Is Colorado Electing a Governor or a Celebrity Salesman?

On Tuesday, May 26 of 2026, two political events took place in Colorado politics. One was a debate that had been scheduled for over six months at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood. A debate for the primary candidates. The other, an in person rally, held at the Phil Long Music Music Hall, scheduled purposefully at the exact same time by a candidate that had dropped out of the debate only ten days prior claiming moderator bias.

The candidate that dropped out was Victor Marx. I need to be honest and say that I am not surprised after he previously dropped out of other debates, forums and town halls.

It is almost becoming an easy wager on whether or not he will follow through with any event that he is scheduled to be at. There seems to be a bit of his own bias to the point where, unless he is headlining the event, or hosting the forum, that he won’t attend. Some may call this narcissism, and others might call it being self absorbed.

I call it politics.

Marx has claimed that he refuses to stoop to mud-slinging and politics as usual, and this is an idea that I can get behind. Politics is a messy game and if you’re capable of taking an honest look from a 30,000 foot view, it has the appearance of school yard bullies taking on other school yard bullies. Only this time, the bully has money, confidence, and no one to tell them to apologize. In the end, the one who has been able to paint themselves as the better bully by getting most of the schoolyard behind them, will come out victorious.

Scott Bottoms on the other hand, has doubled down on his public criticism of Marx, stating that if Marx wins the primary, he will not support him. Stating that they used to be friends but “he’s a con man. He’s lied to me personally and he’s lied to other people.”

Barb Kirkmeyer, at the Colorado Christian debate echoed Bottoms, saying that she would also not support Marx, stating, “I don’t think he’s fit to be governor, and I think he would be a disaster for our state, quite frankly.”

Regardless of their reasons, both are entitled to their opinions. Just as every other Colorado voter.

Marx on the other hand has said that he would support either candidate if they received the nomination. In a Facebook post on October 11th, Marx said this, “Time to break the stronghold over Colorado. Step 1: Unite. My goal has never been to speak derogatorily about my fellow republican candidates.”

Speaking negatively about another candidate is business as usual in politics. Par for the course has been to dig up as much dirt on the opposition as possible and smear the opponent until either they drop out or lose. The “Colorado blueprint” as it has come to be known has been duplicated in other states to win primaries and general elections for a couple of decades now. The plan was laid out in the YouTube documentary, “The Rocky Mountain Heist.”

The rhetoric from the Marx campaign has been to run their own race and not to engage in mudslinging and unite Colorado. This is a valiant position, but one that brings confusion to me.

In a social media post, the night before the competing events, Mr Marx posted a video on his Facebook page inviting Coloradans to his event. He went as far as to tell those who have a ticket to the Lakewood event, that if they brought their ticket to his event, not only would they get into the event free, but they would also get a free t-shirt.

Victor Marx has been called a con man, a grifter, a liar, a snake oil salesman and a narcissist.

While these definitions are strong opinions from many people, and people are certainly entitled to their opinion, right or wrong, I will not get into name calling.

My opinion of the man is nothing but an opinion of someone I only know from seeing him on the stage, following social media posts and now, experiencing first-hand his snarky responses to those who truly want to know who he is.

I’m certainly not naive.

I am very aware that one cannot make a judgement on someone’s character from interactions that are not face to face, man to man, friend to friend.

I will not speculate who he is behind closed doors or what he has done for the many individuals that he has claimed to rescue, help, save or just be a good person to.

There are many individuals who have already come forward to give their heartfelt testimony of who Victor Marx is.

Kyle Rittenhouse, the young man who was acquitted for murder while defending himself during the riots on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020, spoke from the stage at the Mission 151 live event this week said of Victor that he was a spiritual mentor and that he was there for him and his wife after they were married.

Rachael Flick, the wife of slain police officer Micah Flick told the story of how Victor and Eileen Marx were there for her and her twin children when her husband was declared dead after being shot and killed during an undercover auto theft investigation that went wrong.

While these stories, and the people that share them, are great stories, and from the outside looking in, appear to be true, heartfelt and personal, coming from individuals that have experienced real empathy from the man, I still have questions.

Why? Why would I still question who a man is, after hearing these stories? Why would I still have questions when I have heard directly from the mouths of those who he has affected?

A great salesman once told me that it doesn’t matter what you say as long as you say it with a smile on your face. I could look someone dead in the eye, with a fierce tone in my eyes and tell someone to “eat shit.” They might not be too happy with me. However, If I look that same person in the eye, with a smile on my face, laughing and giggling, and I say, “you’d like to eat a bag of shit wouldn’t you?” While still laughing, while still smiling, they will take what I say and process it differently. They might even receive what I have to say, and consider eating a bag of shit.

