The 2018 Colorado gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next and the 43rd

Governor of Colorado The governor of Colorado is the head of government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws. The governor has the power to either app ...

. Incumbent Democratic Governor

John Hickenlooper John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. (; born February 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Colorado since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 42nd governor of Colorado from 2011 to 20 ...

was

term-limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

ed and could not seek reelection to a third consecutive term. The primary election was held on June 26. The major party nominees were U.S. Congressman

Jared Polis Jared Schutz Polis (; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician, entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist, serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since January 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 200 ...

for the Democratic Party and State Treasurer

Walker Stapleton Walker Stapleton (born April 15, 1974) is an American politician who served two terms as Colorado's State Treasurer from 2011 to 2019. Stapleton was the Republican nominee for Governor of Colorado in the 2018 election, which he lost to Democrat J ...

for the Republican Party. The general election took place on November 6, 2018, with Polis winning by 268,000 votes. Polis' victory marked the fourth straight election in which Colorado elected a Democratic governor. Polis's victory marked the first time in American electoral history that an

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

politician was elected

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of a state.

Democratic primary

With Hickenlooper ineligible to run for a third term in office, multiple Democratic politicians vied for the party's nomination for Governor. Prior to his resignation in 2015, former Lieutenant Governor Joseph Garcia was seen as a probable candidate for Governor in 2018.

Candidates

Nominated

, U.S. Representative

Eliminated in the primary

* Mike Johnston, former State Senator *

Cary Kennedy Cary Kennedy is an American politician from Colorado. She is a former Colorado State Treasurer, as well as a former Deputy Mayor and Chief Financial Officer of Denver, Colorado. She was also a candidate for Governor of Colorado in the 2018 ele ...

, former

Colorado State Treasurer The Treasurer of the State of Colorado is one of the five elected officials of the U.S. state of Colorado, the other four being the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General. The State Treasurer is responsible for man ...

and former CFO and Deputy Mayor of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Donna Lynne Donna Lynne (born October 27, 1953) is the chief executive officer of Denver Health. She was the senior vice president and chief operating officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center before joining Denver Health in September 2022. Lynne ...

Lieutenant Governor of Colorado The lieutenant governor of Colorado is the second-highest-ranking member of the executive department of the Government of Colorado, United States, below the governor of Colorado. The lieutenant governor of Colorado, who acts as governor of Colorad ...

Eliminated at the convention

* Erik Underwood, former congressional aide, Republican candidate for GA-10 in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Withdrawn

Ed Perlmutter Edwin George Perlmutter (born May 1, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, his district is located in the northern and western suburbs of the Denver metropolitan area ...

, U.S. Representative (running for reelection) * Noel Ginsburg, businessman

Declined

* Joseph Garcia, former Lieutenant Governor *

Steve Lebsock Steve Lebsock is an American politician who served in the Colorado House of Representatives from the 34th district as a member of the Democratic and Republican parties from 2013 until his expulsion in 2018. Prior to his tenure in the state hous ...

, State Representative (was running for

State Treasurer In the state governments of the United States, 48 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the position in 1926; duties were transferred to New York State Comptroller. Texas abolished the position of Texas ...

before switching to the Republican Party, thus disqualifying him from the Democratic Primary) *

Michael Merrifield Michael Merrifield (born 1946/47) is an American politician from Colorado. He served four terms (2002-2010) as a Representative in Colorado House of Representatives, House District 18. He was chairman of the House Education Committee and also se ...

, State Senator *

Joe Neguse Joseph D. Neguse ( ; born May 13, 1984) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Colorado's 2nd congressional district since 2019. The district is based in Boulder and includes many of Denver's northwestern subu ...

, former executive director of the

Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) is the principal department of the Colorado state government responsible for professional licensing and consumer protection. As the consumer protection agency for the State of Colorado, DORA' ...

and nominee for secretary of state in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

( running for CO-02) *

Joe Salazar Joseph A. Salazar (born 1971/72) is a former Democratic member of the Colorado House of Representatives, serving from 2013 to early 2019. Salazar previously worked as an attorney with Smith, Shelton, Ragona and Salazar, LLC. He focused on employme ...

, State Representative ( running for Attorney General) *

Ken Salazar Kenneth Lee Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Mexico. He previously served as the 50th United States Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Ba ...

, former U.S. Senator and former

United States Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural ...

