Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty on Tuesday became the first candidate to launch a campaign to replace term-limited Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser in next year’s election.

“I know what it takes to lead, what it means to fight for what’s right, and the important role the justice system can play when it is being guided by the rule of law and not by politics,” said Dougherty, a Democrat, in a video released by his campaign. “I will use my decades of experience in the courtroom and leading offices to protect our values and defend our rights against Donald Trump and anyone who endangers Colorado.”

Dougherty told Colorado Politics that his 27-year career as a prosecutor — including prosecuting sex crimes in New York, heading the criminal division at the Colorado Attorney General’s Office and two terms as Boulder County’s elected district attorney — has prepared him to defend Colorado’s interests and to “fight and win the most important battles against Donald Trump and Elon Musk.”

In an interview, Dougherty credited Weiser, a Democrat who has joined nearly a dozen lawsuits this year aimed at reversing actions taken by the Trump administration, with “wisely using his discretion and his power to not just go screaming at the wind of the federal government, but picking and choosing the battles that need to be fought.”

#dsk-box-ad-e.new-ad-loading [id*=”-outstream-icon”] {display: none !important;}[id*=”-outstream-icon”],[id*=”-outstream-icon”] > img {width: 24px;height: 24px;display: block;cursor: pointer !important;font-size: 24px !important;line-height: 1 !important;max-width: unset !important;vertical-align: unset !important;box-shadow: unset !important;}[id*=”-outstream-icon”]:hover {filter: drop-shadow(black 0px 0px 6px);}#bottom-controls_videoPlayer_7025 {position: absolute;bottom: 5px;left: 5px;display: grid;grid-template-columns: 24px 24px;}#tpd-volume-control_videoPlayer_7025.muted > #volume-on-outstream-icon_videoPlayer_7025,#tpd-volume-control_videoPlayer_7025:not(.muted) > #volume-muted-outstream-icon_videoPlayer_7025 {display: none;}#tpd-play-pause-control_videoPlayer_7025[playing=”true”] > #click-to-play-outstream-icon,#tpd-play-pause-control_videoPlayer_7025[playing=”false”] > #click-to-pause-outstream-icon {display: none;}@media (max-width: 770px) { #dsk-box-ad-e.new-ad-loading iframe[src],#dsk-box-ad-e.new-ad-loading video {display: none !important;} } #dsk-box-ad-e.new-ad-loading #ad-container_videoPlayer_7025 {background: #5a585830 !important;mask: linear-gradient(315deg, #000 30%, #88888855, #000 70%) right / 350% 100%;animation: tpd-shimmer 1.15s infinite;}@keyframes tpd-shimmer {100% {mask-position: left}}#dsk-box-ad-e:not(.new-ad-loading) {background: black;}#dsk-box-ad-e {opacity: 1;animation-name: fadeInOpacity;animation-iteration-count: 1;animation-timing-function: ease-in;animation-duration: 0.75s;}@keyframes fadeInOpacity {0% {opacity: 0;}100% {opacity: 1;}}#dsk-box-ad-e.new-ad-loading #progress-row_videoPlayer_7025,#dsk-box-ad-e.has-countdown #progress-row_videoPlayer_7025 {display: none;}#progress-row_videoPlayer_7025 {width: 100%;display: block;bottom: 0px;position: absolute;}#dsk-box-ad-e.new-ad-loading #progressLabel-container_videoPlayer_7025 {display: none;}@media (max-width: 770px) { #progressLabel-container_videoPlayer_7025 {display: none;} } #dsk-box-ad-e.has-countdown #progressLabel-container_videoPlayer_7025 {display: none;}#progressLabel-container_videoPlayer_7025 {width: 640px;position: absolute;bottom: 15px;height: 0px;}#progressLabel_videoPlayer_7025 {color: white;font-size: 7pt;font-family: Arial, Sans-Serif;text-align: center;width: fit-content;height: 5px;margin: auto;}#progressBar_videoPlayer_7025 {width: 640px;height: 3px;background-color: lightgray;}#progress_videoPlayer_7025 {height: 100%;background-color: cornflowerblue;width: 0;}#dsk-box-ad-e:not(.replay) #replay-outstream-container_videoPlayer_7025 {display: none !important;}#dsk-box-ad-e.replay #replay-outstream-container_videoPlayer_7025 {display: flex;height: 100%;width: 100%;z-index: 99;position: relative;background: black;}#dsk-box-ad-e.replay #replay-outstream-icon_videoPlayer_7025 {width: 30px;height: 30px;margin: auto;position: relative;background-image: url(‘data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg fill=”white” height=”30px” width=”30px” xmlns=”https://www.w3.org/2000/svg” viewBox=”0 0 74.999 74.999″ xml:space=”preserve” stroke=”black”%3E%3Cpath d=”M33.511 71.013c15.487 0 28.551-10.563 32.375-24.859h9.113L61.055 22 47.111 46.151h8.006c-3.44 8.563-11.826 14.628-21.605 14.628-12.837 0-23.28-10.443-23.28-23.28 0-12.836 10.443-23.28 23.28-23.28 6.604 0 12.566 2.768 16.809 7.196l5.258-9.108c-5.898-5.176-13.619-8.32-22.065-8.32C15.034 3.987 0 19.019 0 37.5c-.002 18.481 15.03 33.513 33.511 33.513z”/%3E%3C/svg%3E’);}#dsk-box-ad-e.replay #bottom-controls_videoPlayer_7025_videoPlayer_7025,#dsk-box-ad-e.replay [id*=”-outstream-icon”]:not([id^=”replay-outstream-icon”]) {display: none !important;}#dsk-box-ad-e.replay #video-container_videoPlayer_7025 {display: none !important;}#dsk-box-ad-e {margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;}/* Main Styling */#dsk-box-ad-e.first-render {display: none !important;}#page-content_videoPlayer_7025 {display: inline-block;}#video-container_videoPlayer_7025 {position: relative;}#video-element_videoPlayer_7025 {position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;}/* Some providers inject their ad content into the video element *//* but if not we hide it. */#video-element_videoPlayer_7025:not([src]) {display: none;}#ad-container_videoPlayer_7025 {position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;cursor: pointer;}#dsk-box-ad-e,#page-content_videoPlayer_7025,#video-container_videoPlayer_7025,#video-element_videoPlayer_7025,#ad-container_videoPlayer_7025 {width: 640px;height: 360px;}#dsk-box-ad-e div[id*=”google_ads_iframe_”] {width: 640px !important;height: 360px !important;z-index: -1;position: absolute;}

