James Wiley campaigns in Las Animas County ahead of 2026 primary

James Wiley took his Colorado secretary of state campaign to the Las Animas County Fair Grounds on May 21, using a familiar Trinidad gathering place to make a case that the race will shape how Las Animas County residents cast ballots, verify results and trust the system behind them. He invited supporters to join him at 5 p.m., putting his message in front of voters ahead of the June 30 Republican primary.

Wiley is running as a Republican for secretary of state, the office that oversees Colorado’s election administration and public records system. His campaign has centered on ending what he calls failed leadership by Secretary of State Jena Griswold and pushing for one-day in-person voting, voter ID, paper ballots, hand counts and blockchain for public records. Those are the issues he is asking rural voters to weigh as county election offices prepare for the 2026 cycle.

The race is open on both sides of the aisle. Ballotpedia says there are no incumbents in the contest, while Democrats Amanda Gonzalez and Jessie Danielson are also running in the June 30 primary. The general election is set for Nov. 3, 2026, with Celeste Landry and Melissa Richards listed in the general-election field.

Wiley’s candidacy has already taken on a statewide shape, but his stop in Trinidad underscored how much the secretary of state’s office reaches into daily life in smaller counties. Ballots are processed locally, voter registration is maintained through county and state systems, and election rules set in Denver determine how Las Animas County voters receive ballots and how those ballots are counted.

His campaign committee, James Wiley for Colorado, was registered Aug. 19, 2025. State campaign finance records showed that as of May 18, the committee had raised $13,363.05, spent $11,526.62 and held $1,836.43 in cash on hand.

Ballotpedia says Wiley earned a graduate degree from Colorado State University Pueblo in 2017 and has worked as a political consultant. His campaign website says he is a Colorado native born in Colorado Springs and that he grew up in Kazakhstan, a background he is pairing with a call for tighter election controls.

The visit also brought campaign politics to a venue with deep local roots. The Las Animas County Fair began in 1911, and the 2026 fair is scheduled for July 21-25 at the Las Animas County Fairgrounds in Trinidad, keeping the grounds at the center of community life even as the county heads deeper into election season.