Hetal Doshi, a lawyer of 20 years, former federal litigator and daughter of immigrants, said she has watched the Trump administration “take a wrecking ball” to institutions she helped build in her time working on the federal level. She’s seeking the role of Colorado attorney general in the hopes of rebuilding what she feels has been lost.
“Watching this administration redefine what it means to be an American and a patriot in ways that excludes me, my family and my decade of service to our country and our flag … that motivated me,” she told The Durango Herald last week during a campaign stop. “I think that this is a good and great nation, and it takes all of us to serve and step up into the void and into the breach in moments of crisis, and I think that’s where we are now.”
If elected in November, Doshi, a Democratic candidate who began her legal career in the private sector before joining the Department of Justice in 2014, would replace Phil Weiser, who has served in the role since 2019.
Doshi was part of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task force under the Obama-Biden administration and worked as the senior political appointee overseeing all civil and criminal antitrust litigation nationwide under the Biden-Harris administration before resigning in January 2025.
Doshi, a first-generation American whose parents were both born in India, said the Trump administration is redefining patriotism and American identity in a way that excludes her, her family and those seeking the American Dream. If elected, Doshi would be the first South Asian attorney general in Colorado’s history.
The Trump administration’s strict crackdown on illegal immigration, nationwide and in Durango, has been a point of contention for some voters.
Durango has seen an increase in enforcement efforts in recent months, with several residents – including at least one family with an active asylum case – having been detained by ICE officials last year and the start of 2026.
Though keeping the American Dream intact for immigrants and “defending Colorado and protecting rule of law against federal government overreach” is one of Doshi’s primary focuses, it’s not the only initiative on the docket in her bid for Colorado’s top prosecutor.
Doshi also intends to place a “laser focus” on ensuring livable economic conditions for working families, ensuring bodily autonomy and choice in family decisions for Coloradans, and protecting the environment, she said.
If elected, Doshi intends to stand up for rural communities like Durango, she said – especially when it comes to immigration enforcement, consumer rights, water rights and infrastructure for ranchers, farmers and tribal communities, and issues of anti-trust.
“To assume that these types of issues uniquely impact urban areas really misses the point,” she said. “As the next attorney general, particularly given my own personal connection to this issue, Coloradans should expect for me to be a fighter and a champion for the idea that the federal government is not above the law, and federal law enforcement agents – federal law enforcement agents that I spent a long time working with as a former federal prosecutor – are held to account under state and federal law.”
Doshi said her federal experience and background sets her apart from her competitors.
“The one thing that I uniquely bring is that in the field of four candidates for attorney general, I am the only former federal prosecutor,” she said. “I have unique expertise and experience in understanding the limits of federal power.”
Doshi is up against Democratic candidates David Seligman, executive director of consumer and workers rights advocacy law firm Towards Justice, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty and Colorado’s Secretary of State Jena Griswold.
Republican candidates include Michael Allen and Conner Pennington, one of which will go up against the Democratic winner of the June 30 primary.
Doshi said her experience leading hundreds of lawyers and finding success in high-profile cases against large entities like Google, Apple and Ticketmaster uniquely prepares her for leading Colorado’s AG office, which touts more than 700 employees.
Though she is running as a Democratic candidate, bipartisan cooperation and accountability is important, she said.
“Something I say a lot on the campaign trail is that I don't think this is a moment where the battle is between the left and the right,” she said. “I think it’s a battle between those who have power and those who don’t.”
Griswold received the most support at Saturday’s Democratic Party assembly in Pueblo, taking 41.8% of the delegate vote, with Seligman following with 40.6%.
Dougherty took only 18% support but can still qualify via voter-signed petitions.
Doshi, who intends to qualify via voter-signed petitions, did not participate in Saturday’s assembly.
Though winning the party assembly reflects party activist support, it is not indicative of the positions of the entire voting population and is not a guarantee of victory in the primary election.
As of late March, Doshi had turned in more than 12,000 voter signatures from across the state to qualify for the ballot, according to her campaign team.
According to recent campaign finance reports, Griswold was holding the most fundraising dollars of the Democratic candidates as of Friday with $1.4 million raised and an additional $1 million in cash on hand, and Doshi was in second place with $772,000 in fundraising and just over $500,000 on hand.
epond@durangoherald.com
