September 17, 2025 01:44 PM UTC

The Best of the Worst is Still Pretty Bad

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• by: Colorado Pols

One month from tomorrow, a Northern Colorado Republican group will host a candidate forum featuring 15 people seeking the GOP nomination for Governor in 2026. We only recognize about half of the names advertised for the October 18th event, but they all have one thing in common…

None of them are going to be the next Governor of Colorado.

The list of 2026 hopefuls includes all variety of gadflies, from something called a “Bob Brinkerhoff” to Greg Lopez, the Congressional placeholder who has been a candidate for Governor for most of this century. There are also plenty of elected officials in the bunch, including State Sen. Mark Baisley (R-Roxborough Park), who has been running here since before the 2024 election but has raised only about $14 (give or take); State Rep. Scott “There is No” Bottoms (R-Colorado Springs), whose claim to fame is delivering meandering and pointless speeches on the House floor; and Teller County Sheriff guy Jason Mikesell, who is popular with some local white guys;

The most plausible candidate of the bunch could be State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer (R-Brighton), whose last big race was a losing campaign for Congress in CO-08 in 2022. This week, the editorial board of The Denver Post wrote that Kirkmeyer is the “best candidate for governor the [Republican Party] has had in a decade.”

This might even be true, though the bar is almost impossibly low; Heidi Ganahl was the last Republican candidate for Governor, and she was responsible for what we have called the worst statewide campaign in modern Colorado history (for what it’s worth, Ganahl is not impressed with Kirkmeyer).

But let’s consider: Is Barb Kirkmeyer really the best Republican candidate for Governor in a decade? Is she the equivalent of being the winningest pitcher on the historically-awful Colorado Rockies in 2025…or having the best moral compass of anyone in the Trump family?

First off, this question assumes that Kirkmeyer can win the Republican nomination for Governor in June 2026, which is far from certain. One of the reasons that there are so many Republicans running for Governor now is that the GOP proved in 2022 that anybody with a pulse can — and sometimes will — capture the top line on the Primary ballot.

For the sake of argument, let’s say that Kirkmeyer does somehow end up as the Republican nominee for Governor in 2026. It would take a Herculean effort from Kirkmeyer to be worse than Ganahl in 2022. As long as Kirkmeyer doesn’t go down the rabbit hole of insisting that Colorado schools are overrun by kids dressed as furries, she’s a better bet than Ganahl.

Is Kirkmeyer a better candidate than 2010 GOP nominee Dan Maes? Sure, but as with Ganahl…so what?

Is Kirkmeyer better than two-time loser Bob Beauprez? Beauprez was our previous record-holder for worst statewide campaign in Colorado history, though he did better in 2014 than in his mistake-filled run in 2006. Kirkmeyer should be better than “2006 Bob,” but she’s unlikely to outperform “2014 Bob.”

Is Kirkmeyer a better candidate than 2018 failure Walker Stapleton? That’s a tougher call. Even though Stapleton was a monumental boob whose superpower was an astounding ability to consistently take horrible photos, he was twice elected State Treasurer and had a record of being a strong fundraiser.

If you’re going to argue that Kirkmeyer is the best Republican candidate for Governor in the last decade, you’re really only saying that she is better than Ganahl and Stapleton. Stapleton ended up being a much worse candidate than he appeared 16 months out from Election Day; at the same point of the 2026 race, there’s no evidence to suggest that Kirkmeyer will be any better. In fact, there’s good reason to suggest she might end up being worse than Stapleton.

Kirkmeyer has something that no other recent Republican candidate for Governor could claim: A truly horrible 20 seconds of video taking a militant stance against abortion for any reason. Here’s what Kirkmeyer said in 2022 while running for Congress in CO-08:

KIRKMEYER: “I voted and I signed the petitions in support of personhood, so, no, I don’t and I don’t agree to any exceptions to abortion. And in fact, as a county commissioner, I voted to ban the Plan B abortion pill from our health clinics.”

In one election after another, Colorado voters have repeatedly affirmed their support for abortion rights. Kirkmeyer has tried to say that the abortion issue won’t impact her campaign for Governor because it is settled law, but that argument has failed in the past for better Republican candidates seeking a different office. This issue will be crippling in a General Election campaign against either Democrat in the race, Senator Michael Bennet or Attorney General Phil Weiser.

Barb Kirkmeyer is not the worst Republican candidate for Governor in recent years. That’s…something, but it’s not going to be enough in 2026.