A look at the Colorado gubernatorial candidates

With the primary election starting on Tuesday, we are taking a look at the candidates vying for the Governor’s seat.

In total eight people are running in the gubernatorial race, four on the Republican side and four on the Democratic side. The GOP nominees are Walker Stapleton, Greg Lopez, Victor Mitchell, and Doug Robinson. On the Democrats side, Cary Kennedy, Mike Johnston, Donna Lynne, and Jared Polis.

While votes are still being turned in, recent polls show two clear-cut winners. One poll shows Stapleton leading with Mitchell trailing by more than 10 percent of the votes. On the Democratic side, a similar situation. It shows Polis has a double-digit lead ahead of Kennedy.

However, the race is far from being a clear outcome, there are still some key factors heading into tomorrow’s vote. This is the first primary election where unaffiliated voters are taking part and polls show more than 20 percent of voters overall are still undecided.

This has also been one of the most expensive elections, with candidates spending more than $20 million altogether on ads. Polis, outspending everyone else dropping $11 million on his campaign alone.

By Monday, a little more than 800,000 ballots have been turned in throughout the state. El Paso County saw a record turn in with more than 90,000 ballots and Pueblo County saw 19,000 ballots returned.