Republican Victor Marx is saying more about taxes than Democrat Phil Weiser on campaign websites as Colorado voters start to decide whether Democrats will continue their 15-year stronghold in the state.
Colorado taxpayers could face an increase of $2.7 billion to $4 billion in taxes if voters decide to replace the current flat income tax with a graduated one, according to analysts.
Marx has promised to close a fees loophole to protect the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which Weiser, the current attorney general, didn’t mention on his website. TABOR is a constitutional amendment under which Coloradans get tax refunds when the state government has a surplus.
Marx also has pledged to support a responsible and phased reduction of the state’s income tax to balance economic competitiveness with the need for essential public services. Weiser’s campaign website hasn’t discussed the income tax.
Weiser wasn’t available for an interview by this story’s deadline, and Marx’s campaign didn’t respond to The Center Square’s request for comment.
Mail-in ballots have already been sent to voters in the state, ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.
Marx makes a dramatic illustration about government spending and taxes on his website with a video of tall stacks of cash being burned. “Imagine setting $4 billion of taxpayer money on fire and watching it burn. Unfortunately, you don’t have to because that’s precisely what the Democratic Legislature and Gov. Polis have done with your hard-earned cash,” Marx said in the video.
Estimates, including those by nonpartisan groups, have said the state could see a tax increase of $2.7 billion to $4 billion if Amendment 87 passes on the ballot. The amendment would replace the state’s flat income tax with a graduated tax.
In Colorado, Democrats have maintained a stronghold in the executive branch for the last 15 years, beginning in 2011, when the now-U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper was elected.
Gubernatorial race
Victor Marx is a former Marine and nonprofit leader who won in the Republican gubernatorial primary against two state legislators, Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and Rep. Scott Bottoms. Marx has no prior history in politics and won by a margin of less than 1% over Kirkmeyer, who represents Larimer and Weld counties in the Senate.
Marx said on his website that his priorities are “commonsense solutions that put Coloradans first.” On that list are plans to address government accountability and transparency, the affordability crisis, economic growth, and law and order.
Marx also has said he would expand workforce pipelines by directing the Department of Labor and Employment to expand apprenticeship programs, a topic on which Weiser agrees with him.
Marx recently pledged to harness artificial intelligence as a resource to hold the government accountable. He would do this by launching audits across the state government – what he called “DOGE’ing” parts of the state budget.
Marx’s DOGE comment refers to President Donald Trump’s creation of the Department of Government Efficiency. Overseen by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the department was tasked with finding fraud and wasteful spending. The audits conducted by this office effectively cut more $215 billion, according to the DOGE website.
This is especially pertinent to Colorado, as the state was most recently informed by the federal government that it owed nearly $8 million for faulty and inaccurate Medicaid payments.
However, Marx’s pledge to hold the government accountable came as his campaign was recently fined nearly $60,000 – the largest campaign finance fine in state history – for accepting illegal campaign contributions.
Buddy Jericho, a spokesperson for Marx’s campaign, previously told The Center Square that the campaign takes full accountability for the donations that exceeded legal limits. But the campaign is appealing the fine.
Weiser, Marx’s challenger, has served as the state’s attorney general since he was first elected in 2018.
He won by a large majority with a margin of 13% against his Democratic challenger, three-term U.S. Sen. Michael Bennett, in the 2026 gubernatorial primary.
Weiser said he plans to address the affordability crisis by boosting the number of affordable homes by 40,000, which his website claims would close the current gap on the shortfall of homes by 50%.
He added that he plans to cut the red tape to streamline this process and expand down payment assistance to support first-time homeowners, particularly first-time buyers who are essential workers such as nurses, teachers and first responders.
Weiser also said he plans to ban algorithmic price collusion by corporate landlords and ensure out-of-state investors don’t mistreat Colorado families trying to purchase homes.
Other priorities for Weiser include workforce development. He plans to “Champion a Colorado Earn-and-Lean Promise” to “expand pathways into good-paying jobs, including apprenticeships and other work-based learning opportunities,” according to his website.
Like Marx, Weiser has faced allegations of campaign finance violations. Weiser met an early October deadline to submit a notice to “cure” or refund reportedly illegal excesses of 46 campaign donations, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Attorney general race
Jena Griswold, the Democratic secretary of state, will face a longtime prosecutor running as a Republican, Michael Allen, for the attorney general’s seat.
Griswold won the Democratic primary for attorney general by 24 points against three other Democratic candidates.
The Colorado Democratic Party is the second highest contributor to her campaign, spending $17,500 on her race. She’s raised more than $2 million since she announced her run in 2025.
Allen is currently the district attorney for Colorado’s 4th Judicial District (El Paso and Teller counties) and has been a prosecutor for over 20 years. He joined the Navy after he graduated high school in Arvada, Colo., and served until 1998.
Allen won with 19 percentage points over his Republican challenger in the June primary. He’s raised $225,520 since he announced his bid earlier this year, with most of his contributions coming from individual donations.
Both candidates pledge to advocate for victims of crime.
Griswold said she plans to do this by reducing Colorado’s rape kit backlog and speeding up testing to bring victims to justice. She also supports gun violence prevention measures in the form of “common sense gun reforms,” which includes a ban on assault weapons, according to her website.
If elected, Allen said he plans to take a stronger approach against those convicted of crimes. He and his team prosecuted Club Q shooter Anderson Lee Aldrich, who was convicted of killing five people at a bar in 2022 in Colorado Springs. The next year, Aldrich pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder, 46 counts of attempted first-degree murder and no contest to bias-motivated crimes.
During his work on the case, which made national headlines, Allen secured five life sentences without parole. In addition to those life sentences, Aldrich was sentenced to an additional 2,208 years in prison.
Allen uses this example to illustrate what he could do for other victims of crime.
Both candidates plan to advocate for Colorado’s natural resources by protecting the environment against corporate polluters.
Secretary of state race
Five candidates will appear on the secretary of state’s ballot.
James Wiley is a Republican born in Colorado Springs. He previously ran as a Libertarian to represent Colorado’s 3rd Congressional district in 2014 but lost.
Sean Vadney is running as a Libertarian and is currently an entertainer and small business owner. Among his list of priorities is making Colorado more accessible and affordable for small business owners.
The Democratic candidate for secretary of state is Amanda Gonzales, who won by nearly 25 percentage points over her Democratic challenger in the June primary. She’s currently the Jefferson County clerk and was previously an attorney and policy analyst.
The American Constitution Party will also take the stage on this year’s ballot, with Amanda Campbell running for secretary of state. Campbell is currently the associate director of field education at Metropolitan State University of Denver and has spent much of her career focused on healthcare policy.
Celeste Landry represents the Forward Party in Colorado’s secretary of state election. Landry is a former activist and has spent extensive time dedicated to election reform.
