Politics
Colorado Republican gubernatorial nominee linked to privately funded law enforcement initiative in Florida
Victor Marx's ministry provided anonymous private donations to finance police salaries and surveillance gear, raising accountability concerns.
The short version
- Victor Marx, the Republican nominee for governor in Colorado, previously led the All Things Possible (ATP) ministry, which has privately funded detective salaries and equipment for Florida law enforcement.
- The initiative, known as the Protecting Children's Innocence taskforce, signed agreements with Florida sheriff's offices that bypassed standard public budget votes and procurement procedures.
- Legal scholars warned that reliance on undisclosed private donors threatens public oversight and police accountability.
- Representatives maintain that the political campaign and the ministry operate separately, though campaign personnel have overlapping leadership roles in the policing initiative.
Key facts
- Victor Marx served as chair and president of the All Things Possible ministry until launching his campaign for Colorado governor in October 2025.[The Guardian]
- Through its Protecting Children's Innocence taskforce (PCI-TF), the ministry used private donor funding to finance detective salaries, vehicles, and forensic surveillance tools for sheriff's offices in Florida's Leon and Wakulla counties.[The Guardian]
- Marx's campaign manager, Harry 'Buddy' Jericho, also served as a paid director of ATP and led the taskforce interfacing with law enforcement agencies.[The Guardian]
- Agreements signed with Florida sheriffs listed PCI-TF as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, though ministry leadership confirmed it is not a distinct legal entity and lacks a separate tax identification number.[The Guardian]
- Participating Florida law enforcement representatives acknowledged they do not know the identities of the private donors financing the taskforce's contributions.[The Guardian]
What remains uncertain
- The precise identities of the private donors funding the Florida law enforcement equipment and salaries remain undisclosed.[The Guardian]
- The extent to which private donor expectations might influence independent operational decisions and enforcement priorities inside participating police departments is unresolved.[The Guardian]