Get to know George Markert, Victor Marx’s running mate in Colorado’s gubernatorial race
George Markert is the retired Marine colonel tapped by Republican gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx to serve as his running mate.
Markert is relatively new to Colorado — he moved to the state three years ago after 30 years in the Marines — and is definitely new to politics. The 54-year-old married father of two was originally running for the U.S. Senate this year, but he failed to make the GOP primary ballot at the Republican state assembly in April.
Now Markert is part of another longshot bid as he and Marx try to become the first Republicans to lead Colorado in two decades.
The Colorado Sun caught up with Markert recently to learn more about him.
The following has been edited for clarity and length.
The Colorado Sun: How did you get connected with Victor Marx? Did you seek out this position or did he come to you?
George Markert: He and I actually had crossed paths at various events back in the spring. We’re both Marine Corps veterans. Marines just have this way of connecting with each other, and so we hit it off. When it came time for him to select a running mate, he and his team did a very exhaustive search. I know of at least a dozen people that were interviewed for the position. I had been known to a lot of people in the state after running for office myself. There were people who approached me and asked if I was asked to serve again, would I be willing to do it? And I said, “yeah, let’s have a conversation.” I went ahead and linked up with his team. Over the course of a week, we had several conversations. The day before the announcement, they called and asked me if I would be the running mate. From my standpoint, I saw that as a moral obligation to serve the people of Colorado. So I said, “absolutely, I’m willing to take on the challenge and the responsibility.”
Sun: Returning to your Senate campaign, what do you think went wrong there?
Markert: Nothing went wrong. I actually ran a very good campaign. I raised a lot more money than the nominee, state Sen. Mark Baisley, has raised. The bottom line is: When I got to the assembly, a few voters there were looking at the endorsements and the four nominations and that’s who they voted for. I respect their votes. But either way, the splash that I made at that event is what drew a lot of attention towards me for this opportunity.
Sun: You started out this election cycle wanting to work on national issues as a senator. What do you want to tackle on the state level if elected lieutenant governor?
Markert: It really falls into three primary areas. It’s affordability, first and foremost. No. 2 is safety — public safety and fighting crime and lawlessness. And then lastly is government transparency and accountability.
Sun: How would you increase government accountability? You’ve obviously been a Marine, so you know that sector of government. But the governor’s office is a different beast.
Markert: Well, it’s not a different beast. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to go in and understand how people perform certain functions in any kind of role. You can see a lot of similarities between the government and private sector. It’s really easy to figure out what the functions are. We’ve already looked at all the different agencies that fall under the state government. We understand their budgets. We understand what exactly they’re supposed to be doing and whether or not they’re reporting back results. For us, it’s about understanding, No. 1, where the fraud, waste and abuse is. Put a stop to that. No. 2 is understanding where the money is going, and then taking a look at our priorities — making sure that the funding is aligned with our priorities. The people of Colorado, that’s their money. They deserve to know where their money is going and whether or not it’s coming back to them in the form of some kind of service that benefits their lives. Our aim is to understand all of that and then maintain a consistent dialogue with the people.
Sun: You’re relatively new to Colorado. You moved here about three years ago. Explain to voters why you feel you know this state well enough to be one of its top leaders?
Markert: It’s not really that difficult to figure out. I think it could have taken three months instead of three years. I had to travel the state talking to people as a private citizen and working in the private sector. I had to travel the state as someone campaigning for the Senate. And now I’m doing the same thing again. I talk to people a lot. I try to get an idea of what’s going on. You hear, and you actually see, the statistics that are published by credible agencies about crime, car theft. You see how we perform in terms of education and a wide variety of other issues. And right now, Colorado is near the bottom in all these categories. The current leaders do not have this state on the right track. People pine away all the time for what Colorado was 20 years ago — when it was safer, it was more affordable. We had better quality of life. We want to make sure that we realize that dream for the people of Colorado.
Sun: You talk about Colorado in negative terms, but you moved here. So what did you see in Colorado that wanted to make you move here even though you have these feelings about it being headed in the wrong direction?
Markert: The opportunity for me to do exactly what I’m doing right now, which is to make a positive change.
Sun: Running mates are rarely aligned on every issue. Are there areas where you differ?
Markert: I’m sure we probably have a slight difference of opinion on some micro issues. But everything that affects the lives of Colorado families we agree upon.