One of the most closely watched contests on the June primary ballot is the four‑way Democratic race for Colorado attorney general.

With Attorney General Phil Weiser term‑limited and running for governor, attention has shifted to the candidates vying to replace him and the qualifications they bring to the state’s top legal office.

Running for attorney general are Secretary of State Jena Griswold, former federal prosecutor Hetal Doshi, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, and workers’ rights attorney David Seligman.

All four appeared together once during the campaign, in a May 28 debate hosted by Colorado Politics and The Denver Gazette, giving voters their first side‑by‑side look at the field.

More coverage below

Link to debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDoe4zfWHxs

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The Candidates

Jena Griswold

Jena Griswold website

Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who is term‑limited in her current role, is now seeking to become Colorado’s next attorney general.

Among the most prominent political figures in Colorado politics, she often highlights her record of challenging the Trump administration and addressing major statewide issues.

“My top priority is standing up to Trump to protect our democracy,” she said in an emailed statement to Colorado Politics. “This is consistently the top issue I have been hearing from voters. As Secretary of State, I helped lead the fight to defend democracy against Donald Trump.”

She also cited her efforts to hold former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters accountable for tampering with election equipment, as well as the unsuccessful attempt to remove Donald Trump from Colorado’s 2024 ballot after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. In a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court later overturned the state justices’ decision against Trump.

“As attorney general, I will continue standing up to Trump and MAGA extremists to protect our rights and stop the attacks on Colorado,” she said.

Asked about other issues raised on the campaign trail, Griswold’s office pointed to protecting abortion access, safeguarding civil rights, and advocating for workers.

Griswold said that as secretary of state, she urged Colorado not to extradite anyone for violating another state’s abortion ban and supported the state’s protections for abortion access. She added that as a new mother who used fertility treatment, she would challenge the Trump administration to ensure all Coloradans can access reproductive services, including birth control, IVF, and abortion.

She said she would also defend civil rights, ensure ICE agents who commit crimes are prosecuted, and protect Colorado’s election system.

Griswold noted that she was the first in her family to attend a four‑year college and law school, and that she still carries more than $200,000 in student loans, saying that protecting working Coloradans is personal to her. As attorney general, she said, she would pursue illegal corporate conduct and work to stop price gouging and wage theft.

She often faces criticism from rivals over her limited courtroom experience.

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Hetal Doshi

Hetal Doshi website

Hetal Doshi is a longtime federal prosecutor with nearly 20 years of experience, having served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Colorado and later as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.

She has prosecuted monopolies, cartels, fraud and public corruption, often emphasizing her focus on protecting working families and honest businesses. Raised by immigrant parents, Doshi said her commitment to fairness and public service motivates her run for attorney general, where she aims to ensure public safety, a fair economy, and respect for every Coloradan’s rights.

On the campaign trail and in debates, Doshi has consistently argued that the next attorney general must be prepared to continue confronting the Trump administration, as new policies and executive actions emerge that she believes could harm Colorado. She has praised Attorney General Phil Weiser for filing more than 65 lawsuits against the Trump administration to date.

Her first TV ad features a narrator declaring, “Colorado, it’s time to put the Hetal to the metal,” as the first‑time candidate drives a 1968 Camaro Super Sport down a highway.

Doshi has leaned heavily on her years as a federal prosecutor, arguing that her courtroom experience and record of holding polluters and corporations accountable make her the most prepared to lead the office.

Doshi told Colorado Politics last week that, on the campaign trail, she’s heard repeatedly that voters want an attorney general who will take on corruption, rising costs, and threats to Colorado’s water, air, land, and personal freedoms.

She said many Coloradans are being forced to choose between housing, healthcare, and groceries, while those in power “pillage our democracy” and face few consequences. She added that people aren’t looking for slogans — they want a concrete plan backed by real experience.

She also points to her record prosecuting corrupt public officials, jailing corporate executives who broke the law, recovering billions from companies that cheated consumers, and winning cases against major players like Ticketmaster and Google. She said voters respond with relief and hope when they hear that background — relief, she emphasized, that someone with a proven record is running, and hope for a future that is safer, fairer, and freer.

Doshi stressed that Colorado’s next attorney general must be someone who can earn the trust of the more than 700 public servants in the office and has the credibility to deliver results on what she calls the most complex legal docket in modern state history. She said she has led at the highest levels of government and is the only candidate with the breadth of experience needed to meet the challenges facing Colorado.

