Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty launched his bid for Colorado attorney general on Tuesday, making him the first candidate to formally announce his intention to seek the office.
Dougherty, a Democrat, has been the district attorney for the 20th Judicial District since then-Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed him to the position in 2018. He was most recently reelected in November, in a race where he faced no opposition.
In Boulder County, he helped investigate the cause of the 2021 Marshall fire and prosecute the King Soopers mass shooter.
Coloradans will elect the next attorney general in November 2026. Current Attorney General Phil Weiser, also a Democrat, is term limited and has announced he is seeking the governor’s office.
Dougherty said the new Trump administration’s early attempts to end the constitutional right to birthright citizenship and freeze federal funding for things like the U.S. Forest Service “solidified” his decision to run for the office again. He sought the attorney general’s office in 2018 before dropping out of that race to run for his current office.
He emphasized the need for deliberate responses to fight back against federal actions — not just reactionary statements.
“I’m never going to be the person who goes on TV looking to score points by commenting on the Trump administration,” Dougherty said in an interview. “I’m going to be making those decisions based on principle — and not politics — about when we go to court and when the rule of law is on our side, and how we fight and win against the federal government when it’s hurting Coloradans.”
In addition to fighting perceived federal overreach and defending the state and U.S. constitutions, the attorney general’s office is also responsible for state concerns like consumer protection, community safety and environmental protection.
Dougherty highlighted his role as DA in successfully prosecuting two former Boulder County sheriff’s deputies in 2021 on manslaughter charges in the death of an intoxicated man they were transporting in a van. He also charged former state Rep. Tracey Bernett, a Democrat, in a case where she lied about where she lived in order to run for office; she pleaded guilty.
Cases like that are about “making sure we demonstrate no one is above the law. That is something we see in the United States right now,” Dougherty said, adding that it’s something he’d continue “to take very seriously” if elected.
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