If you were in a child custody dispute with a former spouse, would you hire an attorney with experience in family law or would you trust your case to an operative with virtually zero mastery?

If you were getting ready to sue your employer for unpaid wages or a toxic workplace, would you enlist a lawyer with a background in employment statutes or would you put your fate in the hands of someone who had never really practiced law?

If you were a doctor being charged with medical malpractice, would you retain a novice lawyer who had never argued a case?

What kind of attorney would you retain to defend your teenager accused of shoplifting? Or to represent you in a complicated real estate transaction? Or to handle a breach of trademark claim? Or to litigate for damages resulting from a collision with a drunk driver?

If you read through this series of questions on top of plenty of other easy-to-imagine scenarios and answer that experience is overrated, then Jena Griswold is your candidate for Colorado attorney general.

Truth-in-advertising dictates that Griswold’s campaign slogan should be, “No experience needed.”

The attorney general is the state’s chief legal officer. The office handles everything from antitrust enforcement to consumer protection to representing the state on criminal appeals. It oversees the statewide grand jury and serves as legal counsel to the governor and a long list of state agencies. It enforces everything from water law to civil rights requirements.

To accomplish all of this, the attorney general oversees a staff of roughly 270 attorneys and nearly 500 total employees. It is functionally the largest law firm in the state.

If elected, Jena Griswold would be the least experienced, least qualified person in the entire office. Her legal credentials would not get her in the door as a junior attorney. Yet, she may be on the cusp on winning the senior legal position.

While Griswold graduated from law school in 2011, it is questionable if she has ever seen the inside of a courtroom in a lawyerly capacity much less argued a case there. When pressed, her campaign is unable to point to a single matter she has litigated. Not even a parking ticket.

The office of attorney general might be the next stop on the political train. But that is not reason enough to elect someone without the requisite, specialized knowledge.

In contrast to Griswold, the three Democrats running against her bring abundant and varied expertise. From an immigrant family, Hetal Doshi headed the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Michael Dougherty has served two terms as Boulder district attorney. David Seligman has a deep background in the fields of consumer and labor rights.

If this was a contest of qualifications, Griswold would be quickly voted off the island. Even her staunchest defenders acknowledge her lack of legal credentials but point to her managerial chops as Colorado’s Secretary of State.

However, upon even cursory inspection, those results are lacking as well. Her office has long been known for its high rate of staff turnover. Less than two months ago, seven former senior staffers came forward with a detailed complaint calling out “abuse,” “bullying,” and “a hail of epithets” to go along with misuse of tax monies and excessive demands for NDAs (non-disclosure agreements).

Then, lest we forget, there was the accidental release in 2024 of voting system passwords in 63 of Colorado’s 64 counties. Oops.

Griswold the lawyer is nonexistent and Griswold the accomplished manager is laughable.

Democrats have been rightfully indignant about the utter lack of preparedness and capability of a number of Trump appointees. The likes of Pete Hegseth, Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem are high on that list. This primary election and Griswold’s fate will show whether that standard of readiness and qualification is one Democrats also apply to their own.

A point of personal privilege and sad closing note today

All of us face a final journey on this earth. For some, that is more imminent. Colorado media legend and State Capitol mainstay, Lynn Bartels, is ailing while being comforted and cared for by her large, extended family and bountiful supply of friends.

Over the years – from her beloved Rocky Mountain News to the Denver Post to the pages of the Gazette, Bartels combined the skills of a fierce, tenacious, dogged reporter with a light, human touch. She understood politicians as people in all their complexity, sometimes with the best of motivations, other times less so.

On a personal level, Bartels stood out for her kindness, encouragement and quick wit. None of it will be soon forgotten. To call someone unique can be overdone, but Bartels truly has been one of a kind.

Blessings to her. And may Lynn find a bit of delight in seeing this tribute attached to an overdue exposure of someone she long ago sized up as wanting in both character and capacity.

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