{"id":15712,"date":"2025-07-01T20:33:34","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T02:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/phil-weiser-undeterred-by-polling-gap-in-governors-race\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:50:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:50:52","slug":"phil-weiser-undeterred-by-polling-gap-in-governors-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/phil-weiser-undeterred-by-polling-gap-in-governors-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Weiser undeterred by polling gap in governor\u2019s race"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Incumbent
Incumbent Democratic Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser speaking during an election watch party Nov. 8, 2022, in downtown Denver. (David Zalubowski\/Associated Press file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

When Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced his run for governor in January, he surely expected others to join in the fight for the 2026 Democratic nomination. He raised nearly $2 million as the only Democratic candidate for three months, but any early advantage appears to have worn thin.<\/p>\n

Six months later, the only other high-profile candidate \u2013 U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet \u2013 leads him by 31 points, according to a June poll<\/a> of likely Democratic primary voters by Global Strategy Group. A quarter of those voters are undecided. The poll shows Weiser\u2019s favorability rating has improved 13 points since a December poll by Magellan Strategies, but it still lags nearly 30 points behind Bennet\u2019s rating.<\/p>\n

Still, Weiser said he\u2019s undeterred by Bennet\u2019s lead and that he has the fundraising and grassroots support to continue his campaign through Election Day.<\/p>\n

In his time as attorney general, his first statewide office, he\u2019s brought numerous high-profile cases, including cases against pharmaceuticals involved in Colorado\u2019s opioid crisis. Those will bring back about $870 million toward opioid abatement programs over the next 18 years.<\/p>\n

Weiser has also challenged President Donald Trump, attending numerous protests and joining 25 lawsuits<\/a> against the administration with other Democratic attorneys general this year.<\/p>\n

Of those 25, he\u2019s led three: a case against the gutting of AmeriCorps, one against the cutting of congressionally-appropriated electric vehicle infrastructure funding and one against the termination of public health grants.<\/p>\n

All three have yielded partial or full preliminary injunctions, meaning the funding must continue flowing to the involved states until a final ruling decides otherwise.<\/p>\n

\"Attorney
Attorney General Phil Weiser speaks at 2022 candidate forum, held at the University of Denver on Oct. 12, 2022. (Colorado Newsline file)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Weiser vs. Trump: \u2018I won\u2019t be intimidated\u2019<\/div>\n

Weiser\u2019s campaign slogan, \u201cStanding up for Colorado,\u201d is a nod to his belief that he must call out Trump anytime his administration harms the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump administration has a number of efforts, some around climate, some around diversity, some around people they don\u2019t like, where they\u2019re engaging in intimidation or pressure campaigns,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat you get with me as a governor is a proven leader committed to fighting for principle, who is not going to give in to fear or intimidation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weiser has been challenging Trump since his first term, suing that administration 11 times during its final two years. This year, he\u2019s made the rounds on national and local news networks to discuss some of his 25 cases and call out the administration.<\/p>\n

He sued the Biden administration, albeit only once. He also supported an Eagle County case against the Biden administration that aimed to keep the Uinta Basin Rail oil train out of the state. The Supreme Court recently ruled against<\/a> the county.<\/p>\n

He said his standard \u2013 looking for instances of an administration both breaking the law and harming Colorado \u2013 hasn\u2019t changed, but any guardrails provided by Trump\u2019s first term staff are gone. As a result, he believes Trump is now acting in ways that are \u201cplainly lawless.\u201d<\/p>\n

He disagrees with the so-called \u201cpick and choose your battles\u201d strategy, saying it\u2019s better to \u201cshow strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

