Secretary of State Jena Griswold will run for Colorado attorney general in 2026
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold speaks at an Election Day press conference, Nov. 7, 2023, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in Aurora. The library is the site of Colorado's first tri-county ballot box, where voters from Denver, Arapahoe and Adams counties can drop off their ballots. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline)
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced Monday that she will run for attorney general in 2026.
'I am running for Attorney General because Colorado needs a strong, proven leader in this critical moment,' Griswold said in a statement. 'I'll stand up to (President) 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, a Democrat, was first elected secretary of state in 2018. She was reelected in 2022 and is term-limited. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is also term-limited and announced his run for governor in January. Griswold was initially expected to join the race for governor, but changed course in going for attorney general instead.
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As secretary of state, Griswold oversaw implementation of automatic voter registration and supported legislation criminalizing threats to election workers, fake elector schemes and compromising voting equipment.
An outspoken Trump critic, Griswold supported the Colorado Supreme Court's decision to bar Trump from Colorado's primary election ballot under the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment, which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned. She was a defendant in the case filed by six Republican voters in Colorado. Her office also led an investigation into former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was convicted for her role in a breach of her own election equipment in an attempt to prove the 2020 election was stolen.
Griswold faced intense criticism after she disclosed in late October that a document posted to her office's website included a hidden but accessible worksheet containing passwords to election equipment in counties throughout the state. County clerks said that while election security in the state remained strong following the breach, many were upset that Griswold did not inform them about the breach until after the Colorado Republican Party learned about and announced it.
Early supporters for Griswold's candidacy include U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a Centennial Democrat, and Colorado House Majority Leader Monica Duran. Gail Schoettler, former Democratic lieutenant governor and treasurer of Colorado, will serve as Griswold's campaign chair.
'Secretary Griswold is the strong leader we need as Attorney General,' Schoettler said in a statement. '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.'
The attorney general heads the Colorado Department of Law and oversees enforcement of consumer protection and antitrust laws, defends state laws in legal challenges, and advocates for law enforcement and community safety.
Democratic Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty and Democratic former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives Crisanta Duran are also running for attorney general. Conner Peddington is the only Republican candidate to file paperwork in the race so far. Primary elections to decide party nominees for state offices will be held in June 2026.
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