Secretary of State Jena Griswold fought off three other lawyers to win the Democratic primary for Colorado attorney general Tuesday night.
The Associated Press called the race for Griswold at 7:23 p.m., when she was leading by 26 percentage points.
Her closest contender was Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, who had 20% of the vote compared to Griswold’s 46% when the race was called. The other two candidates, who were running in their first elections, were workers’ rights attorney David Seligman, and Hetal Doshi, a former federal prosecutor who most recently served in the Biden administration.
Seligman had 18% of the vote and Doshi had 16% when the race was called.
Griswold, surrounded by supporters at a watch party at a Denver bar, said she was grateful that the crowd stayed at the party long enough for the race to be called, joking that they had to wait “an entire 18 minutes.”
“I am running for Attorney General to stand up to (President Donald) Trump’s attacks on our rights and our state, and to protect Coloradans from his hostile administration,” she said in an emailed statement after her win. “I will protect our environment and reproductive rights, and continue to defend our gold standard elections. Together, we will write a new chapter for Colorado, one where justice serves the people, not the powerful.”
Griswold will face the winner of the Republican primary, El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen, who defeated David Willson, a lawyer who represented former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters in an unsuccessful recount lawsuit.
The winner in November will replace Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is term-limited and won the Democratic primary for governor Tuesday night in a heated race against U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.
The attorney general manages an office of more than 650 employees, with a wide-ranging mandate to prosecute criminal cases, protect consumers and the environment, enforce antitrust and housing laws, and represent state agencies in court.
Griswold, 41, had the advantage of statewide name recognition. She has served as Colorado secretary of state since 2018, when, at age 36, she was the youngest person ever elected to the office.
She won the job during the “blue wave” of 2018, saying she was motivated to run by President Donald Trump’s 2016 win over Hillary Clinton. While serving as the highest-ranking woman in state office, Griswold did not hold back on criticizing the president and was quickly invited on CNN, MSNBC, “Good Morning America” and “The Daily Show” to discuss mail-in voting. She also gained recognition, for better or worse, baiting Trump on Twitter, now called X.
Before becoming secretary of state, Griswold was former Gov. John Hickenlooper’s liaison to Washington, D.C., and she worked as a voting rights attorney for President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign. She lives in Louisville.
Griswold, who is term-limited as secretary of state, was criticized by the other candidates for her lack of experience in the courtroom and for skipping some candidate forums during the campaign. Her experience is in public policy rather than litigating in a courtroom, though she has an Ivy League law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
She worked as a voter protection attorney before becoming secretary of state.
Griswold, who graduated from Estes Park High School, oversaw 11 statewide elections as secretary of state.
In a previous interview with The Sun, Griswold vowed to “staff up an office on workers’ rights to protect Coloradans from wage theft and illegal behavior” and to protect women’s access to reproductive healthcare, including birth control, IVF and abortions. On public safety, she said she would help pass a stronger ban on assault weapons and work to fix the rape kit backlog.
Colorado Public Radio reporter Allison Sherry contributed to this report.
