Ken Buck, the former five-term Republican member of Congress from Colorado and onetime chair of the state GOP, endorsed Democrat Phil Weiser for governor Wednesday alongside more than a dozen other state and local GOP officials.

“I’m supporting Phil Weiser because I know Phil,” Buck said in a video released by the Weiser campaign. “I’ve worked with Phil. He’s an honest person. He’s hard-working, and he cares for all the people of Colorado and he will be inclusive as governor to make sure all views are represented in his administration.”

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Weiser, who has served as Colorado’s attorney general since 2019, is favored in the race to succeed outgoing Democratic Governor Jared Polis, who is term-limited. He faces Victor Marx, a first-time candidate and ministry leader from Colorado Springs who has largely eschewed debates and other traditional campaign events as he faces scrutiny over his personal history in the run-up to Election Day.

Buck entered politics when he was elected Weld County district attorney in 2004. He ran for U.S. Senate in 2010, aligning himself with that year’s Tea Party movement and upsetting Jane Norton, the choice of the Republican Party establishment, in a head-to-head primary, before narrowly losing to incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Michael Bennet.

Elected to the House of Representatives in 2014, he represented the deep-red 4th District and joined the far-right House Freedom Caucus, consistently ranking as the most conservative member of Colorado’s congressional delegation. He abruptly announced his retirement after becoming disillusioned with his party in late 2023, saying that “too many Republican leaders are lying to America,” including by “claiming that the 2020 election was stolen.”

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Colorado has elected only one Republican governor in the last 56 years. Weiser defeated Bennet in the June Democratic primary, while Marx won a narrow victory over state Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer and state Representative Scott Bottoms, who blasted Marx as a “con man” and “grifter” and have declined to endorse him in the general election.

Marx, a self-described “high-risk missionary,” became a target of national ridicule in the final weeks of the GOP primary when he struggled in interviews and debates to answer questions about his overseas ministry work, including how many people he has killed. He has since faced scrutiny over multiple alleged campaign finance violations, his ministry’s practice of performing exorcisms, his views on abortion and past comments in which he recalled “grabbing (his wife) and slamming her into our front door.”

Other Republicans endorsing Weiser’s campaign Wednesday included Cynthia Coffman, a former Colorado attorney general; Russ George, a former speaker of the state House of Representatives; and former state lawmakers Don Coram, Cole Wist and Rob Witwer.

In a statement, Weiser said he was “deeply honored” by the endorsements.

“As attorney general, I’ve worked with all Coloradans to deliver results – and I look forward to building a broad, diverse coalition of Coloradans from across the state to deliver housing and health care we can afford, build a stronger economy and brighter future for the next generation, and protect our rights and freedoms,” he said. “All of us need all of us — and I’m ready to get to work for all Coloradans.”