Victor Marx, the leader of a faith-based nonprofit whose unconventional campaign and hotly contested claims about his life have grabbed national attention, will be the Republican nominee for Colorado governor this November.

The Associated Press called the race for Marx at 4 p.m. Thursday, July 9, nine days after voting ended in the state’s primary elections.

Marx had been locked in a tight contest with state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer for the Republican nomination. While Kirkmeyer maintained a narrow lead over Marx on election night on June 30, Marx overtook her less than 24 hours later as ballots were counted.

He currently leads Kirkmeyer by 2,515 votes, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office as of 4 p.m. Thursday. Marx was winning 39.87% of the vote to Kirkmeyer’s 39.39%, with 521,938 votes cast. Their other opponent, state Rep. Scott Bottoms, was in a distant third with 20.75%. Marx’s margin of victory is just outside the threshold for an automatic recount.

The race was tighter than anticipated, after a poll commissioned by a super PAC supporting his campaign showed him beating Kirkmeyer by 44 percentage points, and after Marx built a commanding fundraising lead over Kirkmeyer and Bottoms throughout the primary.

“To those of you who supported someone else in the primary, I want you to hear me clearly: There is a place for you in this campaign,” Marx said in a three-minute video posted to X shortly after the race was called.

“Colorado needs courageous leadership that works, leadership that puts you first,” he added. “If you are feeling frustrated, skeptical or wondering if anything can actually change, I just proved it by winning the primary.”

In a text message statement sent from a campaign spokesperson, Kirkmeyer said she was proud of her campaign.

“Together, we offered a clear vision for the future of the Colorado Republican Party, one rooted in common sense, hard work, affordability, and the values that made Colorado the best place to live, work, and raise a family,” Kirkmeyer said. “While we came up short in what appears to be the closest Republican gubernatorial primary in Colorado history, I’m grateful for every voter who placed their trust in us.”

Marx will now face Democratic nominee Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser in the Nov. 3 general election, where he will face an uphill battle for governor.

Colorado hasn’t elected a Republican governor since Bill Owens in 2002, with the state’s electorate continuing to shift more blue in the years since. Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat who cannot run for reelection this year because of term limits, won his first election in 2018 by a more than 10-percentage-point margin. He was reelected in 2022 by nearly 20 percentage points.

Weiser, in a statement, called Marx’s nomination “a threat to our state’s values and our future.

“Coloradans have a clear choice in this race: a politics of showing up, listening and fighting for the rights and freedoms of all — or a politics of deception, demonization and distraction,” Weiser said.

A Marine Corps veteran, Marx leads a nonprofit, All Things Possible Ministries, that focuses on humanitarian work primarily in the Middle East and South Asia. He positioned himself as an anti-establishment political newcomer willing to take on the status quo, something Marx said resonated with voters and helped propel his campaign.

Marx has faced criticism from his opponents and questions from reporters about claims he has made about his life, which have garnered national media attention. Marx said he was forced by his stepfather to shoot and kill a man at the age of 7. In an interview with 9News reporter Kyle Clark, part of which was featured in a recent segment by late-night TV host John Oliver, Marx inferred that he has killed people in self-defense during his missionary work, but would not say how many people.

Other claims made by Marx include calling in an airstrike to kill Islamic State fighters; being the first American to enter Gaza after war broke out with Israel; and stopping human smuggling at the U.S.-Mexico border. Marx’s opponents labeled him a liar who makes up “tall tales.”

Marx defended those critiques in a previous interview, saying, “There’s far more evidence out there of who I am, what I’ve done, decades of it. But some who don’t want me and know that I’m a threat, all they can do is make accusatory remarks.”

Kirkmeyer, in her statement, did not endorse Marx for governor, instead saying, “The voters will make the final decision in November, and I hope they choose the path that is best for Colorado. I’m still proud of the campaign we ran… and, for the record, I still haven’t killed anyone.”

Published on SummitDaily.com.