Doshi said she would be ready to “hit the ground running on Day 1” and be relentless in pursuing a safer, fairer future for Coloradans.

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Michael Dougherty

Michael Dougherty’s website

Michael Dougherty is a career prosecutor with nearly 30 years of experience, beginning in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and later serving as a Deputy Attorney General in Colorado.

He has led major criminal units, overseen cases involving homicides, public corruption, financial fraud, and wrongful convictions, and he currently serves as the district attorney for the 20th Judicial District, which encompasses Boulder County.

On the campaign trail, Dougherty has emphasized community safety, consumer protection, and defending civil rights, and he said his long record in prosecution and public service prepares him to serve as Colorado’s next attorney general.

Dougherty cast himself as the candidate focused on protecting democracy and Colorado’s interests, stressing that the next attorney general must be an experienced courtroom lawyer who can take the Trump administration to court and win.

Endorsed by more than 90 Colorado officials and community leaders, he said during the May 28 debate that he is running for the position to defend Colorado against what he called the “greatest threat” to democracy he has seen in his lifetime.

In the May 28 debate, Dougherty said the next attorney general needs to do more than post criticisms of Trump online — they need to defeat him in court. He added that he would use the same standards Weiser applied when deciding which lawsuits to pursue.

“And that’s where experience matters,” Dougherty said. “The last thing in the world Colorado needs at a time when we’re so divided already is a hyper-partisan attorney general who’s looking to get their face on cable TV. I’m the guy who goes to court to say I’m here on behalf of people.”

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David Seligman

David Seligman website

David Seligman is a workers’ rights, consumer protection and antimonopoly attorney who has spent his career representing people harmed by corporate misconduct. He is the executive director of Towards Justice, a nonprofit labor‑rights organization.

Seligman has brought major cases on behalf of working Coloradans and small businesses, saying he has challenged powerful corporations and actions taken by the Trump administration. His clients have included nurses, rideshare drivers, meatpacking workers, Amazon delivery drivers, teachers, federal employees, renters facing excessive fees, and families struggling with medical debt.

Before joining Towards Justice, he worked at the National Consumer Law Center, focusing on abusive debt practices. A graduate of Harvard Law School and former chair of the Harvard Law Review’s Supreme Court section, he clerked for federal judges before returning to Colorado.

In a statement to Colorado Politics last week, Seligman stressed that “our economic and political systems have been rotted out.”

Seligman said the state is being shaped by an economy that lets the wealthiest consolidate power, while working people fall further behind. He said people don’t just want to scrape by — they want the chance to build stable, thriving lives, such as when a single income could support a family and hard work reliably led to security.

He argued that Coloradans deserve a state where a major hospital system can’t bury patients in debt they don’t owe; where a company can’t pollute neighborhoods for decades, harm children, earn billions in profits, and face only minimal penalties; and where, he said, masked federal agents can’t detain people and send them to private detention centers simply because they look Latino or speak Spanish.

Seligman said people are tired of feeling like the law works against them instead of for them — and they want someone who will stand up for them.

He said his top priorities are affordability, arguing Colorado’s core challenge is an accountability crisis, in which people are taken advantage of. He said courts, for example, sign off on roughly 14,000 medical‑debt garnishments each year, while hospital systems rake in more than $1.3 billion in profits in the Denver metro area. He also mentioned federal overreach, describing ICE as engaging in “military enforcement tactics” and “corporate pollution” and climate change, pointing to Suncor’s emissions violations in Commerce City.

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Voter information

• June 12 – Deadline for initial mail ballots to be sent to active voters for the 2026 Primary Election.
• June 22 – Deadline to register to vote and still be mailed a ballot. After this date, register and then vote in person.
• June 22 – The minimum number of required voter centers must be open.
• June 22 – Last suggested day to return ballots by mail.
• June 23 – The minimum number of required drop boxes must be open. From this date on, voters should return their ballots to a voter center or drop box, or vote in person.
• June 30 – Election Day. Voters must submit their ballot or be in line to vote by 7 p.m. for their ballot to be counted.
• June 30 – Ballots cast by military and overseas voters must be sent no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day.
• July 8 – Deadline for ballots cast by military and overseas voters to be received by their county clerk.
• July 8 – Deadline for voters to cure a signature discrepancy or missing signature, if notified by the county clerk.