Attorney General Phil Weiser’s name will appear first on Colorado’s Democratic gubernatorial primary ballot after his overwhelming win Saturday at the party’s state assembly in Pueblo.

Weiser joins U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in the June 30 primary for the office held by term-limited Gov. Jared Polis. Bennet, who successfully petitioned onto the ballot, didn’t participate in the party confab, which saw nearly 1,500 Democratic delegates from around the state show up at Pueblo Memorial Hall.

Delegates awarded the top spot on the ballot in the U.S. Senate primary to state Sen. Julie Gonzales, the Denver Democrat challenging incumbent John Hickenlooper, who qualified by petition last week and announced he was pulling out of the assembly.

The roughly five-hour event competed Saturday with the third round of “No Kings” protests, which drew tens of thousands of Coloradans to dozens of rallies and marches around the state in opposition to the Trump administration, including a boisterous gathering outside the historic theater where the Democrats conducted party business.

Weiser, who faced only nominal competition at the assembly, won 90% of the delegate vote, while Democrats Erik Underwood and Anthony Martinez trailed at 6% and 4%, respectively.

With just under 75% support, Gonzales managed to keep political science professor Karen Breslin, her chief rival at assembly, to just over 24% of the vote, under the threshold required to advance to the ballot. A third candidate, Jessica Williams, got just over 1%.

Under Colorado’s nominating system, major party candidates can win designation to the primary by garnering at least 30% of the delegate vote at their party’s assembly. Alternatively, they can turn in a sufficient number of valid petition signatures — in the races for governor and the U.S. Senate, it takes 1,500 signatures from each of the state’s eight congressional districts, for a total of 12,000 — or by taking both routes. Candidates who petition into the primary need support from just 10% of delegates if they’re also seeking the ballot through the assembly process.

The path to the Democratic and Republican state assemblies began in the first week of March at precinct caucuses, where party members elected delegates to district and county assemblies. This year, the Colorado GOP plans to hold its state assembly on April 11, also in Pueblo.

In the Democratic primary for attorney general — to succeed Weiser, who faces term limits — Secretary of State Jena Griswold edged past workers- rights attorney and nonprofit head David Seligman, with 42% to his 41%.

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, who turned in petitions last week, received 17% in the attorney general contest, meaning he’ll make the primary if his signatures check out. Former federal prosecutor Hetal Doshi also submitted petitions but didn’t go through assemblies. The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office has until late April to validate their petitions.

The primary for the secretary of state job held by Griswold, who is also term-limited, will feature the two Democrats who have been running: Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Amanda Gonzales and state Sen. Jessie Danielson of Wheat Ridge. Gonzales came out on top with 63% to Danielson’s 37%.

The only close call of the day came in the race for state treasurer, where state Sen. Jeff Bridges of Greenwood Village landed the sole spot in the primary, with 44% of the vote, edging out state Sen. Brianna Titone of Arvada, whose 29% finish meant she fell just over a dozen delegate votes short of qualifying. John Mikos, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and former chair of the El Paso County Democratic Party, trailed with 27%.

In a fiery speech, Weiser told delegates that he intends to continue “standing up” to President Donald Trump if he’s elected governor.

“This is what democracy looks like, Colorado,” Weiser told the cheering crowd. “I’ve got a question for you: When you’re up against a lawless bully, do you accommodate or appease, or do you fight for what you believe in? Well, Colorado, that’s why I sued this lawless, bullying administration 63 times and counting.”

Declaring that Trump “is not our only challenge,” Weiser said he’s also successfully pursued legal action against large corporations that cheated consumers, pharmaceutical manufacturers that pushed addictive opioids on patients and landlords who violated tenants’ rights.

“Our future lies in the balance, and I stand here ready to lead on Day One,” Weiser said. Noting that he is the son of immigrants who were liberated from a Nazi concentration camp, Weiser said that in just a single generation generation, he went on to clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, work in the White House for President Barack Obama, and was now in a position to become governor.

Noting that Colorado is one of only four states that has never elected a woman as governor or U.S. senator — the others are Idaho, Indiana and Pennsylvania — Gonzales began her nominating speech by acknowledging “trailblazing” women and Latinos who ran for the office she is seeking.

“In our nation’s 250 years, only one Latina has ever been elected to the U.S. Senate,” she said. “So you don’t have to tell me about long odds, because that’s nothing new to me. I’ve been a Brown woman my whole life. I know what it is to work twice as hard just to get by. But the thing is, Colorado, the thing is, so do you — that’s why you’re here.”

Framing her candidacy as a response to the sense that Washington has left ordinary Coloradans behind, Gonzales continued: “The world is on fire, and every day we wake up dreading whatever fresh hell this fascist administration has wrought upon us,” she said. “We see leaders who are more comfortable catering to the concerns of the 1% than addressing the everyday struggles facing our communities. But Colorado, no one is coming to save us
but us.”

In a statement issued after the assembly, Gonzales said her win means voters are “ready for a senator who will actually fight for lower costs, for working families, and against the corporate interests rigging the system. That’s what this campaign has always been about, and today shows the movement is real.”

The crowded Republican race for governor lost a candidate early Saturday when podcaster Joe Oltmann announced at a GOP district assembly in Colorado Springs that he was dropping out and endorsing state Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs, who is among as many as 20 gubernatorial candidates going through the party’s assembly process.

Others in the running for delegate support include Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell and Victor Marx, a Colorado Springs-based missionary leader and first-time candidate. Marx has also submitted petitions, as has state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, but she isn’t taking the assembly route.

Several Republicans are running for the U.S. Senate, including state Sen. Mark Baisley, R-Woodland Park; former state Rep. Janak Joshi, R-Colorado Springs; Montrose County Commissioner Sean Pond; and retired Marine Col. George Markert.

Primary ballots go out to voters in early June and are due back to county clerks by 7 p.m. June 30.