Updated Sept. 18, 2026 at 4:29 p.m.
There’s a new chapter in the saga of the on-again, off-again Colorado gubernatorial debate.
Earlier this week, CPR reported a change of heart on the part of Republican candidate for governor Victor Marx when he agreed to a moderated debate with Democratic candidate Phil Weiser on the Aaron Harber Show in early October.
The campaign told CPR that Marx agreed to this debate because the campaign thought Harber would be fair. Harber is the host and executive producer of the nonpartisan political TV talk show.
Harber had few details on where and when the debate would happen. Now Harber and the Weiser campaign confirm that the debate is off. Victor Marx told CPR news on Friday that when the campaign initially agreed to the debate he didn’t think it would be moderated, but that Harber would keep time and facilitate it.
“I was under the impression that Aaron had gotten Weiser to agree to my terms of the debate but when I sat down and met with Harber I realized that wasn’t the case,” he said.
Previously Marx had pushed for the candidates to talk to each other directly for a “candidate-to-candidate conversation without a moderator controlling the questions, topics, or direction of the discussion,” he said.
Weiser opposed that approach and called it “unserious”.
Marx has declined other requests to participate in debates from multiple media outlets during the campaign ahead of November’s general election. Prior to the June primary election Marx did debate his two Republican opponents once on 9News, leading to some gobsmacking moments.
During the general election, Weiser and unaffiliated candidate Greg Lopez debated in Colorado Springs in late August, and the two are scheduled to meet again this weekend in Grand Junction at Club 20, an event that focuses on rural Western Slope issues and is traditionally friendly to conservatives.
“I’m one to say, ‘This is a chance to show up. People get to know me. I’m here,’” Weiser told CPR last month about his strategy when it comes to participating in debates.
Both Marx and Weiser are traveling throughout Colorado as they campaign in the homestretch of the race.
Weiser’s campaign highlighted events in the 8th Congressional District in late August, as well as in the 5th Congressional District, and said he marched in the Louisville Labor Day parade and rallied with volunteers in Pueblo. He also did a swing through the San Luis Valley, Telluride, Crested Butte, Alamosa and Gunnison.
Marx toured western Colorado from Nucla to Grand Junction to Glenwood Springs and has held events in Pueblo and Pueblo West, as well as Fremont and Douglas counties. Some of his events this week included stops in Englewood, Denver and Weld County.
Weiser and Marx did cross paths once at the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo a few weeks ago. The Marx campaign said the two shared a brief handshake.
They are still scheduled to take the stage together and speak at a forum on Oct. 8 hosted by the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, but it’s not a debate.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include a comment from Victor Marx on why the debate isn’t happening.
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