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
