April 20, 2026 02:15 PM UTC

Ganahl Doubts GOP’s Chances: Any Statewide Win Would be a ‘Small Miracle’

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• by: Jamie O'Rourke

(Stopped clock and so forth — Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Originally posted at the Colorado Times Recorder

Between a liberal media ecosystem she claims is biased against Republicans, Democrats’ fundraising machine, and rising anti-Trump sentiment nationwide, Heidi Ganahl says Colorado’s GOP needs a “small miracle” to win even one statewide race this year.

“I’m going to be optimistic and say maybe we can pull off a small miracle and win one, but all the stars have to align,” Ganahl said during an April 10 interview on the podcast of Truth & Liberty, a Woodland Park-based Christian-right ministry. “They have to raise big money and they have to really get through the liberal media’s noise in order to get through to the voters.”

Four years ago, Ganahl herself was one of those statewide candidates. After winning a seat on the University of Colorado’s Board of Regents in 2016 – the only Republican to win a statewide election that year, or in any year since – she ran for governor in 2022, only to lose the election to Gov. Jared Polis by nearly 20 points.

In early 2024, Ganahl launched Rocky Mountain Voice, a conservative news site which she pitched to wealthy right-wing donors as a vehicle to help Republicans regain control of the state. It was Ganahl’s response to a media ecosystem that she argues did not allow conservatives to get their message out.

“They’ll have their talking points about how to drive the narrative that’ll make it seem very lopsided and very not fair, not common sense,” Ganahl said on the podcast. “So that always worries me. No matter how hard we try and say the right things and do the right thing as candidates on the right, the liberal media usually makes a mockery of us and doesn’t allow us to get our message through.”

In 2022, Ganahl’s problem was arguably the opposite: media outlets, including the Colorado Times Recorder, reported accurately on the things she said. During her campaign that year, she refused to say whether the 2020 election was legitimate. Later, she embraced debunked claims that numerous children in Colorado public schools were being allowed to identify as cats.

The myth about furries in schools is mainly a product of anti-LGBTQ activists painting acceptance of transgender students as a slippery slope. Ganahl continued to align herself with this false narrative, saying that Colorado’s religious conservatives should unite to overturn policies that protect trans kids, as well as abortion.

“When the leaders in Colorado are making decisions like mutilating children, letting boys play in girls’ sports, allowing human trafficking to go on, letting us be an abortion tourism state, how can you say that is not evil, that’s not Satan’s work?” said Ganahl. “Like, this is a calling from God to speak up, stand up and push back against these evils that are happening in our state. I just don’t see any argument that works against doing the work to make sure that’s not happening to our children and our families.”

Three of the issues she listed are the subject of conservative ballot initiatives this year. Backed by the anti-LGBTQ group Protect Kids Colorado, two of the initiatives target trans youth. One would ban doctors from performing certain gender-related surgical procedures on anyone under 18 – branded by conservatives as “mutilation,” despite evidence showing beneficial health outcomes and low regret rates. Another would effectively ban trans youth from playing sports; opponents have argued that it could lead to children being subject to invasive genital inspections. The third Protect Kids Colorado initiative would increase the penalty for child sex trafficking to life imprisonment.

Conservatives have praised the ballot initiatives as a way to increase Republican turnout this year. While Ganahl agreed the initiatives would help Republicans, she seemed less certain that they were a winning issue.

“God bless Erin Lee [Executive Director of Protect Kids Colorado] for getting the three ballot measures onto the ballot, Protect Kids Colorado. And they’re a Hail Mary to try and protect kids here,” Ganahl said. “So I’m very excited about that. Hopefully the voters will be excited too.”

The phrase ‘Hail Mary’ is typically used to characterize a desperate, last-ditch attempt with low chances of success. It originates from a traditional Roman Catholic prayer pleading for the Virgin Mary to intercede. Ganahl did not immediately respond to an email asking if that was what she meant when she called the initiatives a “Hail Mary.”

“I used to be naive enough to think we could outwork the money, and we just can’t.”

Ganahl cast doubt on whether enough conservative voters will even show up on election day.

“It’s all about turnout,” said Ganahl. “And if Republicans turn out greater than their typical lousy 70 percent, yes, we have a shot. And, if unaffiliated start to see the light and feel the pain of what’s going on in Colorado, yes, we have a shot. But that’s frogs in boiling water, and the water’s got to be hot enough for them to jump out.”

