Victor Marx is growing a little tired of questions about the demons and the childhood killing.
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In a podcast interview with his wife last month, the Republican candidate for Colorado governor said he would “sit down and talk about (his past) one final time,” though it was “kind of silly we gotta answer questions.” After an interview with British commentator Piers Morgan turned into a back-and-forth about Marx’s life, Marx wrote on social media that he’d wanted to talk about his campaign — but instead “much of the interview focused on old narratives and repeated accusations that have already been addressed.”
“I never had anyone dig into the darkest chapter of my childhood until I ran for governor,” he wrote of the interview, after Morgan had questioned stories that Marx’s stepfather had allegedly forced Marx to behead a cat and, later, fatally shoot a man. “That’s just the reality of politics today.”
As a nonprofit leader, Marx’s backstory was an asset to his ministry. He told a story of redemption over child abuse, a Marine turned born-again Christian who’d reconciled with estranged parents and launched a nonprofit to help traumatized people. He’d shared that story across two books, a documentary, media interviews and speeches at juvenile prisons and in front of Christian congregations. It sent Marx and his family into high-profile conflict zones and helped propel his nonprofit to multimillion-dollar fundraising hauls.
It also, in part, set the foundation for the insurgent campaign that saw him turn from political newcomer to Colorado Republicans’ standard-bearer: In a June interview with The Denver Post, Marx said he was qualified to be governor in part because of all he’d achieved and overcome in his personal life.
But what was an asset for a Christian nonprofit may prove to be an albatross for a long-shot gubernatorial bid in Colorado, where more than half of residents don’t believe in God and stories of overseas rescues, expelling demons and job offers from the leader of the Beach Boys will draw far more scrutiny and skepticism on the campaign trail than they may have on the ministry circuit.
Marx’s scant history outside of that ministry means that his onion-like backstory — his two books alone layer incredible story atop incredible story — is the primary basis for voters, reporters, supporters and opponents to understand him, what sparked his political ambitions and how he would govern should he pull off an upset in November.
“If it was Barb (Kirkmeyer) or if it was some other candidate that had a legislative record or had a record in other areas of public service, you could tell, this is who Victor Marx is,” said Ken Buck, a former Republican congressman who served as chair of the Colorado Republican Party between 2019 and 2021. A veteran state senator, Kirkmeyer was one of Marx’s opponents for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.
“The only thing that defines him,” Buck continued, “are the stories that you’re talking about.”
Marx must now find a way to pivot from his past and toward his own talking points, while avoiding the sort of tree roots that his fledgling general election campaign has already tripped over. It will be a tough road: Marx wants to talk about affordability, Democratic governance and public safety. And while voters are concerned with both the cost of living and the Democratic Party, the state’s highly educated and relatively affluent voting base was still one of the few to buck the GOP red wave in 2024.
Indeed, no Republican has won statewide office in Colorado since the end of the Obama administration. The last Republican to do so, Heidi Ganahl, was then crushed in the 2022 gubernatorial race by more than 19 percentage points.
Campaign manager Buddy Jericho declined The Post’s request to interview Marx for this story. Marx told the newspaper in June that he welcomed questions about his background and that voters “will determine if I’m a vetted candidate or not.”
Since his victory a month ago, Marx has tried to pivot, said Kristi Burton Brown, another former state GOP chair. He’s continued to hold rallies, unveiled a unified campaign platform with other GOP candidates and has held several Zoom meetings with county Republican officials.
Whether he can stop talking about his past isn’t entirely up to him, she argued.
“I think a lot of that is based on the questions that he’s asked,” she said. “I would say at this point, he’s certainly answered a lot of them, if not all of them. I don’t know if his answer makes everyone happy. I would put that on some TV hosts who keep harping on the same thing over and over.”
Kyle Saunders, a political science professor at Colorado State University, said reporters and voters were right to dig into Marx’s past, which is effectively “his only credential.”
“He’s never held office,” he said. “There’s no voting record, no budget, no administration to point to. When he says ‘let’s move on to the issues,’ he’s asking to be evaluated on things he’s never done, using the credibility of a story he no longer wants examined.”
