Colorado , Attorney General , Phil Weiser , announced his bid to be the state’s second government Thursday, becoming the first Democrat to provide what will likely be a packed 2026 key area.
” There’s vital work forward. I want to help accomplish it — I want to help  , Colorado, I believe in , Colorado, I want to serve the people of Colorado”, Weiser told , The Denver Post , immediately after announcing his candidacy in a day news release.
Weiser’s first hop allows him to start raising money instantly, even though the , June 2026 , Democratic primary is nonetheless nearly 18 months ahead. He claimed that it also gives him a good chance for voters to “get to know me” before many other candidates compete.
Weiser, 56, said his strategy will focus on pricing and cover — two issues that are constantly top of mind for , Colorado , voters — as well as curbing climate change’s impact on the environment and addressing the adolescent mental health crisis, which he referenced regularly during the interview.
His announcement marks the beginning of what will be a long 2026 campaign season, and it also brings an end to the yearslong shadow campaign that has been quietly waged by potential successors to the governor.  , Jared Polis: Weiser has long been expected to pursue the governor’s mansion after Polis, as has Secretary of State , Jena Griswold,  , U. S.  , Rep.  , Joe Neguse , and , Ken Salazar, a longtime , Colorado , political figure who’s now , U. S.  , ambassador to , Mexico.
Several lesser-known Republican, unaffiliated and third-party candidates , have filed to run, but Weiser is the first major candidate of any affiliation to declare his campaign.
A recent , early poll of four potential 2026 Democratic gubernatorial candidates , showed Weiser in last in terms of support by likely primary voters, behind Neguse, Griswold and Salazar, though the highest share of respondents — 37 % — said they were undecided. More voters than the other candidates said they had never heard of Neguse or Weiser.
He said he was proud of his track record and said he would run a positive campaign, citing the differences between Weiser and his potential opponents.
Weiser is stepping up the final two years of his second term as the attorney general of Colorado. He previously worked as the dean of the , University of Colorado Law School , and as a policy adviser in the Obama administration. After graduating from New York University’s law school, he first moved to the state to work as a clerk for a federal judge. He also clerked for two , U. S. Supreme Court , justices,  , Byron R. White , and , Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
According to , his website, Weiser’s campaign is chaired by former Gov.  , Roy Romer , and co-chaired by former , U. S.  , Rep.  , Ed Perlmutter , and , Fort Collins , Mayor , Jeni Arndt. His supporters also include several current and former elected officials, including former House Speaker , Terrance Carroll , and former Senate President , Brandon Shaffer.
Weiser, whose mother was born in a Nazi concentration camp one day before it was liberated in 1945, has said he came to , Colorado , because he looked for clerkships in states that had a baseball team and a Jewish community.
His office was in charge of the distribution of tens of millions of dollars in settlement payments from businesses involved in the opioid crisis during his six years as attorney general. He has also joined several prominent national lawsuits and legal efforts, including , to block the merger of the Kroger and Albertsons , grocery chains, and he’s backed consumer protection litigation against companies including , Wyatts Towing , and, more recently, controversial companies in the housing market like , RealPage , and , CBZ Management.
Weiser stated on Thursday that he would back the kind of land-use reforms Polis has pursued in recent years that aim to boost development along the Front Range and increase the supply of housing. Additionally, he would continue to work on issues involving alleged price fixing and junk fees in the rental market.
Weiser prominently described his plans to fight then-President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and, in general, act as a legal bulwark against the Trump administration when he ran for AG in the 2018 election.
His pitch for the governor’s mansion will likely turn on those same pledges, as Trump prepares to enter the , White House , again later this month on a platform of mass deportations and promises of regulatory rollbacks. Indeed, in a call with state , House Democrats , in early December, Weiser said his office had already begun researching when the military or , National Guard , could be called out — , as Trump has pledged to do to support his deportation plans.
On Thursday, Weiser told , The Denver Post , that he would “work with anybody” in , Washington, D. C., who was willing to collaborate.
But “if there are people who are going to hurt us in , Colorado, who are going to undermine our values or threaten people here … I’m ready for those battles ahead”, he said.
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