Victor Marks maintains small lead over Barbara Kirkmeyer in Colorado GOP governor primary

Victor Marx maintained his razor-thin lead over state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer in the Republican primary for Colorado governor Monday, according to preliminary results from the secretary of state’s office.

Marx, a ministry leader, had a 1,950 vote advantage over Kirkmeyer as of 4 p.m. He had 39.82% of the vote versus Kirkmeyer’s 39.45%.

State Rep. Scott Bottoms had close to 21% in a distant third place.

Though the margin is thin, it is outside automatic recount territory. That is triggered if the vote difference between the top two candidates is less than 0.5% of the winner’s vote total. A campaign could also request, and pay for, a recount.

About 97% of the votes in the race have been counted nearly one week after Election Day, and the final few thousand will be decisive in who faces Democratic nominee Phil Weiser, the state’s attorney general, in the November election for governor. The lead could flip-flop between Marx and Kirkmeyer before all votes are counted and the race is decided.

There are still many votes to be counted in some rural counties, such as over 30% left to count in Hinsdale County and 20% left in San Juan County, according to The Associated Press. Some of the most populous counties with outstanding votes include Arapahoe County, with 95% counted and leaning 11 percentage points towards Kirkmeyer, and Mesa County with 96% counted and leaning about 18 percentage points towards Marx.

Marx posted on Facebook that the incoming results are “encouraging” because they are not shifting his lead. He and Kirkmeyer both encouraged voters to “cure” ballots that were flagged by a county clerk. Notified voters have until July 8 to fix signature and identification issues. Kirkmeyer last posted about ballot curing on July 1, when she was still in the lead.

The Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder’s office, for example, posted that it has over 1,100 ballots that need to be cured before they can be counted.

“We are optimistic about where the race stands, but we are also respecting the process and not taking anything for granted until the counties complete their work,” Marx spokesperson Buddy Jericho wrote in an email. “The margin is obviously important, but our focus right now is simple: stay disciplined, support voters through the cure process, and let the official count continue.”