Do I think Victor Marx is a con man, a grifter, a liar, a snake oil salesman or a narcissist?

I don’t know.

Honestly, I think he is a great salesman with the ability to draw people in like not many people can do. I think he has a way with words that make people want to listen. He commands a presence when he enters a room. He knows how to work the crowd. In one moment drawing the listener in with an emotional story, and the next moment drawing laughter with a joke or a bit of sarcasm. He has done a great job of “selling” people on the belief that he is here to win, he doesn’t need to debate, or attend a town hall, or a forum. I can’t say that he is wrong for doing this. I would expect any candidate to bring their “A Game” to the table when trying to convince a potential voter that he is the right man for the job.

Some may call it manipulation. Others might say that he is fleecing the people. When an individual has been doing something one way for a very long time, it becomes extremely difficult to change the way they are doing something. Even though salesmanship is a good tool to have in your bag, politics is different. People want to know how you are going to help them. People want to know specifically what you are going to do to fix the problems that we are facing in our state.

A good salesman, with the ability to persuade others, will always do their best to present their product in a way that tugs at the heart strings of the individual.

Facts tell, feelings sell.

In the case of Victor Marx, he is doing an amazing job of selling to the emotions of individuals while they are in need of new leadership in their state; but sales is always a balance of facts and feelings. People want to know, “What’s in it for me?” A story of how you helped someone on the other side of the world is great, heartfelt and moving, but how does that help me?

In Colorado, we have become so frustrated with the state of our politics that when the shiny new candidate rolls into town and says he will fix everything that is broken, it plays with the emotional frustration that we have been feeling for almost a generation. When the dust settles and the honeymoon of excitement fades away, we need to know: what is he going to do?

This play on the emotions of people can often come off as a con, as grifting, as lying, as a thief selling snake oil, or a narcissist who is manipulating people. In reality, maybe it is just really good salesmanship; but in the end, a combination of those feelings needs to be combined with some of the facts that are needed for an educated buyer. A charismatic salesman can only get so far if he does not know the product he is selling or the audience to who he is selling to.

When a good salesman is in his element, those who he is selling to will often feel like they are not being sold. The professionals will do their best to let you buy instead of trying to sell you until the close, but if the potential client is going to say yes, at some point, that salesman is going to need to bring some element of how he will follow through after the sale.

This is what I do know. Not from an article I have read, or the comments section of a social media post; but from first hand experience.

When an individual sets out to win, he or she will do it at any cost. I was taught to play the game with integrity and the best man will win. Politics has drifted so far off representing the people that it has become a game of the biggest personality, the most money and the most convincing story; and stories seem to be the game plan in the Marx campaign. Watch my movie. Read my book. Listen to my interview. Look how much money we’ve raised. I’m not impressed. Why? Because it has nothing to do with me.

On Wednesday, after the Mission 151 event, Marx made a congratulatory post about how great their event was the previous evening. Touting a packed, sold out room of over 1000 plus people. Along with pictures of smiling people, local and national celebrities sharing their love for Victor and Eileen, and perfect angles of what appeared to be a packed out house.

I want to tell a different story. A story from a different angle. A story from an individual who is trying to like Victor Marx. For those who have total disdain for the man and his stories, his alleged lies and fabricated fables, I am really trying to like him.

There are good people who support Victor Marx. There are many people that I respect who are supporting him. Individuals like the young couple who I sat next to at the event on Tuesday who had recently moved to Colorado because the cost of living had become almost impossible in Washington state. Others like those individuals who have supported my mother in her fight against the corrupt government that tried to put her in jail for 3 years for peacefully protesting.

The story I want to tell, is one that gives you a personal perspective from someone who has studied sales for 30 years. Someone who has studied the psychology of people and how theyrespond to different perspectives.

This is my perspective. This is from my vantage point. This is my opinion.

Almost 9 months in, the excitement of the Marx campaign has begun to wear off. Not that I was ever a fan boy, follower or supporter, but because the new kid on the block brought with him, energy, a new perspective and the ability to raise money.

From the beginning, something felt off. Maybe it was the data farming of information at the Charlie Kirk vigil at Brave Church last fall, or the perfect scenario of using Charlie’s death and Erika Kirk’s mourning to tug at the heart strings of those who saw Charlie as one who had helped steer the last presidential election on campuses all over the country.

