The auditioning for the 2026 gubernatorial elections is happening now, regardless of if the politicians that are likely to make their jump decide to announce their intentions sooner rather than later. Take for instance, Denver mayor Mike Johnston (D-CO). Having the levers of city government at his control, he seems powerless to handle to stem the influx of new arrivals of migrants that the states of Florida and Texas are depositing at his city’s doorsteps. Instead of changing the city’s laws to be harder on immigration or to suggest a larger allocation of funds from the state government, something that would ruffle the feathers of an ascendant Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) who wants to keep his libertarian-esque credentials economically, he has decided instead to take the funds from his residents, give them to the migrants’ needs, and then blame Republicans on the national level. While the Republican House has not been scot-free in it’s list of mistakes owing to the idiocy of the Freedom Caucus and the post-McCarthy ouster, some of Johnston’s rhetoric and mannerisms are clear indications that the man is seeking the governorship in 2026 when Polis will be term-limited.
One will remember that Johnston sought the governorship back in 2018 when there was a fiercely contested primary for the governorship in 2018, the last time that the office was thought of as seriously competitive. With the state having approved a proposal to release gray wolves back onto rural lands that can terrorize farmers with the rural voters voting overwhelmingly against the proposal being the last seriously competitive election in the state, no one is expecting that deep-blue Colorado is going to trend towards the GOP in 2026. This is even more so the case when considering that the city of Colorado Springs, the last major metropolitan bastion of Republican strength in Colorado, elected an Independent backed by Democrats as mayor in 2023 showing that the state was gone for the foreseeable future. In short, whoever commands the Democratic Party infrastructure heading into the 2026 elections has an optimal chance of becoming Governor of Colorado.
With that being understood, invoking national issues while as a mayor is usually an unpopular move for someone who would be seeking to keep their local office. This is likely because Johnston’s goal has never been to settle for the mayoral job in Denver, but to run the entire state of Colorado with this mayoral stint being a steppingstone in the meantime. Despite his naked ambitions of higher office being likely known in Republican circles, the state GOP is in tatters. The primary to succeed Lauren Boebert in the 3rd Congressional District has party planners hoping for a moderate win, the 4th District has party moderates wanting Boebert to lose, and the fright in Colorado Springs’ demography has the local GOP wanting a clean victory instead of a scraping by after 2023’s bitter surprise. To say that it is a bad time to be a Colorado Republican would be a colossal understatement.
Thus, the decision to move $90 million from the city’s coffers meant for residents of the city for the migrants will be seen as Johnston keeping a report with the “humanitarians” within his party in the hopes that he can placate them long enough until the next election. Once he’s won the next primary election for Governor, assuming he wants to run and decides to go through with the endeavor, the fate of the city will become secondary to his political pursuits as Governor as many Coloradan Governors have dreamed of eventually becoming President. Whether it was Gary Hart or John Hickenlooper, the goal of Colorado’s governors has always been to encapsulate the thinking of the middle of the country when the state is somewhat of an oddity unto itself. Nevertheless, Johnston’s blaming of Republicans and budgetary decisions reflect what will likely be the starting steps of a gubernatorial bid to relevance as his state’s next top executive.
Denver will restore rec center hours after revamping migrant strategy (denverpost.com)
2023 Colorado Springs mayoral election – Wikipedia
Gray wolves to be reintroduced to Colorado in unprecedented vote (nationalgeographic.com)2024 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado – Wikipedia
The Conservatarian Millennial 