Caucus results

On March 6, 2018, Democrats of precincts across Colorado met and voted how many Delegates each candidate that was caucusing on the ballot would get. As of March 11, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. 96.83% of precincts reported and added up below results. *

(11,700; 49.2%) *

(7,784; 32.7%) * Mike Johnston (2,086; 8.8%) *Noel Ginsburg (433; 1.8%), dropped out of race * Erik Underwood (100; 0.4%) * Uncommitted (1,668; 7%)

Endorsements

Polling

Results

2018 Colorado gubernatorial Democratic primary

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominated

Eliminated in the primary

* Greg Lopez, former Mayor of Parker *

Victor Mitchell Victor Mitchell (born December 12, 1965) is an American businessman and former legislator in Colorado. Since 2008, he has been CEO of Lead Funding, a national real estate lender. Elected to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Republican ...

, former State Representative * Doug Robinson, businessman

Eliminated at the convention

* Steve Barlock, Trump Co-chair & Coalitions, Colorado Republican National Alternate Delegate and Elector * Cynthia Coffman,

Colorado Attorney General The Attorney General of the State of Colorado is the chief legal officer for the U.S. state of Colorado and the head of the Colorado Department of Law, a principal department of the Colorado state government. It is an elected position with a four- ...

* Barry Farah, businessman * Lew Gaiter,

Larimer County Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359,066. The county seat and most populous city is Fort Collins. The county was named for William Larimer, Jr., the founder of Denver. ...

Commissioner

Withdrawn

* George Brauchler, District Attorney for Colorado's 18th Judicial District (running for Attorney General) * JoAnne Silva, retired banker *

Tom Tancredo Thomas Gerard Tancredo (; born December 20, 1945) is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009 as a Republican. He ran for Presi ...

, former U.S. Representative, candidate for Governor in

, Constitution Party nominee for Governor in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, and

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

* Jim Rundberg, businessman

Declined

John Elway John Albert Elway Jr. (born June 28, 1960) is an American professional football executive and former quarterback who is the president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Elway played college f ...

, general manager of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

and retired

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

player *

Owen Hill Owen Hill (born February 17, 1982) is a former State Legislator for the U.S. State of Colorado. First elected to the Colorado State Senate as a Republican in 2012, he served two terms representing Senate District 10, which encompasses Eastern C ...

, state senator and candidate for the U.S. Senate in

( running for CO-05) * Steve House, Chairman of the

Colorado Republican Party The Colorado Republican Party is the state affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Colorado. The party's headquarters is located in Greenwood Village, Colorado. The state party chair is Kristi Burton Brown. The Colorado Republican ...

and candidate for governor in

* Kent Thiry, Chairman & CEO of

DaVita Inc. DaVita Inc. provides kidney dialysis services through a network of 2,816 outpatient dialysis centers in the United States, serving 204,200 patients, and 321 outpatient dialysis centers in 10 other countries serving 3,200 patients. The company pri ...

* Brian Watson, businessman and candidate for the State House in 2012 ( running for State Treasurer)

Caucus results

Based on information shared by some key counties, as well as a recent survey the following are believed to be results of the Republican Caucus from Key Counties.

Pueblo County Pueblo County ( or ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 168,162. The county seat is Pueblo. The county was named for the historic city of Pueblo which took its name from the Spanish lan ...

* Steve Barlock – 3.14% * Cynthia Coffman – 7.55% * Greg Lopez – 16.35% *

– 23.90% * Doug Robinson – 3.15% *

– 45.91% Douglas County * Steve Barlock – 32.5% * Cynthia Coffman – 4.6% * Lew Gaiter III – 2.2% * Greg Lopez – 18.8% *

– 7.7% * Doug Robinson – 2.2% *

– 23.2% *

(dropped out of the race) – 1.6% * ''Uncommitted'' – 7.2%

Endorsements

Polling

Results

2018 Colorado gubernatorial Republican primary

Third party and independent candidates

Candidates

Declared

* Paul Noel Fiorino (

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

* Scott Helker (

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

) * Bill Hammons (Unity Party of America), insurance agent, chairman and founder of the Unity Party of America, and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014 and 2016 * Marcus Giavanni (

), radio host

General election

Debates

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

;with Cary Kennedy ;with Tom Tancredo

Results

References

External links

Candidates
at

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

Candidates
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

;Official campaign websites
Paul Fiorino (U) for GovernorMarcus Giavanni (I) for GovernorBill Hammons (U) for GovernorScott Helker (L) for GovernorJared Polis (D) for GovernorWalker Stapleton (R) for Governor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colorado gubernatorial election, 2018

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2018 United States gubernatorial elections