Both Ganahl and Truth & Liberty Executive Director Richard Harris agreed that anti-Trump sentiment nationwide could put Republicans at a disadvantage if voters don’t start seeing positive changes in the economy or Trump’s war in Iran soon.

“There’s sort of an anti-Trump sentiment building, I think, partly because of the war and then the economy is not thriving as well as many people had hoped by now,” said Harris. “But do you think there’s time to get that turned around?”

“Absolutely,” said Ganahl. “I think if Trump has an address tonight, we’ll see what he says about the war and how things are going. I do think that more and more people understand the dynamics behind it and how it relates to China and other things going on globally. But I also think the economy is going to start kicking in, especially as we start to see oil and gas flow more freely out of the United States of America and us being a major exporter here in the world landscape.”

During the podcast, Ganahl outlined her perspective on major races for Colorado Republicans this year, starting with congressional races and citing each district’s partisan ratings from the Cook Political Report.

“CD-3 and CD-8 are pretty even. It’s just going to be a battle. Like, it could go either way, depending on money, resources, and how the environment is. CD-5 in El Paso County, I think is R+5, they call it. So we should win by five points as a Republican. Same with CD-3, but this year, it could be rough waters. And then CD-4, Lauren Boebert’s district, I believe is R+9. So we should win by nine points if everything else is equal,” said Ganahl. “But those numbers are scary when you look at what’s happening in off years and what’s in the national environment right now.”

She went on to praise Colorado Republicans’ candidates for statewide office. “I think we have a very good candidate [for Attorney General]. Michael Allen’s great. I think we have a very interesting take on the Secretary of State office. I think if people look at our elections and think, ‘wow, it’s supposed to be the gold standard, but I’m not sure I trust, completely, Jena Griswold in what she’s done there.’ I think there’s an opening there. The treasurer race is always interesting for Republicans because generally voters think of us as better on the money side, and Kevin Grantham is a great candidate.”

Absent from Ganahl’s praise was any mention of Colorado’s Republican gubernatorial candidates.

The day after this interview, delegates at the Colorado Republican Assembly picked two very conservative evangelicals to advance to the primary ballot, one insider and one outsider. State Rep. Scott Bottoms (R-CO Springs), a far-right pastor who has made baseless claims about ‘pedophile rings’ at his workplace, is in his fourth year at the legislature. Victor Marx is a political newcomer who was friends with Charlie Kirk and who calls himself a “high risk humanitarian.” He runs a multi-million dollar nonprofit that purports to fight international sex trafficking, but his claims have been called into question, most recently by conservative podcaster Candace Owens.

The two join state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer (R-Weld County) in a three-way race for the GOP nomination.

Ganahl initially supported Marx, but has since backed off. On the podcast, she warned that a poor gubernatorial candidate might weigh down Republicans in other races.

“One thing I’m really worried about, Richard, is the mudslinging that’s going to go on by the Democrats after someone wins the primary. And if there is a lot of ‘there there’ with a candidate, they are going to use it against us. And not just against that candidate, but against everyone who’s running in Colorado. And that includes the four Congressional [races], so there’s a lot of overlay there,” Ganahl said. “So I want everyone to think very carefully, do their research. Act as if you’re a Democrat strategist and try and figure out how they’re going to attack the candidates that you’re thinking about supporting.”

The biggest obstacle for Colorado Republicans, Ganahl said, is a fundraising gap between them and Democrats: not enough conservative donors are pitching in due to low confidence after almost a decade of statewide failures.

“It’s the confidence issue. And donors don’t like to lose. They want a good investment, right? They want a good return on investment. And they haven’t gotten that for many, many years,” said Ganahl. “So we’ve got to start winning again, whether it’s county commissioner races, city council races, state legislature, we’ve gotta give them some wins and get their confidence back. And then I think they’ll come back to play.”

Ganahl’s concluding message to Colorado conservatives, in advance of the state assembly, was as follows.

“I’m saying our first priority has got to be protecting those four congressional seats, because our country is at stake right now, too. And like I said, Colorado could play a pivotal role in that. I also think if we could get some seats in the state Senate, we could stop a lot of the damage from being done. Boy, wouldn’t that be nice if we could figure that out. I don’t know if we have the resources to do that,” Ganahl said. “And then finally, in the statewide races, you’ve got to have money, money, money, to get the message, message, message, that’s the only way you can do it. And I can’t stop telling the candidates that enough. I used to be naive enough to think we could outwork the money, and we just can’t.”

Listen to the full podcast here.