Colorado’s political world is in as close to a lull as it’s likely to get this cycle — six months past the 2024 general election, days after the end of this year’s regular legislative session, and with just over a year to go until voters begin casting primary ballots.

Major candidates for the state’s most prominent and competitive 2026 contests have already emerged, but many are about to get more company.

Like at the beginning of a fundraising quarter, the immediate aftermath of the General Assembly’s 120 day session is prime calendar real estate to launch campaigns for higher offices, for a couple of reasons: State lawmakers finally again have some control over their schedule and can turn their attention to campaigning, while other hopefuls can count on the attention of the political press, which typically remains on alert for any vetoes by the governor, and for signs of a rumored special session.

Get ready for an election year—or year and a half—like no other, with jam-packed primaries in nearly every statewide race and most congressional contests.

For the first time in at least a century, every one of Colorado’s state-level constitutional offices — governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and state treasurer — will be open in next year’s election, since the five term-limited Democratic incumbents each took office for the first time following wins in 2018, President Donald Trump’s first midterm.

Of the five lame-duck Democrats, however, two of them — and possibly a third — don’t plan to hang up their campaign cleats and are launching runs for another office.

The exceptions are Gov. Jared Polis and Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, who don’t appear to be potential candidates for anything else next year, though Polis could still have his eye on the White House in 2028.

Attorney General Phil Weiser is running for Polis’ job, while Secretary of State Jena Griswold wants to take over for Weiser after he terms out of his current position. Meanwhile, State Treasurer Dave Young has been making noise in recent days, indicating that he’s considering jumping into the primary to challenge first-term Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans in the state’s lone toss-up congressional district.

At the same time, every incumbent member of Congress from Colorado who is up for election next year is seeking another term, from Democratic U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper to the four House Democrats — U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse, Jason Crow and Brittany Pettersen — and the four House Republicans — Evans and U.S. Reps. Jeff Hurd, Lauren Boebert and Jeff Crank.

The lay of the electoral landscape at this point, however, comes with a hefty dose of salt, since if there’s one thing Colorado’s recent political history has demonstrated, it’s the folly of prognosticating what the ballot might look like more than a year out.

Two years ago at the same point — in a cycle without any of the statewide races on the ballot — Colorado’s marquee races appeared to be Boebert’s run for a third term on the Western Slope’s 3rd Congressional District, after coming within fewer than 500 votes of losing to Democrat Adam Frisch in 2022, as well as Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo’s bid for a second term in the still-new 8th Congressional District, the closely divided seat north of the Denver metro area, after winning by a whisker a year earlier.

While Frisch was already shattering state fundraising records on the way to what he hoped would be a rematch with Boebert, Caraveo’s potential Republican challengers were slow to surface, but there was no doubt the 8th CD would be home to one of the most competitive races in the country.

The rest of the state’s congressional districts, though, all looked like solid bets for their incumbents, with perhaps a quixotic primary challenge here and there, as has become customary in safe seats in the last decade.

That was before every single Republican representing Colorado in the House got an itch — and either retired, moved to another district, or up and resigned from Congress. First to scramble the board was U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, who announced in the fall that he wouldn’t seek another term in the Eastern Plains’ 4th Congressional District, the state’s reddest seat.

A little over a month later, as 2023 came to a close, Boebert toppled the board entirely by declaring she was moving into Buck’s district rather than continue in what was shaping up to be a tough and very expensive race against Frisch. A few days later, in the El Paso County-based 5th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn said he would retire after his current term, triggering a GOP primary for the only district in the state that hasn’t ever elected a Democrat.

Colorado has already seen at least one comparable twist this year in the table-setting for next year’s election, when three-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet joined Weiser in the primary to succeed Polis as governor. There will almost certainly be more.

With that strong caveat, at this point the most competitive statewide and congressional races are shaping up to be both parties’ gubernatorial primaries, the Democrats’ attorney general primary, the Democratic primaries in the 4th and 8th CDs — to pick nominees to take on Lauren Boebert and Evans, respectively — and the GOP primary in the 3rd CD, where Hurd is likely to face at least one challenger from the Trumpier wing of the party.

The Democrats’ primary for governor still has room for a younger, more left-leaning candidate, but the Republican field for the same office is likely close to full with the recent addition of former U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez, who filled Buck’s seat for six months last year following a special election, making his third run for governor. Lopez is facing fellow GOP hopefuls state Sen. Mark Baisley, R-Woodland Park; state Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs; Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell; and former congressional candidate Joshua Griffin.

The Democrats’ attorney general primary so far features Griswold, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty and former state House Speaker Crisanta Duran, with more expected to join them by the end of the month. Likely additional candidates include David Seligman, executive director of Towards Justice, a Denver-based nonprofit law firm that represents workers in litigation, and former Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General Hetal J. Doshi.

Democrats who want to run against Boebert so far include last year’s nominee, Trisha Calvarese, and John Padora, one of her 2024 primary rivals. A new entrant, retired Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher, is a political newcomer with strong national security credentials.

The Democrats who have launched campaigns in the 8th CD are Caraveo, hoping for a rematch with Evans, and state Rep. Manny Rutinel, D-Commerce City. Before long, the field could grow to include Young, the term-limited state treasurer; state Rep. Shanon Bird, D-Westminster; and Amie Baca-Oehlert, a former president of the Colorado Education Association.

It’s anybody’s guess who jumps in to challenge Hurd in the 3rd CD GOP primary, though there’s no shortage of possible Republican candidates in the district.

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