Greg Lopez Leaves GOP, Launches Independent Colorado Governor Campaign
Former Republican U.S. Representative Greg Lopez has left the Republican Party to run for Colorado governor as an unaffiliated candidate, shaking up the 2026 election battle. According to CBS Colorado, Lopez’s move matters now because it changes party dynamics in a race already crowded with contenders.
His decision raises uncertainty for Republicans, who have struggled to produce a unified challenger to Democrat nominees, and could shift votes in a state where nearly half of voters now register unaffiliated.
Lopez, who served six months in Congress after a 2024 special election and has twice previously run for governor as a Republican, announced he and his wife changed their registration to unaffiliated at the end of December 2025. In an online video, he said he believes neither party has a “corner on the answers” to Colorado’s problems.
At the same time, GOP State Senator Mark Baisley exited the governor’s primary to run for U.S. Senate, reducing Republican field numbers and compounding the party’s challenges.
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Lopez will not appear in the Republican primary and must gather thousands of signatures to appear on the November ballot as an unaffiliated candidate.
“The system itself is broken,” he said in his announcement video.
Lopez’s independent bid could siphon votes from major party nominees in November, particularly as unaffiliated voters are Colorado’s fastest-growing bloc.
His campaign becomes one of the most watched third-party efforts in recent Colorado history, given how rare independent runs at statewide office succeed.
Lopez’s next step is collecting the necessary voter signatures to qualify for the general election ballot, with deadlines looming in the coming months.
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