{"id":1658,"date":"2026-06-16T17:33:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T17:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1658"},"modified":"2026-06-16T17:33:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T17:33:57","slug":"what-to-know-about-attorney-general-phil-weisers-background-as-he-runs-for-colorado-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1658","title":{"rendered":"What to know about Attorney General Phil Weiser\u2019s background as he runs for Colorado governor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Editor\u2019s note: This story was adapted from an in-depth report by The Denver Post on the Democratic primary candidates for governor, which was originally published in November, and from other recent Post coverage.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more What to know about U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet\u2019s background as he runs for Colorado governor<\/a><\/p>\n

Phil Weiser, elected as the state\u2019s top attorney in 2018 and now term-limited, has had much of his tenure dominated by legal fights with the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

In the one-on-one Democratic primary for Colorado governor on June 30, his appeal to voters against U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is that he offers comparatively new blood, along with legal pugnacity in the Trump 2.0 era. He has sued or joined lawsuits against President Donald Trump\u2019s administration 66 times since early 2025, claiming wins or favorable rulings of some kind in 37 of those cases and losses in eight. The rest are awaiting rulings.<\/p>\n

Weiser, 58, first won public office as part of the 2018 blue wave that landed Democrats in all of Colorado\u2019s top offices. Before his election, Weiser served in the Clinton and Obama administrations and as the dean of the University of Colorado Law School.<\/p>\n

Weiser launched his campaign in early January 2025, just before Trump was sworn in for a second term, and before any other prominent Democrats tossed their hats in the ring. Affordability, housing shortages, climate change and the youth mental health crisis dominated his out-of-the-gate message.<\/span><\/p>\n

Politicos have long joked that AG stands as much for \u201c<\/span>aspiring governor<\/span>\u201d as attorney general. For Weiser, himself restricted from running for the same post again and seeing fellow Democrats sitting in U.S. House or Senate seats that he might otherwise consider, <\/span>the governor\u2019s office was an obvious next move.<\/span><\/p>\n

At a fall event, Weiser said Colorado was at an inflection point. It must both protect its values from \u201cthe craziness in Washington,\u201d he said, and forge its own path forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is lower trust in our institutions right now (and) less ability to create solutions to get things done,\u201d Weiser said. \u201c\u2026 We have to find a way to meet this moment, create a similar can-do spirit \u2014 where we\u2019re going to try a bunch of different things. Not all of it is going to work, but we\u2019re going to try something.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Weiser\u2019s record as the state\u2019s top attorney quickly swayed former Gov. Roy Romer, who led Colorado from 1987 to 1999, to believe in his higher aspirations. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPhil, I\u2019ve watched for years. He\u2019s a good man,\u201d Romer said, \u201cand I just think he\u2019ll make a great governor. Bennet, he\u2019s my senator \u2014 and I hope he stays my senator.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018This campaign comes down to a choice\u2019<\/h4>\n

That sentiment \u2014 Bennet for Senate, and Weiser for governor \u2014 has been catchy enough among the attorney general\u2019s supporters to make it <\/span>onto bumper stickers<\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis campaign comes down to a choice,\u201d Weiser said during a May debate co-sponsored by The Denver Post. \u201cThe candidate of Colorado or the candidate who is from the Washington, D.C. establishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Weiser, who grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., has spent much of his career bouncing between Colorado and Washington, D.C. <\/span><\/p>\n

After graduating from New York University\u2019s law school in 1994, Weiser worked as a clerk for 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge David Ebel in Denver. He headed back east to clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg later in the decade, and he returned to Colorado in 1999 to join the faculty at the University of Colorado Law School. <\/span><\/p>\n

He moved east again to work in the Obama administration, and he returned for a final time to serve as dean of the CU law school.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Pizza Hut, where sales have lagged with arrival of delivery culture, will be sold for $2.7 billion<\/a><\/p>\n

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A quick look at the Colorado governor candidates running in this month\u2019s Democratic, Republican primaries<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n