Colorado’s 2026 election could wind up filling both of the state’s U.S. Senate seats, though if that’s what happens, the second instance would be the result of a political bank shot.

Only one seat will be on next year’s ballot, as Colorado’s junior senator, Democrat John Hickenlooper, seeks reelection to a second term. At the same time the state’s senior senator, Democrat Michael Bennet, is running for governor — and could have the opportunity to name his own replacement if he’s elected.

That’s because Colorado law gives governors the authority to fill Senate vacancies — the same as in 44 other states; the other five states require a special election — and, like most states, Colorado gives the governor free rein, without any restrictions other than that the appointee satisfy constitutional requirements for the office. Bennet, whose third full term isn’t up for another two years, has confirmed that’s what he intends to do, if elected governor.

Bennet became a senator by appointment in early 2009, when then-Gov. Bill Ritter surprised nearly everyone by bypassing a field of high-profile politicians to tap the much less well known Denver Public Schools superintendent to finish fellow Democrat Ken Salazar’s term after Salazar joined newly elected President Barack Obama’s cabinet as secretary of the interior.

A former lawyer at the Justice Department and Hickenlooper’s first chief of staff, after the brewpub owner was elected mayor of Denver in 2003, Bennet — an East Coast transplant who had never before run for office — may have been a pick out of left field but proved to be an adept candidate, winning full terms three times since, in 2010, 2016 and most recently in 2022. He’s the first senator from Colorado elected to a third term since the mid-1960s.

The prospect of Bennet possibly anointing his successor caused a stir when Bennet joined the primary race last month, with journalists asking whether he would resign his Senate seat early if he wins, before being sworn in as governor, so that outgoing Democratic Gov. Jared Polis could fill the vacancy. Bennet, however, has made clear he plans to stay in the Senate through the election and, given the chance, hopes to choose who fills his seat.

“I was appointed, as you know, to this seat, and it matters a lot to me who’s in it,” Bennet told 9News anchor Kyle Clark. “And the thing that I believe is that we have an unbelievable amount of talent in Colorado, an unbelievable amount of political leadership, and I’m looking forward to thinking about that, but not thinking about it, you know, until this election is done.”

Bennet added that he can appreciate arguments for either appointing a caretaker senator — who wouldn’t seek a full term — as some governors have done, or naming a senator who’s in it for the long haul, like Bennet was when he got the job.

Replacement scenarios only come into play if Bennet wins both next year’s primary and general election, and while his name ID, fundraising prowess and longstanding political strength give him the edge in a state that hasn’t elected a Republican governor in nearly 24 years, that result is by no means a certainty.

First, Bennet will first have to get past Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is term-limited and launched his gubernatorial campaign in January. Boasting a long list of endorsers, Weiser raised nearly $2 million in the first three months of the year and gave no indication he was the least bit cowed by Bennet’s entry in the primary last month. To the contrary, Weiser welcomed his rival to the race by suggesting that Bennet is preparing to abandon his commitment to the state, saying voters “sent Sen. Bennet back to D.C. because we believed he would be there for us no matter what — especially in historically dangerous moments like the one we currently face.”

Bennet rejected the notion, insisting that his potential move from the Senate to the governor’s office is a considered approach to safeguarding democracy.

“I think every single one of us in this moment needs to think about what our obligation is, to our democracy, to our state and to our country,” Bennet told reporters after his announcement. “This is where I believe I can make the biggest difference to our state at this moment, when there’s red alert flashing with respect to our democracy and respect to our economy.”

A third Democratic heavyweight, Salazar — the former senator Bennet replaced, returned to Colorado earlier this year after serving as President Joe Biden’s ambassador to Mexico for the last four years — hasn’t ruled out joining the primary.

Already, the jockeying to fill a Senate potential vacancy has begun, if mostly quietly and behind the scenes. Expect Bennet to be confronted with variations on the question throughout his run.

In conversations with experienced Democratic strategists, none of whom have likely Bennet successors as clients, something approaching a loose consensus emerged. According to the strategists, there are a handful of clear frontrunners and some longer shots, but no one should presume to know what either the field of potential Bennet replacements or the political landscape will look like 20 months from now, if Bennet is faced with the decision. Bennet could also go the dark-horse route, like Ritter did when he selected Bennet.

Top prospects out of the gate include U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse and Jason Crow, each in their fourth term, and Brittany Pettersen, in her second term, who have all indicated they’d be open to an appointment if that’s how things play out. All three are in their 40s, marking a potential handoff to the next generation by the 60-year-old Bennet, and all three have national profiles.

Of the three, Neguse and Crow were both considering running for governor but instead endorsed Bennet and appeared alongside him at his gubernatorial announcement. Pettersen, for her part, hasn’t taken sides in the primary, though her husband, political consultant Ian Silverii, has a key role on Weiser’s campaign.

The state’s fourth Democratic House member, 15-term U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette didn’t land on lists of potential picks, largely due to her Denver address. it’s exceedingly unlikely that Bennet would tap a Denver resident, since that would ensure that the capitol city was home to the top three elected positions in Colorado, governor and both senators — or top four, if the category includes the city’s mayor. That equation also rules out Mike Johnston, who ran for the Senate in 2020 but withdrew after Hickenlooper got in the primary following two terms as governor and a brief presidential run.

Multiple factors could give one of the three House members a leg up, if Bennet doesn’t go the caretaker route or pick a dark horse, including the likelihoods of keeping to their seats in the Democratic column — Crow and Pettersen represent districts that could be up for grabs without incumbents to defend them — and the historic nature of the appointments. Colorado hasn’t ever had a woman senator or a Black senator, possibly tilting the field toward Petetersen or Neguse, who is Black.

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