Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold will run for attorney general in 2026, she announced Monday morning.
The Democrat hopes to replace outgoing Attorney General Phil Weiser — who’s running for governor — in Colorado’s top law enforcement job. She has gained prominence as one of the nation’s most outspoken opponents of election conspiracies and as a chief antagonist to President Donald Trump, a position that has led to death threats, partisan attacks and criticism among Democrats, as well as plaudits.
Should Griswold win the AG’s office next year, she would lead the state’s legal challenges against the Trump administration more broadly. In an interview ahead of her declaration, she listed other priorities for the office — environmental health, public lands access, gun-violence prevention and banning so-called assault weapons among them — but named Trump’s “unlawful, unconstitutional action” first.
“Attorney generals are on the front line of protecting our rights and freedoms,” Griswold said. “I think right now, at this moment in time, it’s incredibly important to have someone who will stand up to Donald Trump and MAGA extremists. That’s what I’ve been doing the last six-and-a-half years.”
Griswold, who is term-limited from running for secretary of state again, immediately becomes the biggest name in the state attorney general’s race. She enters the race with endorsements from several labor unions; U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, an Aurora Democrat; and the leaders of both of Colorado’s federally recognized tribes.
So far, she’ll face fellow Democrats Michael Dougherty and Crisanta Duran in the primary in summer 2026. Dougherty is the district attorney for Boulder County, and Duran is a former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives. Both announced their bids in February.
Griswold, who underwent in vitro fertilization treatment, said in the interview that she’d fight any restrictions on reproductive health care, whether it’s limitations on that type of treatment or other states trying to prosecute women or doctors who receive abortion care in Colorado.
She also highlighted the state’s year-plus backlog for processing sexual assault forensic kits. She said she’d use the office to fight for resources, including contracting for outside help, and for accountability to make sure the kits are processed. The backlog falls under the purview of the governor’s office, but Griswold noted the problem the backlog creates with the legal system.
Griswold was first elected to statewide office in 2018 and reelected in 2022. She has cited Trump’s false claims about the 2016 election, which he won, as a motivating factor to run for secretary of state.
In that time, she has defended Colorado’s elections and worked on a series of efforts to increase Colorado voting access, including automatic voter registration and expanded ballot drop box access on tribal lands. She’s also worked to ban guns at polling places.
In 2021, Griswold launched an investigation into then-Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters following claims that the clerk, under the thrall of conspiracy theories of widespread voter fraud, granted unauthorized access to voting machines. Peters has since been found guilty of several felonies related to the case.
Griswold has also been a lightning rod for conservatives. Last fall, a political activist and prominent election denier found Griswold’s office mistakenly posted to its website a spreadsheet with partial passwords to voting systems. An investigation by an outside law firm largely absolved Griswold, though it found her office did violate some state policies. But the controversy remains a sore point for many of her critics, including the amount of time it took her office to report the problem.
In an interview, she defended her handling of the incident and said it had been “thoroughly investigated.” The 2024 election proved secure and accessible for millions of Coloradans. She also argued that “standing up for democracy and the right to vote is not partisan.”
“As secretary of state, I fought to protect the rights of all Coloradans to vote, regardless of political party,” Griswold said. “As (attorney general), I’ll do the same. I’ll fight to protect the rights of all Coloradans, regardless of party. Protecting our rights and freedoms from Donald Trump is not a partisan issue. He’s trampling on the rights of Coloradans from across the political spectrum.”
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