It is easy to laugh off Victor Marx. After all, John Oliver introduced him to a national audience for heading up the craziest race in the country. But he is the gubernatorial nominee for one of Colorado’s two major political parties and has repeatedly flaunted campaign finance laws. Most recently he set up a separate website to hawk merchandise and evade contribution limits.
Among the T-shirts he sells are ones that read “Colorado’s Most Dangerous Conservative” and “Truth Always Prevails.” Unfortunately for Marx, both are likely accurate, just not in the way he meant.
He is dangerous because he does not tell the truth. He also does not care if his lies and fantasies trick people into donating or voting for him. That puts both free and fair elections at risk as well as ordinary Coloradans taken in by his campaign. It is why his primary opponents called him “unfit,” “corrupt” and a “con man.”
But when the truth prevails — and the Marx campaign is so inept and sloppy that it surely will — Marx could find himself in serious trouble. From massive campaign finance fines to potential criminal charges, Marx has put himself into more jeopardy than any candidate in state history.
I first looked into Marx’s scheme when Kyle Clark from 9News asked me about it last Thursday. Marx told people they could purchase unlimited merchandise from a new website — victor2026merch.com — and it would support his campaign. I immediately saw red flags.
The Colorado Constitution is clear. Section 1 of Article XXVIII says the purpose of Colorado’s campaign finance laws is to “declare that large contributions to political candidates create the potential for corruption and the appearance of corruption … and that the interests of the public are best served by limiting campaign contributions” and “strong enforcement of campaign finance requirements.” In the almost quarter century since Colorado voters adopted that purpose, judges have used it to apply a broad scope to anything that may fall within its ambit.
The constitution goes on to define “contribution” in sweeping terms. Just one clause says the definition includes “Anything of value given, directly or indirectly, to a candidate for the purpose of promoting the candidate’s nomination, retention, recall, or election.” Case after case after case in Colorado have adopted an expansive view of the definition.
For example, in the landmark 2004 case Coffman v. Colorado Common Cause, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled staff time used by then State Treasurer Mike Coffman to draft news releases opposed to a ballot measure constituted an improper “contribution.” Against that backdrop, the definition certainly includes anyone paying to buy merchandise emblazoned with “Victor Marx for Governor” from the campaign.
That Marx, who apparently cannot count the number of people he has killed, thinks he has found some loophole is laughable.
The reality is much more sinister. Marx knows what he is doing is wrong and is doing it anyway. When Clark asked me for my take, I began navigating through Marx’s various websites. What I found made it clear the campaign absolutely understands what Marx said about unlimited merchandise is illegal.
Originally, clicking on “Team Store” at the top Marx’s campaign website brought visitors to another page with the apropos title “Victor for Governor Team Store.” The address for that page was similarly “teamvictorstore.com”. At the time I talked to Clark, and a week later as I wrote this column, that website is still active and working (and I have the screenshots to prove it). This is where things go sideways for Marx.
On that website, when a visitor clicks on a product it brings them to that product’s specific page (e.g. “Victor Marx for Governor Navy Hooded Pullover”). There is small-print legalese at the bottom that reads: “Purchases are processed securely through WinRed … Merchandise purchases are political contributions and subject to Colorado campaign finance laws.”
Follow through to pay for the product and the next page requires collection of compliant campaign finance information before payment. The information includes name, address, employer and occupation. The same page includes a statement from the campaign: “By contributing, you agree that you are a U.S. Citizen, that you are eighteen years or older, that the contribution is from your own funds and not provided for by another person or entity for the purpose of making the contribution, and that the contribution is not from a corporation or labor union. Contributions to this campaign are not tax deductible. The maximum donation for an individual is $1450.”
Those are the Marx campaign’s own words.
They know, and have always known, that Marx telling people they can buy unlimited merchandise is a lie. For nearly a year, since Marx announced his candidacy in September 2025 (and presumably launched his website), they followed the law and characterized merchandise purchases as contributions. They even used WinRed, the Republican contribution processing behemoth, to take in payments and collect contributor information for compliant campaign finance reporting.
That is not true of the Victor2026Merch website. Now the campaign’s “Team Store” button at the top redirects to that website (in a sign of Marx’s sheer incompetence, scrolling down to the bottom of the campaign homepage and clicking “Team Store” there still goes to the prior TeamVictorStore website). Everything on the former team store is now on the merch website. They are the same products.
The new store does have some new offerings, such as the T-shirts I cited above and Marx brand coffee, but it also has new payment processors: Shop, Paypal, Amazon Pay, G Pay, Venmo or a regular credit card.
Also gone? All the warnings included on the original page. No warning that contributors must be U.S. citizens. Nothing stopping corporations or foreign governments from making purchases. Not a hint of a maximum donation amount.
Effectively, the Victor2026Merch website invites campaign finance violations in almost every way imaginable. From illegal sources (e.g. corporations, labor unions, and foreign citizens) to illegal amounts (e.g. one person buying 1,000 pullovers for $60,000). Given Marx’s claimed prior history working in foreign countries and with large corporations, the problem is compounded.
Depending on how much merchandise has been sold and to whom, the Marx campaign may have engaged in thousands of individual campaign finance violations. Worse? Because they have already requested one full waiver recently, they would not be eligible for another anytime soon. It is not difficult to see a fine running into six figures (or higher).
And under Colorado law, Marx is personally responsible for all those fines. Even when he loses and his campaign closes, he is still on the hook.
Of course, that could be the least of his worries. Marx has not told anyone where the money collected is actually going. If it were to the campaign, it would have to be reported. But if it were into his own pocket? That might be a criminal problem.
Ironically, that would probably fall under the purview of the Consumer Protection Division in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. The same Attorney General, Phil Weiser, is poised to mop the floor with Marx in November. By the time Marx would go to trial, though, the AG likely will be Jena Griswold, the current Secretary of State, and the same public official who worked tirelessly to help put Tina Peters behind bars. I would imagine she would relish a chance to do the same to Marx.
Marx has little chance to win in November. But he has a very good chance of paying some heavy penalties for what he does between now and then.
Mario Nicolais is an attorney and columnist who writes on law enforcement, the legal system, health care and public policy. Follow him on BlueSky: @MarioNicolais.bsky.social.
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