With or without Donald Trump, the path to conservatism’s future runs through Colorado, says the leader of the national advocacy group FreedomWorks.

“I view Colorado as a state I’d like to make an investment in in the long run,” said president and CEO Adam Brandon, who will speak Friday at the opening luncheon at the Red State Gathering in Denver.

Unlike the similar Western Conservative Summit in Denver on July 1, Trump won’t attend the annual gathering of well-known, deep-pocketed conservative activists in Denver this weekend.

Trump was dropped from last year’s schedule in Atlanta over his controversial comments about Fox New’s Megyn Kelly. Trump declined an invitation to this year’s event, said organizers. Townhall Media, which puts on the gathering, hasn’t taken an official position on Trump’s candidacy.

“Considering what happened at the 2015 gathering, we’re not surprised or upset that the campaign did not accept our invitation,” said Jonathan Garthwaite, vice president and general manager of Townhall Media. “The gathering did extend an invite through various arms of the campaign to invite Mr. Trump and Gov. (Mike) Pence — once he joined the ticket — to speak.

“We held the closing speaker slot Sunday open until the very last moment for just that hope. Since we did not have one of the Republican candidates for president (or) vice president, we decided to keep the focus of the gathering on fighting for conservative principles and candidates big and small — before, during and after elections.”

The Colorado spotlight will be on U.S. Senate candidate Darryl Glenn, the Republican nominee who conservatives hope can unseat Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet. A Trump supporter, Glenn is expected to speak Friday afternoon.

Other speakers on the schedule include former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, radio personality Glenn Beck, former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, Colorado U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner and U.S. Rep. Ken Buck of Greeley.

Brandon said Thursday morning that he sees Glenn as a strong addition to the Freedom Caucus, Congress’ most conservative members, which includes Buck. Freedomworks was one of the original supporters of the Tea Party movement in 2009 and 2010.

Brandon said FreedomWorks supported Glenn in the primaries and plans to back him again in the general election.

“When I look around at the Senate races in this cycle, he’s the one I got the most excited about,” Brandon said.

He said even if Glenn doesn’t win, he has a bright political future beyond November, comparing the El Paso County commissioner to Matt Bevin. After FreedomWorks backed Bevin’s unsuccessful primary challenge against incumbent Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2014, Bevin bounced back to win the Kentucky governor’s race in 2015.

“I envision Glenn as potentially a national leader,” Brandon said.

The Glenn campaign did not respond to a request for comment about the Red State Gathering.

As far as Trump and conservatives, the nominee is a mixed bag, said Brandon, who likes Trump’s stand on tax reform but said he is frightened by the GOP nominee’s spending proposals.

FreedomWorks has not endorsed Trump.

“I don’t think there’s anything FreedomWorks can do to help or hurt Donald Trump,” Brandon said. “He’s on his own. He’s going to win this race on his own, or he’s going to lose this race on his own.”