The Campaign After the Campaign

By Buddy Jericho

A few nights after the primary, we opened a Zoom call with GOP county leaders and grassroots Republicans expecting a normal campaign update.

Instead, people kept joining. Questions kept coming. Some were about strategy. Some were about November. Some were about how we reach unaffiliated voters and talk to families worried about affordability, public safety, education and the direction of the state.

And some were about rumors from the primary that were still alive, even after the votes had been counted.

That is when the transition from primary to general became real to me.

People think winning a primary feels like crossing a finish line. It does not. It feels more like taking a deep breath, looking up, and realizing the mountain just got steeper.

A primary is about earning the right to carry the banner. A general election is about proving you can carry something bigger than your own side. It requires discipline, humility, unity and a willingness to listen - especially to people who still have questions.

That Zoom call reminded me that campaigns do not just reveal what voters believe. They reveal what voters have been told, what they still wonder and where trust has been damaged.

Victor answered the questions head on. He did not complain that people were asking. He did not pretend the concerns were not there. He listened, he responded and he kept moving forward.

That matters.

A rumor does not disappear simply because a campaign moves on. Sometimes truth has to be repeated patiently, directly and without resentment. If we want to win in November, we cannot ask people to trust us while avoiding the questions they are still carrying. We have to answer them. We have to keep showing up. We have to earn trust one conversation at a time.

That is the part of politics most people never see.

They see the headlines, the ads, the social media clips and the attacks. They do not always see the phone calls, the late nights, the hard conversations, the volunteers who keep going, the county leaders who keep organizing or the people who show up after a bruising primary because they still believe the state is worth fighting for.

That is what has encouraged me most.

Our team could have been tired after the primary. In many ways, we were. But instead of folding, people went back to work. Volunteers stepped forward. Donors began leaning back in. County leaders reengaged. Everyday Coloradans started asking how they could help.

And Victor kept showing up.

This past weekend, he attended several events and engaged with thousands of Coloradans - on the ground, face to face and even on horseback. That may sound like a small detail, but it is not. Campaigns are not built from behind a desk. They are built in fairgrounds, small towns, church halls, county meetings, living rooms, parades, parking lots and conversations with people who want to know whether you actually understand their lives.

That is where trust is built.

I have also been encouraged by Colorado GOP Chairman Craig Steiner. Most people do not see the calls, pressure, personalities and wounds involved in rebuilding a party from the inside. In my brief interactions with him, I have seen someone who cares, who wants to rebuild, and who understands that Colorado Republicans cannot simply complain about the state’s direction. We have to become worthy of people’s trust again.

That is the real work now.

And it matters because what we are seeing inside this campaign mirrors what I am hearing across Colorado. People are tired. They are skeptical. They are worried about the cost of living, safety, schools and whether government still works for them.

Parents want to know if their children are safe. Families want to know if they can afford groceries, rent, insurance and gas. Small business owners want to know if anyone in government understands what it takes to sign the front of a paycheck. Taxpayers want to know why they keep paying more and getting less.

I am also hearing real concern about the rise of political movements that seem more ideological, more expensive and less connected to working families. That concern is not just partisan. It is practical. People want leaders focused less on theory and more on whether families can afford to live, work, raise children and stay in Colorado.

That is why this campaign cannot only be about opposing the other side.

It has to be about offering something better.

For us, that means Colorado Works Better. It means affordability, accountability, transparency, public safety, education and a government that measures results instead of hiding behind excuses.

I plan to keep writing these notes because people deserve an honest look at what a statewide campaign feels like from the inside - the work, the pressure, the questions, the encouragement and the people quietly giving their time because they still believe Colorado can be better.

The primary is over.

The campaign after the campaign has begun.

And from what I am seeing on the ground, a lot of people are ready to fight for Colorado.