GOP candidates for governor: Kirkmeyer, Bottoms and Marx
The June 11 Villager reported Barbara Kirkmeyer, Scott Bottoms and Victor Marx at a 9News gubernatorial forum.
Freda Miklin ·
On June 2, the three Republicans competing in the June 30 primary contest for the nomination for Colorado governor answered questions in a forum sponsored by 9News: State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, State Rep. Scott Bottoms, and Victor Marx.
Asked what they would do differently than the Democrats, Kirkmeyer said she has “a plan that would whip our budget into shape within six months,” and that the Democrats “balanced the budget on the backs of students, on purpose, where they would cut funding to the schools.” Bottoms, who is a pastor, discussed special forces and later listed bills he sponsored that failed: “to stop transgender surgeries, put pedophiles in jail for life, to stop human trafficking, to make parents the decision maker on any kind of surgery, to keep boys out of girls sports.” The print story added an editor’s note that although Bottoms could not get his bills passed, three of the five issues on that list had been certified for the November 2026 ballot.
Kirkmeyer accused Marx of saying he would attend prior forums and then cancelling. Marx responded that Bottoms had tried to convince him not to run by offering him the position of lieutenant governor, which he turned down, and said, “Just because a person doesn’t believe the truth, it doesn’t make it a lie.” Moderators asked Bottoms about the endorsement of Joe Oltmann; Bottoms said he disagreed strongly “on the nation of Israel. This is our biggest dividing point… As a pastor, I stand strongly with the Jewish people.”
Print source: The Villager, Vol. 44 No. 29, June 11, 2026, page 7. Issuu edition. Recoverable Q&A from the Issuu page image. Cut-off answers are not completed.