January 13, 2026 11:38 AM UTC

Democrats Get First Preview of 2026 Primary's Main Event

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• by: Colorado Pols

As Chase Woodruff reports for Colorado Newsline, over the weekend the two principal Democratic candidates running for governor this year, Attorney General Phil Weiser and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, faced off in their first head-to-head forum hosted by the Colorado Young Democrats. And as a preview of the coming slugfest between these two well-qualified candidates with large built-in support bases, this first foray did not disappoint those seeking fireworks:

In their first face-to-face appearance ahead of the June 30 primary for governor, both Democrats promised to stand up to Trump and make Colorado a more affordable place to live…

But the two candidates sparred repeatedly over their differences in approach throughout their 30 minutes onstage together. Weiser criticized Bennet’s votes in favor of several Trump Cabinet nominees and a super PAC supporting Bennet’s campaign that has received donations from billionaires and dark money groups.

“Colorado and America want fighters — people who meet the moment,” said Weiser, who touted the 50 lawsuits his office has filed against the Trump administration since last January. “And I’ve shown as attorney general what that looks like.”

Bennet twice objected to being “lectured” by Weiser about resisting Trump, dismissing the attorney general’s raft of legal actions against the administration — many of which are brought jointly by the attorneys general of numerous Democratic-led states — as “signing on to other people’s lawsuits.”

As the Denver Post’s Nick Coltrain reports, Weiser hammered away at Bennet’s votes for Donald Trump’s nominees like Secretary of Energy Chris “The Fractivist” Wright and Agriculture Secretary Brooke “Let Them Eat Paperwork” Rollins, while Bennet accused Weiser of glomming on to lawsuits filed by other attorneys general:

Weiser castigated Bennet for the latter’s vote to approve U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, citing her later moves to freeze federal aid to Colorado and other states and open up natural areas to resource extraction, such as logging. Bennet said in a recent interview with 9News that he regrets his vote to confirm U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright but stands by his vote for Rollins.

“There’s literally nothing easier in the world than voting against a Trump nominee on the floor of the U.S. Senate,” Bennet said at the forum, before turning his aim at Weiser. “Except for maybe joining someone else’s lawsuit that’s been filed against Donald Trump and saying that you have filed against Donald Trump.”

Bennet likewise said the “easiest decision I could have made” would be to stay in the Senate but that he felt a “moral obligation” to fight the politics of Trump by addressing economic conditions in the state.

Because this Democratic primary is almost certain to select the next governor of Colorado, the drama was higher than the real difference between the two candidates on policy, which was minimal. When there aren’t a lot of big distinctions to make between two candidates, smaller quibbles become magnified in importance. With that said, by all accounts Weiser was effective at defending his lawsuits against the Trump administration, with Bennet conceding that Weiser that joining multi-state actions with other Democratic AGs was a good thing. As an incumbent in an already high office not up for re-election this year, there’s an argument that Bennet has both less to lose and more to prove to Democratic primary voters. Seemingly aware of this, Weiser stuck to a theme we’ve heard before and expect to keep hearing: “Weiser for governor; Bennet for Senate,” which acknowledges the popularity and (again, Weiser’s argument) best role for each candidate.

Though at times a little testy, our read of this first encounter between the two Democratic candidates for governor in 2026 portends a healthy and useful primary season that will leave whoever prevails stronger ahead of whatever fight Republicans manage to put up in the general election. From what we can see so far, that’s shaping up to be the easy part.