October 22, 2024 12:22 PM UTC

Mark Baisley Will Not be Colorado's Next Governor

• 3 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

The 2024 election isn’t over quite yet, but at least one Republican politician in Colorado is already looking ahead to 2026.

State Sen. Mark Baisley (R-Roxborough Park) is apparently looking at running for the state’s top job in 2026, when Gov. Jared Polis will be term-limited. As Ernest Luning notes via the social media website formerly known as Twitter:

We noted back in 2021 that Baisley was not going to be Governor of Colorado at any point in the future…mostly because of the photo he took surrounded by actual clowns. But there are plenty more substantial reasons to believe that Baisely will not be leading Colorado anytime soon.

Perhaps the most straightforward reason that Baisley will not be Governor is because, as Luning notes, Colorado has only had one Republican Governor in the last 50 years. Colorado has become a solid blue state since the last Republican Governor, Bill Owens, concluded his second term in 2006. In the five gubernatorial races since the departure of Owens, Democrats have been elected by an average margin of 13 points; in the most recent gubernatorial election, Polis defeated Republican Heidi Ganahl by 19 points. This trend is only going to get worse for Republicans in the coming years.

As for “New Colorado Promise,” it is an Independent Election Committee (IEC) formed on September 17, 2024. Its all-caps purpose is listed thusly:

TO SUPPORT REPUBLICAN STATEWIDE AND STATE LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES WHO ARE COMMITTED TO INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM, LIBERTY, LOWER TAXES, AND PRO-ECONOMIC GROWTH PRINCIPLES TO MAKE COLORADO AND ITS CITIZENS FREER, SECURE, AND PROSPER.

Blah, blah, blah. The registered agent for “New Colorado Promise” is a guy named Charles Gantt, whose name pops up regularly on various committee filings (always for Republicans). In short, this IEC is almost certainly a Washington DC-based infrastructure vehicle to assist Baisley in the 2026 election cycle.

If you aren’t familiar with Baisley, he is a former vice-chair of the Colorado Republican Party who served three terms in the State House before moving to the State Senate in 2022. Should he actually seek the office of Governor, Baisley would be forgoing a chance to run for the State Senate for a second and final term. In a potential Republican Primary, Baisley slots in as a member of the Dave Williams gang that currently oversees the State Republican Party. In short, you can probably expect Baisley to start speaking out more about the dangers of schools “trangendering” your kids.

As a state legislator, Baisley has spent most of his time making a royal ass of himself, including baseless accusations about death certificates related to the COVID pandemic; comparing a salon owner who refused to close her shop during the pandemic to Rosa freaking Parks; arguing that the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection was conducted by “Antifa”; and claiming that the ultimate goal of Democrats is to implement “Sharia Law” in Colorado. He’s that guy.

Mark Baisley isn’t going to be Colorado’s next Governor, but he has a decent chance of becoming the Republican nominee in 2026 because somebody has to do it. We’ve heard other Republican names bandied about, including State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, so there is some strategic benefit to Baisley getting out in front of other potential GOP hopefuls. More names should start to trickle out in another month or so.