February 25, 2025 11:25 AM UTC

Michael Dougherty Announces Campaign for Attorney General

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• by: Colorado Pols

Pieces are starting to fall into place as candidates make decisions about the 2026 election, in which all major four statewide offices (Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer) are open seats waiting to be filled by someone new.

One of those pieces settled into position today with the announcement that Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty will run for Attorney General in hopes of succeeding term-limited incumbent Phil Weiser. As Jesse Paul reports for The Colorado Sun:

Dougherty, a Democrat, ran for attorney general in 2018, but exited the race before the primary to pursue appointment by then-Gov. John Hickenlooper as Boulder County’s top prosecutor. He got the job and was then elected in November 2018 to a full, four-year term in the role and reelected in 2022…

…As Boulder’s district attorney, Dougherty led the successful prosecution of the man accused in the mass shooting at a King Soopers store in 2021. His office also helmed the probe into the cause of the Marshall fire.

Dougherty also previously served as head of the criminal division at the Colorado Attorney General’s Office under then-Attorney General John Suthers, a Republican, and held a leadership position in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

In his campaign launch video, Dougherty highlights his background and focuses on the importance of an Attorney General willing to stand up to President Trump and Prime Minister Elon Musk. We’d expect every Democratic candidate for 2026 in Colorado to focus their messaging in a similar direction.

While the 2026 General Election is still 21 months away, none of the four major statewide constitutional offices will likely be competitive for Republicans given their recent struggles — remember, no Republican candidate came within single digits of their Democratic opponent in 2022. The importance of winning a Democratic Primary thus changes the timeline for many candidates on the left; by this time next year, campaigns will be in full swing working on gathering support from Democratic caucus-goers.

Dougherty would have been a strong candidate for Attorney General in 2018, but shifting his sights to Boulder DA made the Democratic Primary that year a two-candidate race between Weiser and former state lawmaker Joe Salazar. With that experience under his belt and eight years as the Boulder District Attorney on his resume, Dougherty enters the 2026 campaign as the prohibitive favorite.

Some of the more well-known prosecutors rumored to have interested in AG, such as Jefferson County DA Alexis King and Adams County DA Brian Mason, are unlikely to challenge Dougherty given that they were looking to fill a similar lane. Secretary of State Jena Griswold has been considering a campaign for either Governor or Attorney General, though Dougherty’s announcement complicates her timing on a decision.