After he won the primary campaign, Marx drew critical headlines from the opinion pages of the Washington Post, New York Times and Los Angeles Times. 9News has reported on campaign finance concerns related to Marx’s merchandise sales and about Marx’s videos about his ministry, which include his claims to authority over demons. Morgan pressed the candidate on his childhood and stories about calling out demons.
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The stories keep popping up from the large back catalog of previous media appearances and publications. In his books, he writes about befriending the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, a miraculous near-miss with a helicopter crash, and repeatedly using prayer to expel demons. He describes himself as a state champion trumpeter so adept with a butterfly knife that he wowed a group of “gang bangers” he confronted in a parking lot in Colorado Springs.
The questions and stories have not bothered his supporters.
Jeff Hunt, a conservative radio host, told The Post earlier this summer that Marx was just “brutally honest” — albeit perhaps more so than a political strategist would recommend. Rich Wyatt, the chair of the Jefferson County GOP, said everyone had parts of their history they’d prefer not to talk about. That includes himself, he said — Wyatt was sentenced to prison for conspiracy and tax violations.
He likened Marx to Donald Trump, another outsider candidate with a lengthy backstory who rode a longshot bid to the White House.
“I do think people are going to move past it,” he said of Marx’s backstory. “People are tired of career politicians like Barb Kirkmeyer.”
Marx’s victory over Kirkmeyer was significant: A first-timer candidate had raised nearly $3 million and edged out one of the most prominent Republicans in the state. But if he wants to upset Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser, Marx will need to win over a large swath of unaffiliated voters who have backed Democrats and largely did not turn toward Trump in the red-wave 2024 election.
He’ll also need a united Republican Party behind him — including the 60% of primary voters who backed Kirkmeyer or the third-place primary finisher, Rep. Scott Bottoms. Both Kirkmeyer and Bottoms refused to endorse Marx. What’s more, former Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Lopez has qualified for the ballot and will mount an unaffiliated run for the governor’s office, further complicating Marx’s path.
Wyatt and Burton Brown, the former state party chair, said Marx had taken steps to knit the party together. He appeared with other GOP candidates for an event hosted by the state party, announcing their unified platform for the fall election.
“He’s had several Zoom meetings with the county chairs, trying to get everybody on board because there are people who are fractured,” Wyatt said.
But Wyatt noted that the state GOP, which did not return a message seeking comment, was broke and struggling after years of infighting and accusations of mismanagement. Marx will also have to rebuild and retool his own campaign for a general election. Like Weiser, Marx spent most of his campaign cash during the primary race. Unlike Weiser, Marx’s first general election campaign finance report shows he’d since spent more than he raised last month. He has just under $137,000 in the bank, against Weiser’s $369,000.
He’s also drawn more scrutiny for accepting nearly $80,000 in improper campaign donations, and his campaign has also filed an uncommon request to refile most of its finance reports for the year. Last month, Marx also claimed, incorrectly, that he was set to be endorsed by former Gov. Bill Owens, the last Republican to occupy the governor’s mansion.
“Any one of those is survivable,” Saunders said of Marx’s early-campaign stumbles. “Together, they read as a campaign that never built the boring infrastructure (compliance, vetting, a finance operation) because a celebrity social-media campaign doesn’t need it to win a primary.”
In his interview with his wife, Marx said he took responsibility for the campaign finance issues, but that it was an honest mistake and a “nothing burger.” He said that he and his campaign didn’t know that individual supporters were limited to $1,450 in total donations. He now faces a new campaign finance complaint related to his merchandise sales.
Those missteps have drawn more media attention. Marx needs coverage to help get his message out, said Buck, the former congressman. That will likely include more “uncomfortable” questions about his background.
Marx has also said he won’t participate in traditional, moderated debates against Weiser — an apparent nod to the sharp questions he faced during a 9News debate in June.
But he may need those debates, too, Buck argued, “to show gravitas on a stage with opposing candidates (and) to earn the kind of free media that he will need to break through.”
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