February 17, 2026 12:26 PM UTC

Barb Kirkmeyer Commits Political Hara-Kiri To Fight Victor Marx

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• by: Colorado Pols

Last Thursday while most of us were focused on Rep. Scott Bottoms’ unsubstantiated allegations of multiple “pedophile rings” operating in the Colorado House, Senate, and governor’s office, fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Barb Kirkmeyer went on conservative shock-jock-for-Jesus Jeff Hunt’s radio show to respond to Bottoms’ claims–and also talk about her unexpectedly troubled run for the Republican nomination against upstart heavily-armed missionary Victor Marx.

With Marx handily outraising Kirkmeyer and consolidating the religious right vote at Bottoms’ expense, Kirkmeyer’s remaining lane in the primary is to appeal to less-conservative Republicans and independent voters looking for a “moderate” alternative. Kirkmeyer faces two problems: first, Barb’s lengthy record as a Weld County Republican is very far from moderate. But second and more important in the short run, Kirkmeyer cannot claim the “moderate” label that might help her in the general election without jeopardizing the GOP primary she needs to win first.

Therefore, the “moderate” label the local pundits want to pin on Barb Kirkmeyer has been disavowed:

HUNT: Now, Senator, I don’t want to I don’t think this is necessarily the most fair, accurate way to describe all three of you all, but I think it provides a little bit of generalities that might help folks. I’ve noticed a lot of folks in my life that I would consider more moderate like you and they seem to be appealing to you. I don’t think you’re necessarily a moderate. But do you in the race you have representative Bottoms he’s well known as like that kind of passionate social conservative fighter he likes to go give the speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives here in Colorado, Victor Marx kind of the outsider never run for office before and with you I’ve noticed that what I would call kind of that traditional Republicans, maybe more like the Bush Republicans seem to be drawn to you, more moderates seem to be drawn, to you is that where you’re staking out and is that necessary to win in Colorado to be more moderate and not be so firebrand conservative? What’s your take on that analysis?

Instead of the answer that would help Kirkmeyer in November, she gave the answer that works only until June:

KIRKMEYER: First of all, I wouldn’t describe myself as a moderate. I would, I would say I am a conservative, common sense powerhouse [Pols emphasis] that has delivered for the state of Colorado in numerous ways. I, if you call it traditional that I believe in limited government, I believe in protecting TABOR, which I’ve done. I mean, I led, I was the co-chair on the no on HH campaign. If you call that again, you know, that government should only be doing those things for people that you can’t do for yourself, if it’s, you know, protecting private property rights, if, um, uh, you know, balancing budgets, cutting taxes, cutting regulation. Those are all things that are very conservative in nature, so I’m not sure why you want to try and peg me as a moderate, but I am definitely a very strong conservative and been able to, because I am pragmatic and I have an ability to work across the aisle…

Again, the most important takeaway from this admission is that Kirkmeyer is telling the truth. From her wacky support for seceding Weld County from the rest of Colorado to her proud hard line against abortion rights, Kirkmeyer is about as far from “moderate” objectively speaking as they come–only maybe appearing so in contrast to truly fringe caricatures like Bottoms and Marx, who owe their plausibility to the decline in standards brought on by the MAGA movement.

The real problem for Kirkmeyer comes in the event she does prevail against Victor Marx and wins the longshot Republican nomination for governor, whereupon this disavowal of the “moderate” label in the primary deprives Kirkmeyer of the only viable pivot she can make for the general election. If Kirkmeyer wasn’t facing strong opposition on her right, it wouldn’t be necessary to broadcast the message that she is not a moderate. Now that Kirkmeyer has done so, Colorado voters will have no tolerance for her attempting to “shake the Etch-a-Sketch” and make these words go away in the fall.

Kirkmeyer is a well-enough-known figure among Colorado GOP primary voters that we don’t think she can change these perceptions either way, and their decision will therefore be an assessment of Marx’s viability as an upstart movement candidate versus Kirkmeyer’s “known knowns.” Kirkmeyer’s task in the general election was hard enough without being forced to eschew political moderation in the primary.

If she makes it that far, it will add a couple of points to her pummeling in November.