Added Dougherty: “As attorney general, I would certainly carefully analyze any action by the federal government, and if it’s hurting the people of Colorado, and if I believe it’s a violation of the law, I will always stand and fight for Colorado. … When you look at what’s happening right now, attorneys general from around the country are the ones standing in the breach, and I want to make sure the Attorney General’s Office is led by someone with the courtroom experience and also the leadership experience to continue to fight and win the most important battles against Donald Trump and Elon Musk.”

The job isn’t just about suing the federal government, Dougherty stressed.

“As attorney general,” Dougherty said, “I will defend our water and environment, consumers, our workers, reproductive health care — and increase public safety for all Coloradans.”

Weiser, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, was elected to the first of two terms as attorney general in 2018 after winning a primary that at one point included Dougherty, who was deputy district attorney for Jefferson and Gilpin counties at the time. Dougherty withdrew from the race, however, to accept an appointment to fill a vacancy created when Boulder’s longtime district attorney resigned midterm and has been reelected to the office three times without opposition.

Other potential Democratic candidates for attorney general in 2026 include former state House Speaker Crisanta Duran; 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason, who serves Adams and Broomfield counties; and David Seligman, executive director of Towards Justice, a Denver-based nonprofit law firm that represents workers in litigation.

No Republican has publicly indicated an interest in the race, though the parties’ nominations won’t be decided for another 16 months in next year’s June primary.

The grandson of Irish immigrants, Dougherty grew up in a working class family on Long Island in New York — his father was a public school teacher — and worked his way through Nassau Community College before getting his undergraduate degree at Cornell University and his law degree at the Boston University School of Law.

Dougherty worked for a dozen years at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where he moved from the trial division to deputy chief of the Sex Crimes Unit before being tapped to join the office’s executive staff, helping manage an office of 1,300 employees while still trying cases. He moved to Colorado in 2010 at the invitation of then-Attorney General John Suthers, a Republican, to head the Colorado DNA Justice Review Project, which led to the exoneration and release of a man who served 17 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of rape and murder.

Soon after his arrival at the Attorney General’s Office, Suthers promoted Dougherty to run the Criminal Justice Section, which oversees special prosecutions, homicide assistance for the State of Colorado, environmental crimes, financial fraud, securities fraud, insurance fraud, Medicaid fraud, and the Peace Officer Standards and Training Unit. He departed the state position to become second in command at the 1st Judicial District, where he worked until his appointment as district attorney.

Among numerous honors, Dougherty received the Innocence Project’s Award for Advocate for Innocence and Justice in 2015, co-chaired Colorado’s Sentencing Reform Task Force, served on the School Safety Resource Center Advisory Board for Colorado’s District Attorneys and in 2021 became president of the District Attorneys of Colorado organization.

An avid trail runner and ultramarathoner, Dougherty and his wife, Antonia, a former prosecutor, live in Boulder with their high school-age twins.