Republican District Attorney John Kellner, the top prosecutor in Colorado’s 18th Judicial District, declared on Thursday that he’s challenging Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is seeking a second term.

Kellner announced his long-anticipated run in a Colorado Politics opinion article that attempts to link Weiser to the state’s rising crime rate.

“Make no mistake, our crime wave will only get worse unless people in leadership roles are willing to stand up for public safety all the time, not just when their job is on the line and regardless of the political affiliation of our governor,” Kellner said.

“The chief law enforcement officer of our state should not be hiding in the back while our state faces one of its biggest – and most troubling – battles of this decade,” he added. 

In the article, Kellner accuses Weiser of staying silent while Colorado Democrats enacted “misguided statewide laws that handcuff law enforcement and prosecutors, while ensuring criminals stay on our streets.”

“To get out from this historic crime tsunami, we need bold leadership to turn the tide,” Kellner said, using a phrase popularized in recent months by Kellner’s Republican predecessor, former 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler, who lost the 2018 attorney general race to Weiser.

A spokesman for Weiser’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but in an email to supporters, Weiser addressed Kellner’s candidacy.

“We pushed for measures that promote public safety and protect victims, while also improving our criminal justice system, working with law enforcement and community leaders to elevate policing, bringing to justice those who break the law, and helping people leaving prison obtain jobs so they don’t re-offend and end up back in prison,” he wrote.

Added Weiser: “The next nine months leading up to Election Day will be challenging. We are up for it, and we promise to continue to lead with a commitment to facts, the rule of law, and act with integrity and empathy.”

Morgan Carroll, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, issued a release calling on Kellner to say whether he believes that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, a contention held by several Republican candidates in Colorado. Carroll also wanted to know if Kellner would have joined 17 Republican attorneys general who asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the presidential election results in other states.

Kellner told Colorado Politics in an email that he does not believe the election was stolen and would not have joined the lawsuit she referenced. 

“I got to see the 2020 election up close and personal when I won a tight race, and I have confidence in Colorado’s system,” Kellner said. “It’s also clear that Democrats are terrified of the 2022 election and Weiser’s abysmal record on crime, so they want to focus on the past. I’m focused on making Colorado safer and moving Colorado forward.”

Carroll’s GOP counterpart, state Republican Party chair Kristi Burton Brown, cheered news of Kellner’s bid.

“Colorado needs a prosecutor who acts, not a professor who talks,” she tweeted on Thursday above a photo of Kellner.

Kellner, Burton Brown said in another tweet, “is the leader CO needs to bring safety back to our communities & families.” Quoting from Kellner’s announcement article, she added, “He will not let politics get in the way of the strong leadership necessary to turn the tide on Colorado’s crime wave.'”

A lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and career prosecutor, Kellner won election as district attorney in 2020 by a narrow margin over Democratic nominee Amy Padden. Prior to his election, he served as a chief deputy district attorney under Brauchler.

The 18th Judicial District, the state’s largest, counts more than 1 million residents in Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties. It’s slated to split into two districts after the 2024 election.

Weiser is a former dean of the University of Colorado law school and worked in the Obama-era Justice Department. His campaign started the year with $2.2 million in the bank after raising $2.7 million for the cycle, including about $434,000 in the quarter that ended Dec. 31.

UPDATED: This story has been updated to include a comment from Kellner.