July 16, 2026 11:56 AM UTC

Victor Marx Fails to Conjure Much Republican Support

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• by: Colorado Pols

Marxmentum! It’s like regular momentum…but without any of the advantages.

Cajun Karate Master Victor Marx has officially been the Republican nominee for Governor for about a week. If there was supposed to be a honeymoon period for the man now at the top of the Republican ticket, somebody forgot to make the reservations.

Marx is having trouble convincing other notable Republicans to back his doomed campaign and getting called out for his exaggerations. The Marx supporters who do exist are making fools of themselves trying to argue that Marx’s checkered past shouldn’t matter in a General Election. One of Marx’s vanquished Primary opponents — State Rep. Scott “Rock” Bottoms — is even contemplating a write-in campaign for reasons that only make sense to Bottoms.

Victor Marx is not going to be the next Governor of Colorado, but that doesn’t mean the next few months won’t include a fair bit of suspense. Can Marx slide under the already unthinkably-low bar set by 2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee Heidi Ganahl to become the new worst statewide candidate in Colorado history? Let’s count the ways why he’s off to a great start already!

“Voluntary Coordination Framework”

Marx began his post-Primary efforts by trying to get fellow Republicans to sign a “don’t call it a loyalty pledge” of support for his campaign. Marx supporters — including the twits at the right-wing radio program called the “Jeff and Bill Show” (more on them in a moment) — have been making a thesaurus argument that this document is not a loyalty pledge because it doesn’t include the words “loyalty” or “pledge.” The Marx campaign instead calls it a “unity compact” or a “voluntary coordination framework,” yet as Ernest Luning reports for the publication formerly known as the Colorado Statesman, this is all one big distinction without a difference to the people being asked to sign:

A spokesperson for Republican gubernatorial nominee Victor Marx said his campaign is “extremely encouraged” by responses to a document the campaign circulated late last week, asking fellow GOP nominees how they want to collaborate in the months ahead before Colorado’s November election.

Two of the four other statewide Republican candidates, however, told Colorado Politics that they aren’t signing on to the six-page agreement — dubbed the Republican General Election Unity Compact by the Marx campaign — while a spokesman for another said his campaign is “reviewing” the proposal. The fourth didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

The Marx campaign wanted Republicans to sign on by 5:00 pm on Monday. The Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, current state Sen. Mark Baisley, told Luning that he is not going to sign onto the “don’t call it a loyalty pledge” (DCIALP) document. Republican Secretary of State nominee James Wiley also says he won’t agree. A spokesperson for Attorney General nominee Michael Allen claimed to have first seen the DCIALP on Tuesday. State Treasurer nominee Kevin Grantham didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The Imaginary Bill Owens Endorsement

Since Marx is having trouble convincing other Republicans to put their names behind his campaign, he’s inventing endorsements instead. During an appearance on the “Jeff and Bill Show” on Wednesday, Marx claimed that his campaign had been endorsed by Bill Owens, the last Republican to be elected Governor in Colorado (in 2002).

This, apparently, was a surprise to Bill Owens.

Colorado political reporters quickly tracked down the former Governor. Here’s Jesse Paul for The Colorado Sun:

“I got a call yesterday that he’s endorsing me,” Marx said on the Jeff and Bill Show on 710KNUS.

Except that’s not true — at least not yet.

Owens told The Colorado Sun on Wednesday that he has not decided whether he will endorse Marx, a ministry leader and former Marine.

“I have met/talked with Victor Marx one time, probably four months ago,” Owens told The Colorado Sun via text message. “At that time, I told him I had endorsed and was supporting Barb Kirkmeyer for governor. I also told him I expected to be able to endorse the Republican nominee in the general.”

But Owens said he has not yet endorsed Marx and that if he does, it won’t be for some time.

“I want to see Marx’s campaign for the next month or so — what issues he is running on and how he handles himself as a candidate — after which I will make a decision,” Owens said.

In an effort to explain this mistake, Marx supporters launched into another thesaurus argument:

Buddy Jericho, Marx’s campaign manager, said that Marx “was referring to information he received from a trusted intermediary who has a close personal and professional relationship with Gov. Owens.”

Jericho said that information was consistent with the conversation Marx had with Owens in which Owens said he expected to be able to support the GOP nominee for governor.

“Gov. Owens has now clarified that he has not yet made an endorsement and remains in the process of evaluating the campaign,” Jericho said, adding that Owens called Marx to congratulate him on winning the primary. “We respect that process completely and appreciate the opportunity to continue earning his support. Victor’s comment accurately reflected the information communicated to him and what he reasonably understood at that time.”

Marx seems to have based his belief in an Owens endorsement on 1) A meeting months ago in which Owens said that he “expected” to be able to endorse the eventual GOP nominee for Governor, and 2) A congratulatory phone call Marx received from Owens after the Primary Election. Marx says a lot of things about himself that he expects people to believe — including his wild claims about rescuing tens of thousands of women and children from “abuse and terror” — but he’s learning that politicians aren’t as interested as Christian mega church-goers in just nodding along.

NEW: GOP Gov candidate Victor Marx is suggesting he’s endorsed by former Colorado Gov Bill Owens.

Owens tells me that’s not true.

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— Kyle Clark (@kylec.bsky.social) July 15, 2026 at 7:41 PM

Bring Out the Erasers

Among the more telling examples of fears about the campaign are the embarrassing efforts of both Marx and his supporters to pretend that the candidate’s personal history is irrelevant to his current candidacy. The hosts of the “Jeff and Bill Show” have been devoting an inordinate amount of time toward arguing that Marx’s bizarre background and his lies about key endorsements are media-driven distractions. They claim that reporters should focus instead on the issues…nevermind that Marx doesn’t appear to actually know anything about said issues.

These efforts actually do more to hurt Marx’s campaign because they serve as a reminder of his incredible weirdness. It brings to mind this now-infamous exchange between Marx and Kyle Clark of 9News — which took place immediately after Marx acknowledged that everything in his past is indeed fair game:

CLARK: Do you think that you’ve killed people as an adult?

MARX: Does it matter?

CLARK: Yeah, I’d say so.

We’re confident that voters agree.