Colorado's two leading candidates for governor stood on the same stage for the first and likely only time Thursday, and the hour-long forum in Denver quickly turned into a public reckoning over a five-year-old podcast confession. Republican nominee Victor Marx and Democratic nominee Phil Weiser clashed directly over whether Marx committed domestic violence against his wife in 2021, even as the two also sparred over Colorado's business climate, labor law and energy policy.
The Colorado Chamber of Commerce hosted the gubernatorial candidate forum at its Annual Meeting Luncheon, according to the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, which confirmed that both Weiser, the sitting attorney general, and Marx had agreed to participate. The chamber had billed the event as the only currently scheduled forum featuring both men together on the same stage, a distinction that held up after a separate moderated debate collapsed. As reported by Axios, the two candidates participated in what amounted to the first and likely only campaign forum of the 2026 election.
That earlier debate fell apart in September. Colorado Public Radio reported that the debate was off. It was to be moderated by Harber, recorded at Rocky Mountain PBS and broadcast on Denver7. Marx debated his two Republican primary opponents once on 9News before the June primary and later declined moderated debates; Weiser also debated unaffiliated candidate Greg Lopez.
A 2021 Podcast Admission Resurfaces
The sharpest exchange of the forum centered on a claim Marx made about himself five years ago. In a 2021 podcast interview, Marx said he grabbed his wife and pushed her into their front door after she told him she did not need to keep up her martial arts training. The Independent reported Marx's own account of the moment: “I remember grabbing her, slamming her into our front door.”
Marx has said he was trying to demonstrate why his wife needed to maintain her self-defense skills, and his campaign has said she responded with a spinning kick that struck him hard. Marx described her reaction in blunter terms to the same outlet, saying, “So I'd do it again. I'd do everything again, except get that close to her and let her kick me,” while also characterizing her crying afterward as fake, according to The Independent.
Marx's wife, Eileen Marx, has pushed back on how the clip has been characterized. She said Victor Marx did not abuse her, framing the 2021 account as a self-defense drill taken out of context, according to Zetik. At the forum, Marx demanded that Weiser apologize for accusing him of domestic violence, while Weiser responded with a general message to survivors.
Weiser Frames Response Around Survivors
Weiser has accused Marx of domestic violence in recent weeks, and he used the forum to reframe his response around survivors rather than relitigate the specific incident. “My response about domestic violence is to survivors out there: it's not your fault,” Weiser said, according to Axios's reporting on the exchange. He struck a similar note in a statement to the Colorado Democratic Party, saying, “If you're a survivor of violence, my statement is it's not your fault, and it's up to all of us” to protect people and build systems that keep them safe.
The Colorado Democratic Party has also pointed to other unearthed clips it says show Marx describing repeated violent incidents he's perpetrated, including in the home with his family, and saying he had a “gift for violence” and an “explosive anger.” Marx separately has said girls and women would face less abuse if they were content with where God has placed them, according to Axios.
The dispute unfolded against a backdrop of rising domestic-violence deaths statewide. Colorado recorded 72 domestic-violence fatalities in 2024, a 24% increase from the prior year, even as overall homicides fell to a five-year low of 266, Colorado Public Radio reported. Eight children were among those fatalities — the highest number of children lost to domestic violence ever recorded in the state.
Business Climate and Policy Divides
Beyond the personal clash, Marx and Weiser discussed affordability and business growth, along with Colorado's declining business climate. The state fell 14 spots, from No. 11 to No. 25, in CNBC's annual Top States for Business rankings, according to Axios, which found Colorado lost ground in business friendliness, cost of living, workforce, economy, infrastructure and access to capital. Infrastructure was the weakest category of all, with the state tumbling from 11th to 32nd nationally.
On labor policy, Weiser said he supports rewriting the Labor Peace Act to make it easier for unions to organize, while Marx said he supports leaving the law in place. Their disagreement centered on whether to change the Labor Peace Act.
The candidates also diverged on energy and spending. Marx said he plans to promote Colorado's oil and natural gas industries and reduce regulations, while pledging an audit to find what he called bloated government spending. Weiser defended current safeguards for the oil and gas industry and said he supports increased K-12 education spending. Marx argued for outside leadership to shake up state government, saying, “We have to have an outsider come in that does government different,” per Axios's account of the forum.
