PUEBLO — State Rep. Scott Bottoms clenched the top spot on the Republican primary ballot for Colorado governor Saturday at the party’s state assembly in Pueblo with more support from party activists than any other candidate.
Bottoms secured 45% of the roughly 2,200 delegates at the event. Evangelical pastor Victor Marx also qualified, ranking second with 39%.
Candidates needed the backing of 30% of the delegates to advance to the primary election ballot, but Marx only needed 10% because he also submitted signatures to petition to get on the ballot. Eleven gubernatorial candidates competed for the ballot at the assembly.
The release of the official results was delayed by the discovery that about 80 more people had cast paper ballots than were credentialed to do so. “We don’t believe there has been any fraud,” said Al Gage, the state Republican Party’s parliamentarian, who said the party had three options: accept the overvotes, adjourn until another day or wait to see if the 80 votes made a difference in any of the races and then decide how to proceed.
Gage blamed the error on the event’s credential scanners that were supposed to be at the entrances.
Gubernatorial candidate Scott Bottoms addresses the delegation during his nomination speech the Colorado Republican Assembly April 11, 2026 on the campus of CSU, Pueblo. (Mike Sweeney, Special to The Colorado Sun)Through a voice vote, the delegates decided to accept the overvotes.
Bottoms and Marx will likely face state Republican Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer of Brighton in the primary, who submitted signatures instead of going through the assembly process. Her signatures are still awaiting verification from the Secretary of State’s office.
Bottoms is one of the most conservative and controversial members of the legislature. He has embraced election conspiracies and opposed efforts to protect and expand the rights of transgender people. Bottoms is also a fierce abortion rights opponent.
Marx is a former Marine and the founder of All Things Possible ministry, a nonprofit based in Colorado Springs that “has helped thousands of children, women, and members of our military discover new hope, experience lasting change, and receive ongoing support,” according to its website, citing projects in Cambodia, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.
In his speech to delegates, Bottoms said he would encourage government transparency, build nuclear reactors and mine for lithium and uranium.
“I’m going to reclaim parenthood and childhood for all Coloradans,” he said. “We will reclaim safety and security . . . Sheriffs will work with ICE,” he said, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Colorado law bars sheriffs from entering into or renewing certain contracts with ICE related to immigrant detention.
“We’re going to DOGE the mess out of everything in this state,” Bottoms said, referring to the federal Department of Government Efficiency, the agency created by a Trump administration executive order to root out government waste and slash the number of federal workers.
Cherrie Brown, 74, of Holyoke, a small town near the Nebraska border, said she’s most excited about Bottoms because he has been working for more than a year to get his message out.
“He’s been open and honest about his values,” she said. “He speaks a lot about being fiscally responsible, about America first.”
In his speech to delegates, Marx cited concerns about kids’ locker rooms and business regulations. He said he would protect the 2nd Amendment and rebuild roads, bridges and infrastructure.
“Boys are competing in girls’ events, in the locker rooms. Businesses are leaving the state,” he said. “Colorado does not need another politician . . . We need a leader.”
Marx said on his first day in office as governor he would free Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk who was found guilty in 2024 of orchestrating a security breach of her county’s election system in 2021.
Delegate Melissa Batt, 44, of Arvada said she started getting involved in politics in 2021 over concerns about crime and safety. She has been volunteering for Marx by gathering signatures
“He’s a very disciplined person, unemotional, compassionate, I trust his judgement,” Batt said.
Batt thinks Marx has the best chance at beating Democrats in the general election in November. But first, Marx and Bottoms will likely have to defeat Kirkmeyer, a more moderate Republican who has experience working with Democrats on the Joint Budget Committee.
“If she was a threat to the Democrats, they’d be throwing around her name as the person to beat and they’re not,” she said. “Victor is.”
Gubenatorial candidate Victor Marx waves to the delegation during the Colorado Republican Assembly April 11, 2026 held at Massari Arena at Colorado State University Pueblo. (Mike Sweeney, Special to The Colorado Sun)The assembly started hours late Saturday. Hundreds of delegates were still waiting in line to enter the Massari Arena at Colorado State University Pueblo hours after the 9 a.m. start time. The state party conducted the voting using paper ballots counted by a machine, further slowing things down.
The final results were read at about 8:15 p.m.
Attorney General hopeful and Colorado Springs District attorney Michael Allen secured 64% of the delegates and Denver attorney David Wilson secured 36%. Both will appear on the ballot.
Former executive director of the Libertarian Party of Colorado James Wiley was the only candidate who qualified for the Secretary of State ballot with 71% of the delegates.
Brown said she supports Wiley for Secretary of State because of his commitment to election security.
“He believes in paper ballots, same day voting,” she said. “If we don’t have fair elections, I don’t trust the answer.”
Delegates nominated Kevin Grantham, a Fremont County commissioner and former state Senate president, to the primary ballot for state Treasurer by voice vote because he ran unopposed. He’ll face state Sen. Jeff Bridgesin November.
State Sen. Mark Baisley was the only candidate for U.S. Senate that qualified for the ballot. In November, he’ll face the winner of the Democratic primary, where state Sen. Julie Gonzales is challenging U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper.
Republicans have not won a statewide election since 2016 when Heidi Ganahl won an at-large seat on the University of Colorado’s Board of Regents. Republicans have not held the governorship since Bill Owens won in 2002.
Democrats held their state assembly last month in Pueblo.
The primary election in Colorado will be held on June 30.
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