Road to Red: Paving Colorado’s Path to Ruin

Patriots of the great state of Colorado, buckle up. We’re about to take a joyride down the so-called “Road to Red,” a shiny initiative that promises to restore conservative glory to our state but delivers something that is missing a spine: a one-way ticket to RINOville, population: “To Damn Many! ", with their squishy principles and even weaker candidates. If you’re a true grassroots conservative who values conviction over compromise, this road trip just might make you carsick. Let’s dissect how this grand plan is less about making Colorado red and more about painting it a pale, pathetic shade of purple (at best), shall we? Oh yes, we shall.

Picture this: Heidi Ganahl, the former gubernatorial candidate who got stomped and laid to waste by the side of the road by Polis in 2022 by a cool 19 points, emerges from the ashes with a bold vision with Rocky Mountain Voice and the “Road to Red,” a supposed battle plan to flip Colorado back to conservative control. Sounds great, right? Who doesn’t want our state back and the insanity removed? But here’s the catch: Ganahl’s roadmap doesn’t lead to Reagan’s shining city on a hill. Oh no. It’s a pot hole filled road through the swamp of open primaries, milquetoast candidates, and donors who don’t give a rip about the people of Colorado, only themselves and how they can work the system to their benefit.

Exhibit A: Joe O’Dea, a poster child for Road to Red’s candidate wishlist. This guy’s about as conservative as a Boulder barista preaching about “equity” over oat milk lattes. O’Dea, who ran for U.S. Senate in 2022 and got trounced by Michael Bennet, had the audacity to say, “Before viability, in that first 20 weeks, there should be a law that protects the right of women to make the decision for herself…” Wow, Joe. That’s the kind of red-meat conservatism that’ll have Planned Parenthood sending you a thank-you note. Nothing screams “pro-life” like endorsing abortion up to 20 weeks, right? More recently, Exhibit B: Hurd the Turd was backed by Rocky Mountain Voice, so by proxy Ganahl, but is she speaking up about Hurd’s attempts to slow President Trump’s tariff plan? Nope, crickets.

Then there’s the open primary obsession. Ganahl and her Road to Red crew are all in on this one. Brilliant. Let’s allow the same folks who keep reelecting Polis to decide whether we get a firebrand conservative or another spineless RINO. Open primaries dilute the voice of ALL conservatives, ensuring candidates like O’Dea, who can charm moderates with their wishy-washy platitudes, rise to the top while true believers get sidelined. If this is the “road to red,” it’s paved with the tears of every principled Republican who’s ever knocked on doors for a real conservative. And that is the REAL reason voters left the GOP, witnessing the lack of strong values and principles in the party.

And don’t get me started on the company Ganahl keeps. Her Road to Red is bankrolled by some of the same big-money players who’ve been propping up establishment squishes for years. Take Chris Jenkins, CEO of Norwood Development, a Colorado Springs developer who’s poured millions into candidates like Wayne Williams, the former Secretary of State who’s about as exciting as watching paint dry. Jenkins, a key donor to Ganahl’s initiative, seems to have a fetish for funding Republicans who’d rather sip Kool-Aid with Democrats than fight for real conservative values. When your biggest backers are the same folks who’ve been losing Colorado to the left for decades, maybe it’s time to question whether your “road” is just a dead-end.

Then there’s Ganahl’s endorsement of Brita Horn for Colorado GOP Chair. Horn, who was elected in 2025, campaigned on “opening the tent” and ditching the “purity tests” that supposedly alienated voters under former chair Dave Williams. Translation: she wants a GOP that’s less conservative, more cuddly, and ready to compromise with the same Democrats who’ve turned Colorado into California’s little brother. Horn even worked to oust former chair Williams in a messy intraparty coup. Ganahl’s support for Horn signals that the Road to Red is about watering it down the GOP until it’s indistinguishable from the DNC’s platform.

Grassroots conservatives, you deserve better. Colorado’s not a lost cause, but it won’t be won by recycling the same tired playbook that has failed us since Bill Owens left the governor’s mansion in 2007. We need candidates who will fight tooth and nail for lower taxes, secure borders, and the sanctity of life, not ones who will cave on abortion or pander to unaffiliated voters. We need a party chair who will rally the base, not lecture us about being too “divisive.” And we sure as heck don’t need a “Road to Red” that’s just a rebranded highway to ruin, littered with the wreckage of weak Republicans and broken promises.

Remember, Heidi, this is “commentary”, you taught me that.