Updated 7:06 p.m.
State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer has filed the paperwork to run for governor, hoping to replace term-limited Democrat, Jared Polis. She adds a high-profile name to a growing list of Republicans aiming for Colorado’s top office.
Kirkmeyer is in her second and final term in the Colorado state Senate, where she represents Weld and Larimer counties. She’s also a former Weld County Commissioner and ran for Congress in the 8th Congressional District in 2022, narrowly losing that race.
She first became politically engaged decades ago, after learning that Weld County was preparing to allow landfills, fly ash, and hazardous medical waste disposal sites near her rural home.
“I was minding my own business. I owned a dairy farm at the time, had two young children. I also owned a flower shop,” she told CPR News.
After having her concerns dismissed by her county commissioner, Kirkmeyer decided to run for office herself. She ended up spending two decades on the board of commissioners, with a break in the middle during which she led the Department of Local Affairs under Gov. Bill Owens.
In her role as county commissioner, Kirkmeyer repeatedly tangled with the state over drilling policy. She joined objections to increased setback distances in 2013. She was also a leading opponent of the 2019 bill that overhauled the state’s oil and gas permitting to prioritize public health and the environment. After the law was signed, Kirkmeyer joined her colleagues in trying to set local rules for oil and gas development in Weld County and led an unsuccessful effort to ask voters to repeal the law.
In 2013, when a number of northeastern Colorado counties pushed to secede and create a 51st state, Kirkmeyer was a vocal proponent of the effort. The move grew out of disputes over renewable energy mandates and new gun laws passed by Democratic lawmakers.
Two current statehouse Republicans have already entered the race for governor but Kirkmeyer is the most high profile GOP entrant so far. Colorado has not elected a Republican governor since Bill Owens handily defeated a Democrat to serve a second term in 2002.
As the ranking Republican on the budget committee, Kirkmeyer is one of the six lawmakers who write the state’s spending plan. She’s a high-profile voice inside the legislature pushing for fiscal restraint and efforts to lower the cost of living. She also worked with Democrats in recent years to end a long-standing shortfall in state education funding.
In the recent special session to fill a $1 billion budget shortfall, Kirkmeyer advocated for balancing the budget by eliminating a new benefit for low-income families, versus raising taxes on business.
“Everyone in Colorado knows, feels, and believes things are already too expensive, yet this Democratic special session was about raising taxes even higher and blaming TABOR and Washington DC,” Kirkmeyer said in a statement after the session wrapped up. “I’m deeply concerned one party control has taken our budget and state in the wrong direction — making living here too expensive. We need to do better.”
The two leading Democrats in the race, Attorney General Phil Weiser and Sen. Michael Bennet, were quick to try to tie Kirkmeyer to President Donald Trump, who Colorado voters rejected in the last three general elections.
“We need fighters — not rubber stamps for Trump. 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,” said a statement from Weiser’s campaign.
Bennet’s campaign said Kirkmeyer is loyal to Trump, not Colorado families.
“She’s all in on Trump’s economic agenda, already a disaster for Colorado families, workers, and small businesses,” said Ben Waldon, Bennet for Governor campaign manager.
