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 20 ...

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 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 of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

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 are ...

, 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 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 House District 18. He was chairman of the House Education Committee and also served on the House Transportation a ...

, 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 s ...

, 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 employm ...

, State Representative ( running for Attorney General) * Ken Salazar, 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 natur ...

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, 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 Pres ...

, former U.S. Representative, candidate for Governor in Colorado gubernatorial election, 2014, 2014, Constitution Party (United States), Constitution Party nominee for Governor in Colorado gubernatorial election, 2010, 2010, and Tom Tancredo presidential campaign, 2008, candidate for President of the United States in Republican Party presidential primaries, 2008, 2008 * Jim Rundberg, businessman

Declined

* John Elway, general manager of the Denver Broncos and retired National Football League, NFL player * Owen Hill, state senator and candidate for the U.S. Senate in United States Senate election in Colorado, 2014, 2014 (United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, 2018#District 5, running for CO-05) * Steve House, Chairman of the Colorado Republican Party and candidate for governor in Colorado gubernatorial election, 2014, 2014 * Kent Thiry, Chairman & CEO of DaVita Inc. * Brian Watson (entrepreneur), Brian Watson, businessman and candidate for the State House in 2012 (Colorado elections, 2018#State Treasurer, 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, Colorado, Pueblo County * Steve Barlock – 3.14% * Cynthia Coffman – 7.55% * Greg Lopez – 16.35% * Victor Mitchell – 23.90% * Doug Robinson – 3.15% *

– 45.91% Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas County * Steve Barlock – 32.5% * Cynthia Coffman – 4.6% * Lew Gaiter III – 2.2% * Greg Lopez – 18.8% * Victor Mitchell – 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 politician, Independent), perennial candidate * Scott Helker (Libertarian Party (United States), Libertarian) * 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 (Independent politician, Independent), radio host

General election

Debates

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

;with Cary Kennedy ;with Tom Tancredo

Results

References

External links

Candidates
at Vote Smart
Candidates
at Ballotpedia ;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 2018 Colorado elections, Gubernatorial Colorado gubernatorial elections, 2018 2018 United States gubernatorial elections