Perhaps the growing number of people that are digging deeper into the almost unbelievable stories of Victor’s career is causing me concerns. It could be the Corby Hall interview, the Candace Owens interview or the Kyle Clark interview, or maybe its the continual backing out of every debate, forum or organized meet up of the candidates that is giving me reservations. On the other hand, it could be the smurfing accusations, or the constant back peddling or re wording of what was actually said.

For me, it’s a handful of things that I have not mentioned yet.

I’ll start with my first chance to hear Victor. The night before the State assembly in April. Standing in the middle of the room, with hundreds of supporters, not clapping, not cheering, not falling for the hype. From the stage, Marx told the crowd he could tell who was not for him because, there were people not clapping, not cheering and not getting excited; and if he wanted to, he could have those people thrown out too. Maybe I was the only one, and maybe there were others, but regardless of how many of us there were, standing 10 feet away, I was a potential voter, hearing him for the first time.

It could be the way he entered that room that threw me off. The celebrity entrance to a crowd of maybe 150 people in a restaurant/bar with a hype video and security surrounding him.

Maybe it was the entrance to the assembly to sign the official documents that put him on the ballot where he walked in with an entourage after sitting in a green room setting, all day, while his competition sat in the stands and beat him by a fairly decent margin without all the hype.

Maybe it was the sarcastic response to my question on his social media post, asking him who he was debating at his event after he skipped out on yet another debate with the other candidates.

Truth be told, I could find many reasons not to support Victor Marx. However, the one that stands out to me the most is the outright lie that took place during this weeks event. Not a little white lie, but a public, out there for everyone to see, lie.

The lie, on a Facebook post yesterday, was where he thanked those in attendance to his event. He posted on his social media, that there were 1000+ in attendance. I can handle that fact that he appears to have a big ego. I can deal with the fact that he has a tendency to exaggerate or find excuses as to why he has changed his mind on a position he once held regarding policies. Like when he initially said that he would commute the sentence of Tina Peters, then he changed his stance to a full pardon day 1, now, because Governor Polis has commuted her sentence, he was let off the hook and doesn’t even have to mention her name.

On Tuesday, Marx announced his top 10 things he would immediately do when he is elected and put into office. He claims that he has held them close to his vest and that Tuesday was the first time he was sharing them publicly. His reason, because he did not want the other candidates to steal his ideas. I thought this odd that he felt the need to hold on to his ideas, and then needed to put his glasses on to read from the list, but that is irrelevant. There was one point that I remember very vividly. Marx said that he would do a complete and full audit of CDOT on day one. That is great news, and I hate to break it to you the reader, but that was almost verbatim what Scott Bottoms said at the gubernatorial debate in Parker a few weeks ago. It’s nothing new, and its nothing I haven’t heard before.

I can tell you, as someone who attended the Mission 151 event on Tuesday, that there was not anywhere close to 1000 people in the room at the event. I did my best to observe without bias. The energy in the room. Believe me, there was plenty of it. I tried very hard to ignore the overwhelming security that seemed to follow me wherever I went. After all, there have been many death threats. So security is needed. (I hope you can pick up the sarcasm in my text)

I definitely had to overlook the rules for thee and not for me as he flashed his concealed hand gun while telling the crowd how he felt about the second amendment while we had to go through security screening to be sure we were not carrying any weapons.

I actually knew people in the room that are part of the White House team and they said that they almost felt attacked when they entered the building because of the overwhelming security presence. A Trump or Vance event never makes someone fel on guard for walking into the room.

My own mother, a widowed great grandmother, who they call the J6 Praying grandma, who was given the largest fine for a misdemeanor in the history of America, and endured countless death threats, with her home address publicly posted as a bed and breakfast, doesn’t have the kind of security that a gun carrying blackbelt, with over a hundred “dangerous missions” had on this random Tuesday in May.

After a quick Google search and verifying with the event centers staff, I found out that the building holds 1000 people at capacity with standing room only, and just under 500 if the room is set up with seating. To publicly state that the room was packed, with over 1000 in attendance was an outright lie, as half the room was empty. In my estimate, after waiting until the room was empty and counting the rows of tables and chairs, there might not have been 500 in attendance. Potentially half of what was stated by Marx himself.

My question is this. If his campaign is going so great, why does he have to lie about numbers? If he is willing to lie about something like attendance, what else is he lying about?

You can make your own judgment, but as for me, I refuse to fall for the misdirection. The gaslighting or the slight of hand.

I choose to use my best judgement from my own observations.

What will you do?

Will you fall for the hype, or will you take a step back, and ask yourself, what do I get if Victor Marx is elected Governor? How will he help my family, my property and my paycheck? Will he benefit my future or will he tell more stories to build a narrative for his future endeavors?