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Colorado Republicans shocked the political class this month when Victor Marx, a retired Marine and self-styled “high-risk humanitarian,” captured the GOP nomination for governor in a three-way primary that many in the establishment thought they’d steer to a safer pick. Marx’s win wasn’t a fluke — he carried a steady plurality of voters who are sick of career politicians and want bold action on crime, housing, and fentanyl.
What makes Marx an easy target for cable panels and late-night jokes is the same thing that sold him to a chunk of the Republican base: a Hollywood-level life story and an outsider’s swagger. He’s spent years billing himself as a rescuer and missionary, disarming threats in viral videos and leaning into a rough-edged faith-based persona that both terrifies and energizes the media. Those credentials — and the theatrical way he tells them — are very much part of why he broke through.
Reporters understandably pressed Marx on some of his more extraordinary claims, and the answers were, at best, shocking to polite political conversation. In a lengthy sit-down he described performing deliverance and exorcisms over the phone and, when asked about a long-told story that he was forced by an abusive stepfather to kill a homeless man at age seven, admitted the incident in a way that left more questions than answers. Voters deserve clarity, but so does any candidate facing a hostile press that delights in ridicule.
There are legitimate reasons to question some of Marx’s claims — reporters have noted removed claims on campaign pages and discrepancies in rescue tallies that he has touted for years — and conservatives who care about credibility should demand answers. But Democrats and the Washington media aren’t interested in sober vetting; they want to bury an insurgent conservative under mockery and outrage to protect their preferred status quo. The test for Republicans is to hold him accountable without handing the narrative to the left.
Establishment Republicans in Colorado publicly fretted that Marx on the ticket could tank the party down-ballot, which tells you everything about what the GOP has been doing wrong for years. If the concern is that a fighter who talks bluntly about restoring law and order will scare suburban voters, maybe the problem is the party’s inability to sell real solutions, not voters’ appetite for them. The grassroots sent a message that they want grit, not polished promises from consultants.
Make no mistake: the November general election will be a fight for the future of Colorado. Marx has staked his campaign on disrupting fentanyl networks, beefing up penalties for traffickers, and tackling public safety and affordability — issues that actually matter to hardworking families. Conservatives who want to win should focus on policy, demand transparency where it’s due, and remember that the American people have a long history of favoring scrappy, principled outsiders over sleepy insiders who can’t get results.
