DENVER — On Monday morning, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced that she is running for Colorado attorney general to replace current AG Phil Weiser, who is running for governor.
“I am running for attorney general because Colorado needs a strong, proven leader in this critical moment,” she said in an early morning press release. “I’ll stand up to Donald Trump to protect our rights and freedoms. I’ll fight for working- and middle-class Coloradans, hold big corporations accountable, and safeguard our land, air, and water.”
Griswold was elected into her current position as the secretary of state in 2018, and was reelected in 2022. Before that, she practiced international anti-corruption law, business law, election law, and ran a small business, the release reads.
Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty and former State Rep. Crisanta Duran are also running for the position.
Former Lieutenant Governor Gail Schoettler will step into the role of Griswold's campaign chair, according to Monday's announcement.
“Secretary Griswold is the strong leader we need as attorney general,” Schoettler said. “As she always has, Jena will stand up to Donald Trump, MAGA extremists, and anyone who threatens the Colorado way of life. And as a woman, she’ll protect reproductive healthcare.”
Griswold has said several times that Colorado has one of — if not the — best state voting systems in the country. She has worked to ensure Colorado voters can cast their ballot either in person or can send by mail or dropbox, and has cracked down on voter intimidation.
"Voter intimidation is illegal, and it will not be accepted," she told Denver7 in October 2024. "We will enforce the law so that every Coloradan, Republican, Democrat and unaffiliated have their rights respected and their voices heard."
Griswold made national headlines during the 2020 election, particularly over election security and claims of voter fraud, both of which she pushed back on. Her critics have argued that she can be too partisan to handle elections, while supports applauded her fight against false claims made by far-right wing individuals.
During that time, she was the target with death threats. In September 2021, she shared screenshots from her personal and public social media with Denver7. They contained direct and gruesome threats, including one that read, "I KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP, I SEE YOU SLEEPING. BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID. I hope you die." She told us then that those threats had been a constant since the 2020 election, but would not deter her.
Hear more from Giswold about these threats, and why she said she will continue her election work regardless, in the video below from September 2021.
In addition, earlier this month, a Florida man was sentenced to 24 months in prison for sending Griswold, and other people, threats in February 2024.
In March 2024, Colorado's House Republicans launched an impeachment attempt against Griswold after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling keeping former President Donald Trump on the state’s primary ballot. Rep. Ryan Armagost, a Berthoud Republican, said she used "her partisan political ideology and has proven herself unfit for this elected position." After five hours in the House Judiciary Committee, the resolution failed in early April 2024.
Later that year, her office was put in the spotlight after partial passwords to Colorado's voting systems were posted on the secretary of state website. This led to a lawsuit filed by Libertarian Party of Colorado, which was ultimately rejected by a judge in November. The judge found that there was no evidence of compromised voting system components. Griswold explained to Denver7 that "Colorado's elections have layers of security, so you actually need two passwords and physical access to voting equipment to use those, to use the passwords for them to be worth anything."
However, critics still point to a delay in the time it took for her office to report the issue, which was first publicized by a press release from the Colorado Republican Party on Oct. 30. The secretary of state office said they learned about the leak about a week beforehand.
Monday's announcement about Griswold running for attorney general contained a list of endorsements, which came from labor unions, elected officials and community members.
Attorney General Weiser notified the public in early January that he was starting his campaign for governor in the 2026 election. Like Griswold, he was first elected to the seat in 2018 and was reelected in 2022. Current Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is term-limited as he was also first elected to the office in 2018, and then reelected in 2022.
As Denver7 previously reported, Weiser will likely face a crowded Democratic primary in 2026.
Denver7 sat down with Wesier the same day he made this announcement to hear more about why he is pursuing the role of governor.
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