He criticized Bennet\u2019s strategy of supporting some Cabinet nominees in hopes of building relationships with them to mitigate harm, calling it a \u201cfailed strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think building relationships with people who are acting in ways that are lawless and harmful is serving Colorado,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Weiser added that he is willing to work with the Trump administration when it benefits Colorado, pointing to an antitrust lawsuit<\/a> against Google with the Justice Department that has been proceeding since the first Trump administration. He also said he would work to keep Space Force bases in Colorado and continue the Commerce Department\u2019s quantum initiatives in the state.<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser confers with lawmakers as they wait for delivery of the State of State speech by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in the state Capitol on Jan. 9, 2020, in Denver. (David Zalubowski\/Associated Press file)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Visions for Colorado, the Democratic Party<\/div>\n

Looking back on the 2024 elections, Weiser said the Democratic Party was viewed as \u201cout-of-touch\u201d and ineffective. Even now, the national party has been \u201cslow to find its footing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t simply be just, \u2018We\u2019re not Donald Trump.\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to be, \u2018We believe in the rule of law, we believe in our freedoms and we know how to govern in ways that make life better for people, and we\u2019re able to show that on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to continuing to call out Trump at every corner, Weiser believes Colorado would benefit from some improved Democratic policies.<\/p>\n

He referenced a March speech<\/a>, in which he advocated for management that protects agricultural communities\u2019 access to the water in their areas and highlighted success stories that involved collaboration between local stakeholders and companies. He floated ideas of a statewide conservation program to compensate people who don\u2019t use their water rights or a program that would allow the state to manage slack capacity and distribute it during shortages.<\/p>\n

On public safety, he said the state needs to \u201chave a serious and committed effort to recruit and support law enforcement,\u201d rely on data-driven approaches for community safety and improve reentry programs for people leaving prison.<\/p>\n

To improve youth mental health, Weiser said he wants to launch a mentoring program for young people. He said this would build on his work as AG, which includes a lawsuit against e-cigarette company Juul for deceptive advertising that brought back nearly $32 million. That money funds youth programs across the state.<\/p>\n

Strategies to expand affordable housing will vary by county, he said, making it necessary to collaborate with local leaders to ensure projects aren\u2019t stalled by state-level red tape.<\/p>\n

\u201cI bring a real innovation mindset of how we improve government performance,\u201d Weiser said. \u201cI\u2019m going to bring that mindset to bear on how we do better on affordable housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser speaks July 4, 2021, at the Durango Community Recreation Center Amphitheater while running for a second term. (Shane Benjamin\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
The uphill battle against Bennet<\/div>\n

A year out from the primary, Bennet\u2019s 31-point lead is a daunting figure.<\/p>\n

To date, Weiser has nearly 120 endorsements to Bennet\u2019s over 130. La Plata County Commissioner Matt Salka has endorsed Weiser, while Commissioner Marsha Porter-Norton, has switched her pledge from Weiser to Bennet. Democratic congressmen Joe Neguse, CD-2, and Jason Crow, CD-6, along with governor-turned-senator John Hickenlooper have endorsed Bennet.<\/p>\n

Weiser believes Bennet\u2019s departure from the Senate would be a \u201cbig loss\u201d for the state that hasn\u2019t had a senator \u201cthis well respected, this steeped in legislative work\u201d in many years. Colorado hasn\u2019t had a senator with over 16 years of seniority since the early 1970s, and its other senator has only held his seat since 2021.<\/p>\n

For his part, Bennet says<\/a> he can be more effective at rebuilding Democratic platforms and fighting Trump from Denver than from the \u201cbroken\u201d political arena in Washington.<\/p>\n

Weiser, who is term-limited as attorney general, said he\u2019s not interested in Bennet\u2019s Senate seat should Bennet become governor and appoint his successor.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy message is simple,\u201d he said. \u201cThe best senator for Colorado is Michael Bennet. The best governor for Colorado is Phil Weiser. \u2026 That\u2019s my core message. I believe that deeply. That\u2019s why I\u2019m committed to being in this race.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Attorney general says he\u2019ll keep fighting Trump-era overreach despite trailing Bennet<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,266,28,1509],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-election","tag-headlines","tag-state-elections"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15712"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19802,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15712\/revisions\/19802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15712"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}