At a campaign stop at Prodigy Cafe in Denver on Saturday, Greg Lopez explained why he’s running as an independent candidate for governor: “What I recognized in watching Congress, and in watching what was happening here in the state of Colorado, was that both parties no longer care about the struggles of people.”
“And so by not having a party,” he continued. “I don’t have to worry about political bosses; I don’t have to worry about political ideology. I can work with both sides and come up with solutions.”
Colorado has never had an independent candidate win the governor’s seat. When asked why he believed an independent was a viable option in today’s gubernatorial race, Lopez responded: “I think I’m a unique candidate. My background and experience overshadow the experience of both the Democratic candidate Phil Weiser and the Republican candidate Victor Marx.”
He later added, “Traditionally, independent candidates are business people, right? They’re frustrated, but you don’t see a former Congressman, a former mayor, a former director.”
Lopez’s background includes serving as mayor of Parker, Colorado, from 1992 to 1996, serving as the Colorado Director of the United States Small Business Administration from 2008 to 2014, and representing Colorado’s 4th Congressional District from 2024 to 2025.
He was a Republican from 1994 to 2026 and a Democrat prior to 1994. He unsuccessfully ran for governor of Colorado in 2018 and 2022.
Lopez explained that his experience as mayor meant that “I understand transportation. I understand water. I understand land use. I understand zoning. I understand public safety. All these things the state has to deal with, I dealt with when I was mayor of Parker.” He continued, “When 50% of the active voters are unaffiliated here in the state of Colorado, they’re sending a message, right?”
Lopez is correct that 50%, if not more, of Colorado voters are unaffiliated. The Colorado Sun reported that while some unaffiliated voters were automatically registered as such because they did not officially declare a party affiliation, at least 86% of unaffiliated voters intentionally chose to be independent.
Overall, Lopez explained, “I don’t want to play politics. I’m tired of politics. Do no harm. Whatever decisions we make, try not to harm people and do what works.”
The Democratic Party has voiced concerns that Lopez is not as independent as he claims, but rather stands as another conservative option, especially for those who are unhappy with the Republican gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx. This is somewhat addressed on Lopez’s campaign website, which asserts, “Personally, Greg is both fiscally and socially conservative, but he also believes in compassion and fairness. He believes in conserving civil liberties, free speech, human life, and our financial and environmental resources.”
Others have found past examples of his conservative side, which emerged when he was running for governor of Colorado in 2022. That year, before losing the Republican primary to Heidi Ganahl, Lopez stated, “I fully believe that President Trump did win the election” in reference to the 2020 election, as reported by The Colorado Sun. He additionally stated that climate change was not caused by “human behavior,” and that he planned to “put a police officer in every single school across the state.”
In May 2022, Lopez also stated that he was strongly against abortions, even in the case of rape or incest, as reported by the Colorado Times Recorder. He did say that he was in favor of abortions in cases where the mother’s life is in danger.
All of the above statements were made when Lopez was a member of the Republican Party.
Could the GOP Become a Minor Party?
If Lopez were to win the governor’s race this year, then the Republican Party could become a minor party if it receives less than 10% of the vote. It has been theorized that this may be the outcome of Lopez splitting the votes with Marx. When asked for his thoughts on the matter, Lopez responded: “It’s not my responsibility to ensure a party maintains its status, right?” He continued, “If you’re not getting 10%, you’re definitely not connecting.”
Lopez also voiced his disagreement with the notion that he was splitting votes between himself and Marx, giving Weiser an easier victory.
“That idea is unfounded,” he said. “I’m not splitting votes. The ballot comes under your name. … You get to decide how you want to vote. And for those who believe no, if you’re a Republican or Democrat, you need to vote under that grant, then I would say okay. Why don’t we pass legislation that every Democratic ballot and every Republican ballot gets mailed to the state party chairman of those parties, and let them fill it out?” Lopez concluded, “I’m going to take votes from both sides.”
