Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer (R-Weld County) officially entered the crowded field of Republican gubernatorial candidates after making her official campaign announcement Tuesday. Kirkmeyer will be competing against notable Republicans like former Congressman and Parker Mayor Greg Lopez, Rep. Scott Bottoms (R-Colorado Springs), Sen. Mark Baisley (R-Roxborough Park), Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell, and a half-dozen others.
“Now, some say you have to be a Democrat to win statewide in Colorado,” said Kirkmeyer in her campaign launch video. “I just don’t think so. I say Colorado is ready for a new direction — ready for a common sense conservative leader who will roll up her sleeves, work with people, and deliver real results, not political games. As your governor, I won’t raise your taxes. I’ll fight for affordability, make our communities safe, fix our darn roads, and partner with local governments to actually solve problems.”
Democratic Governor Jared Polis is term-limited, but won re-election with nearly 60% of the vote, defeating Republican Heidi Ganahl. U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser have both launched gubernatorial campaigns.
“We need fighters — not rubber stamps for Trump,” said Weiser in a news release in response to Kirkmeyer’s announcement. “State Sen. Kirkmeyer loudly defended Trump’s new law that blew a billion-dollar hole in our state budget, cut Coloradans’ healthcare funding, and put our rural hospitals at risk. And when I sought more tools to fight back against Trump and his cabinet, she tried her best to block me from defending our state. I have a different vision for Colorado — focused on freedom and opportunity for all — and will fight hard for it. I welcome Sen. Kirkmeyer to the race and look forward to a debate about the values and leadership Colorado needs and deserves in this moment.”
Kirkmeyer was a longstanding Weld County Commissioner before winning election to the Colorado Senate in 2020. During her time as a commissioner, Kirkmeyer banked over $73,000 in tax money for trips to and from work, according to a Colorado Times Recorder analysis of her reimbursement records — the first complete compilation of her expense reports submitted during her tenure as county commissioner from 2009 to 2020.
Kirkmeyer ran unsuccessfully against former U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo in 2022. During her campaign, Kirkmeyer said she supported changes to medicaid that could lead to cuts for low-income Coloradans who rely on the federal-state health care program.
“I think the other thing we could look at again the Medicaid situation. You know, I’ve been talking with folks about maybe we put that into a block grant, same as what we did with temporary aid for needy families, the Welfare reform stuff, and even with our child welfare, and looking at our child care programs as well,” Kirkmeyer told Jon Caldara during a 2022 interview. “Looking at block grants. And then having states say, ‘This is what’s best to serve our constituents.’ You know, ‘Here’s the block of money.’ That’s exactly what happened back in late ’90s. Here’s the block of money that comes to the state. States, you still have to match. You don’t get to drop your match just because we are block-granting it to you. But we are going to give you more flexibility to meet the needs of the residents of your state. And I think that’s what we need to do with Medicaid.”
Kirkmeyer also describes herself as “pro-life,” but declined to answer whether she would support a national abortion ban during her 2022 congressional campaign. After voting against a bill that protected the right to an abortion in Colorado law, Kirkmeyer said, “A baby in his mother’s arms should be just as valued as when that baby was in his mother’s uterus.”
On her Facebook page in 2022, Kirkmeyer wrote “Roe v. Wade was a terrible decision that was not Constitutionally sound, and millions of unborn babies have died as a result.”
Kirkmeyer has also been a vocal supporter of Second Amendment rights. “Democrats want to take away your Second Amendment rights, but I won’t let them,” Kirkmeyer said in a 2022 campaign video that showed her firing a gun several times at a local shooting range. “I made Weld County a Second Amendment sanctuary, and I won’t quit until the entire nation is a sanctuary from gun-grabbing liberals.”
Truth and Liberty, the conservative Christian nonprofit affiliation with Andrew Wommack, will be holding a governor candidate forum during their annual conference this week in Woodland Park, featuring a number of the leading Republican candidates.
