Attorney General Phil Weiser announces governor running to succeed Polis

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced that he would be the state’s next governor Thursday, becoming the first Democrat to enter what is likely to be a crowded 2026 primary field.

“There is critical work ahead. I want to help do that — I want to help Colorado, I believe in Colorado, I want to serve the people of Colorado,” Weiser told The Denver Post shortly after announcing his candidacy in a morning news release.

Weiser’s early jump allows him to start raising money immediately, even though the June 2026 Democratic primary is still nearly 18 months away. It also gives him an early chance for voters “to get to know me,” he said — before several other candidates enter the fray.

Weiser, 56, said his campaign will focus on affordability and housing — two issues that are consistently top of mind for Colorado voters — as well as limiting the impact of climate change on the environment and addressing the mental health crisis for youth, which he referenced repeatedly during interview.

His announcement serves as a starting gun for what will be a sprawling 2026 campaign season, ending years of shadow campaigning quietly waged by potential successors to Gov. Jared Polis: Weiser has long been expected to pursue the governor’s mansion for Polis , as did Secretary of State Jena Griswold, U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse and Ken Salazar, a longtime Colorado political figure who is now the U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

Several lesser-known Republican, unaffiliated and third-party candidates have filed to drivebut Weiser is the first major candidate of any affiliation to declare his campaign.

A recent early poll of four potential 2026 Democratic gubernatorial candidates showed Weiser last in terms of support from likely primary voters, behind Neguse, Griswold and Salazar, although the highest share of respondents — 37% — said they were undecided. More voters said they had never heard of Neguse or Weiser than the other candidates.

Of the differences between Weiser and his potential opponents, he said he was proud of his record and said he would run a positive campaign.

Weiser is entering the final two years of his second term as Colorado attorney general. He previously worked as dean at the University of Colorado Law School and as a policy advisor in the Obama administration. He first moved to the state to clerk for a federal judge after graduating from New York University’s law school. He also clerked for two US Supreme Court Justices, Byron R. White and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

According to his websiteWeiser’s campaign is led by former Gov. Roy Romer and co-chaired by former U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter and Fort Collins Mayor Jeni Arndt. His supporters also include several current and former elected officials, including former Speaker of the House Terrance Carroll and former Senate President Brandon Shaffer.

Weiser, whose mother was born in a Nazi concentration camp the day before it was liberated in 1945, has said he came to Colorado because he was looking for offices in states that had a baseball team and a Jewish community.

His six years as attorney general have seen his office oversee the distribution of tens of millions of dollars in settlement payments from companies involved in the opioid crisis. He has also joined several prominent national lawsuits and legal efforts, including to block the merger of the Kroger and Albertsons grocery chains, and he has supported consumer protection lawsuits against companies including Wyatts Towing and, more recently, controversial housing companies such as RealPage and CBZ management.

Weiser said Thursday that he would support the type of land reform that Polis has pursued in recent years, which seeks to increase development along the Front Range to increase housing supply. He would also continue his work on junk fees and alleged price-fixing in the rental market.