CMU’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter hosted a Colorado Governor Candidate Forum in the University Center on Feb. 9. TPUSA invited candidates for the upcoming 2026 gubernatorial election to answer questions prepared by the organization and audience members.

An official invitation extended to the Criterion by CMU’s TPUSA chapter president James Ruehmann stated that the organization expected 300 students and community members to attend. There were an estimated 100 community members and 20 CMU students in attendance.

“I’m very happy that we had a lot of community here. I wish we a few more students,” Ruehmann said after the event. “I think the questions asked by the students were great, and I think it was a good event, good first start for events like this in the future.”

The candidates present were Scott Bottoms, Greg Lopez, Chaz Evanston, Maria Orms, Jason Mikesell and Barbra Kirkmeyer. All of the governor candidates in attendance identified as either right-leaning, Republican or Independent.

There were several left-leaning and Democratic candidates invited to the forum. TPUSA sent current Democratic Colorado senator Michael Bennet an email invitation. Ruehmann said that TPUSA never received a response from Bennet or his staff.

A member of Bennet’s senatorial office reported receiving the invitation. However, the senator’s office and its associated email must ignore all campaign-related inquiries due to conflict of interest laws. Ruehmann claimed to be aware of this fact when asked. He asserted that TPUSA sent the invitation to Bennet’s campaign email, rather than his senatorial office and still received no response.

Senior cellular and molecular biology and developmental biology double major Ashley McAllister expressed that she enjoyed the event. McAllister felt more prepared to vote after attending but pointed out that she did not believe the questions asked by TPUSA gave a full picture of each candidate.

“I think they intentionally avoided the inflammatory questions. Don’t get me wrong, land and energy and leadership values are important, but I feel like I didn’t get a good sense of the morals of the people on the panel. It was very logistical, which is great, but I’m going to have to do research to figure out who they are as people,” McAllister said.

McAllister also expressed her surprise at the lack of political diversity among the candidates.

“I was actually kind of disappointed that none of [the Democratic candidates] came out,” McAllister said. “I would have liked to hear the contrasting views because that whole panel was just like ‘I agree with what that guy said and with what that guy said.’”

TPUSA originally did not invite candidate Joe Oltmann to the event. They did eventually ask him to attend, but the organization rescinded their invitation after a negative encounter with Oltmann on Facebook.

“He was originally not invited because he was not a candidate when we announced our slate of candidates,” Ruehmann said. “The second time around, why he was disinvited, is because he decided to attack us for not including him in the first place. We told him that a slot could be opened up, he might be able to join us, and instead of taking that graciously, he decided to throw a fit on Facebook and call all of us traitors to the United States. For that reason, he was not invited.”

Directing the event was President of Kappa Sigma Branson Kaiser, College Republicans President Jess Clark Scott, College Republicans Vice President Joshua Slofstra, TPUSA Vice President Logan Jochim and Ruehmann.

Questions posed by Kaiser, Scott, Slofstra, Jochim and Ruehmann allowed each candidate to share their ideologies regarding public safety, rural versus urban decision making and water concerns. Their questions also let candidates share their overarching political stances. There was a wide variety of ideals shared, despite many of the candidates being right-leaning or Republican.

The Criterion briefly interviewed Lopez before the event began.

“My governing principles are pretty simple,” Lopez said. “People over politics, do no harm, and do what works.”

Lopez, an Independent candidate, discussed his plans to increase affordability for Colorado citizens in his opening statement. Lopez emphasized his unaffiliated status and said that he is not controlled by “party bosses.” He talked about capping government spending and returning power to the people throughout the evening.

“We don’t trust you with our money,” Lopez said, referring to the government.

Many audience members in the room cheered in response.

Multiple candidates highlighted their personal Christian values and beliefs, applying them to their governing strategies. Bottoms, a Christian pastor, most often drew connections to his religious beliefs throughout the night. In his opening statement, Bottoms stressed his anti-abortion and anti-induced euthanasia viewpoints.

“Only God can determine the freedom of a person, a government cannot do that,” Bottoms said.

Bottoms publicly supported the current actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a Facebook video posted on Feb 3. His video contained the following caption: “I stand with Ice and stand with the law. It’s time to reclaim safe communities in our great state.”

In the video, he states:

“I stand with ICE, I stand for legal immigration and I stand strongly against any kind of illegal immigration. We have state representatives that are inciting violence, they are pushing these people, and then they cry out like crazy when one of these people gets shot.”

Bottoms’ comments follow the killings of civilian protesters Renée Good and Alex Pretti by ICE in Jan. 2026. ICE reportedly shot Pretti, the most recent victim of the two Minnesotans, ten times within five seconds. Pretti and Good’s killings inspired further protests against increased ICE presence across the US.

Orms focused on cybersecurity and the need to increase online protection. Mikesell talked about land rights and addressed on-going issues with water and the Colorado River. Kirkmeyer emphasized her success as a county commissioner, reporting that she brought her county to zero debt. Finally, Evanston stressed the importance of adhering to the Constitution and emphasized his Christian values in his governing goals.

Senior cellular and molecular biology and developmental biology double major Jacob Trowbridge expressed gratitude towards TPUSA for hosting the forum. Trowbridge believed that there are few student organizations on campus that can invite multiple political candidates to speak and actually see them make an appearance.

“I think the best thing for our country is to really just start talking to one another. The less we talk, the worse it gets, and the more divided we get, Trowbridge said. “So, I love Turning Point for that. They’re not a perfect club or organization, but I like that they stand for that at least.”