This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at coloradosun.com.
Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, easily defeated Republican Victor Marx on Tuesday to become Colorado’s 44th governor, promising to usher in a new era of leadership for the state — though not necessarily a new path for Colorado.
The Associated Press called the race at 7 p.m. — as soon as polls closed. By 11 p.m., Weiser was leading Marx with 61% of the vote to Marx’s 33%.
While it will be several days, if not a few weeks, before all votes are tallied in Colorado, if Weiser’s margin of victory over Marx holds it will be one of the largest among gubernatorial races in the state’s 150-year history, according to an analysis by The Colorado Sun.
“Nearly two years ago we set out to listen to every corner of Colorado,” Weiser said in a victory speech at the Colorado Democratic Party’s election night party in Denver. “We launched a campaign that many didn’t think we could win. All the way through we believed.”
He added: “Let us together build a future based on the values that make Colorado special and meet the urgency of this moment by making long overdue changes.”
Weiser will replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, who will leave office early next year deeply unpopular with his party over his decision in May to cut short the prison sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was convicted of orchestrating a security breach of her county’s election system.
Weiser’s victory seemed unlikely on Jan. 2, 2025, when he announced his gubernatorial bid, especially so a few months later, when Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet jumped into the race.
At the time, polling showed Bennet’s big name recognition advantage made Weiser an underdog’s underdog.
But over the next year, Weiser chipped away at Bennet’s advantage and eventually crushed the senator in the June primary.
At that point, Weiser was all but guaranteed to become Colorado’s next governor because of the state’s increasingly Democratic tilt. Colorado voters have not elected a Republican as governor since 2006 and they haven’t even elected a Republican to statewide office since 2016.
But Marx — plagued by questions about his remarkable, and mostly unprovable, backstory — made things even easier for Weiser.
After narrowly winning a three-way primary, he refused to participate in campaign norms, like moderated debates, and spent the millions he raised for his first foray into public office in unorthodox ways, racking up campaign finance complaint after campaign finance complaint along the way.
Marx’s odd campaign decision-making continued up until the final days of the race, during which he sent out fundraising emails seeking $100,000 to air his first ads on TV. (Campaigns typically begin running ads months before Election Day, not days before.) He promised to spend every dollar he raised on the ad campaign.
However, Federal Communications Commission records show Marx’s campaign never bought any TV ad time.
On election night, Marx attended a private gathering with supporters, ending the race like he ran it — shielded from tough questions and public scrutiny.
Marx said he called Weiser to concede the race.
“Phil and I disagree on a great deal, and we said so plainly,” Marx said in a written statement. “But I will pray for him, and I want him to succeed. Because when Colorado’s governor succeeds, Colorado’s families succeed.”
Austin Garrett, a 41-year-old unaffiliated voter casting his ballot Tuesday in Englewood, said he backed Weiser in the governor’s race.
“He seems stable,” Garrett said.
Marx was too inexperienced in government, he said. And while Garrett appreciated Marx’s “military background and leadership” qualities, he “just didn’t seem effective to me.”
The dynamic allowed Weiser to run like he had no opponent. And while he voluntarily subjected himself to tough interviews and debates with Lopez, he won the race without answering key questions, or providing specifics, about his stance on issues like taxes, union organizing and state Medicaid spending.
It wasn’t until a few days before the election that Weiser revealed his opposition to Amendment 87, the graduated income tax measure on the statewide ballot this year. When he did, he faced intense blowback from fellow Democrats.
Weiser has promised to be much different than Polis in style, saying Colorado’s current governor has not been a good listener or convenor when making tough decisions.
“My goal as governor is not going to be for people to like me and say ‘he’s always with me,’” he told The Colorado Sun during a live interview last month. “My goal is for me to be respected. It means that people will say ‘Phil made sure my viewpoint was listened to. He understood what my argument was. He engaged. He thought about it. And then he did, at the end, what he thought was right and best for the people of Colorado.’”
In substance, however, his policy plans and priorities — with notable exceptions in social media regulation — are similar.
The Democrat has promised to focus on making Colorado more affordable, shielding the state from the impacts of the Trump administration and making it easier for businesses to thrive here.
Weiser has said his first legislative priority is data centers.
“Communities should not have data centers shoved down their throats,” he said. “Noisy data centers near senior homes or healthcare facilities are highly concerning, particularly when communities say there was no process, there was no consideration, and we’re stuck with this. So we want to protect communities.”
Weiser said he also wants to force data centers to pay for their own electricity and to ensure that they don’t interfere with the state’s climate goals. However, he’s open to offering tax incentives to data center projects, particularly if they are in so-called just transition communities like northwest Colorado, where fossil fuel extraction and use are being phased out.
“To be successful in the work ahead, I’m going to need your help even more,” Weiser said Tuesday night. “Colorado: Are you ready to get to work?”
Colorado Sun editor Justin George contributed to this report.
