The battle is marching forward. Attorney General Phil Weiser announced his candidacy to be Colorado’s governor at the start of the year. After weeks of speculation and trial balloons, Senator Michael Bennet entered the governor’s race in early April.

This will be a clash of heavyweights. As a kinetic attorney general that Colorado can remember, Weiser has been on a straight-line path to the prize for some time. Bennet’s route has been more circuitous as longtime U.S. senators don’t typically run for governor. It is not the standard course of career advancement.

The usual direction of political aspiration is the opposite. Witness John Hickenlooper, Bennet’s pal and former boss, and his move from the governor’s office to the Senate chamber.

Perhaps there will still be another entrant into this contest. Though that is looking increasingly doubtful. Former Senator and recent U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar’s name has been actively floated. But he has yet to take any steps in this direction. Congressman Joe Neguse was thought to be headed to the governor’s race but instead decided to seek reelection to the House. And Neguse has endorsed Bennet.

At this point, it bears mentioning that a Republican gubernatorial primary is also forming. Okay, that mention is out of the way. The GOP contest, even if a credible candidate emerges, is irrelevant. In this state of an ever-deep blue hue, whoever wins the Democratic primary will be the next governor.

Much of the early media coverage of the Democratic race has cast Bennet as the considerable favorite. Maybe so. Senators come with a certain prestige and a national fundraising network. Bennet has won three top-of-the-ballot races. Make that four if you count his takedown of Democratic heartthrob Andrew Romanoff in the 2010 Democratic primary.

I expect this to be a highly competitive duel. Weiser has used his head start to his advantage. He has built a solid base of support and endorsements within the Democratic Party. He has raised north of $2 million, far from chump change given Colorado’s extreme donor limits.

His meet-and-greets feature a list of hosts and sponsors that are a veritable who’s who of the local Democratic ranks, if not the roster of their elected officials.

Sure, many of Weiser’s donors will match now that Bennet is in the race. Some of his previous supporters may flip or sit on their hands. None of that detracts from the solid campaign foundation Weiser has built.

This clash is not likely to be all that ideological. Both Bennet and Weiser fall well within the party’s mainstream. They would be dubbed “moderates” as opposed to “progressives.” Neither will be confused for AOC, nor does it do much of an impersonation of Bernie Sanders.

Still, there is a mood of intense frustration and dismay within the Democratic Party, which may benefit Weiser. The root of it is the impotence felt in the face of the Trump onslaught and the fact that Democrats hold no real levers of power.

The response to Cory Booker’s 25-hour stemwinder spoke to the distress. It was just a speech, albeit a very long, bladder-challenged one. But it represented doing something, anything, to counter the helplessness.

Bennet and his first amigo, U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, are figures of a Democratic establishment that is situationally unable to deliver the effective opposition its constituents crave. That is hardly their fault, but it provides running room for fresher faces and challengers.

Early indications are that Weiser will try to run to Bennet’s left. There may be fertile terrain to be found there as both parties continue to polarize. The notion of Weiser as some leftie champion is comical. Much shouting and many contrived differences lie ahead even as the actual, substantive variance between the two contenders is minimal.

Bennet’s candidacy is as much a commentary on the state of the Senate as it is on any attraction to be found in a gold-topped building at Colfax and Lincoln. With his long tenure, he has seen the dysfunction grow. While Democrats may win back control of Congress, the Senate is likely to remain in Republicans’ grips for an extended period.

Speaking of which, Bennet has raised the issue of who would appoint his senate successor should he win the governor’s office. He insists the appointment would be his to make. Gov. Jared Polis, never known to be the overly passive or deferential type, might have other thoughts.

The Democratic primary, the only election that matters, will be held at the end of June a year from now. At this point, I might bet on Bennet, but I would not bet much.

Eric Sondermann is a Colorado-based independent political commentator. He writes regularly for ColoradoPolitics and the Gazette newspapers. Reach him at EWS@EricSondermann.com; follow him at @EricSondermann.