Telecom Law Expert Weiser Wins Democratic Governor Primary in Colorado
The longtime attorney general won on his strong opposition to President Trump’s policies
WASHINGTON, July 2, 2026 — A telecom expert has become the surprise Democratic candidate for Colorado governor.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser won the state’s Democratic primary for governor on June 30, defeating U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in an upset, according to election results reported by Associated Press.
This likely clears Weiser’s path to the governor’s office. Colorado has elected a Democrat for governor every cycle for the past 20 years.
Both candidates ran on similar platforms, with Weiser touting the more than 65 lawsuits he filed against President Donald Trump during his first and second administrations. Weiser successfully cast Bennet as a Washington insider who had insufficiently opposed Trump during Bennet’s time in the Senate.
Bennet had represented Colorado in the Senate since 2009, after the resignation of former Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar, who became Interior Secretary under President Obama.
Weiser will face the winner of the Republican primary, either state senator Barb Kirkmeyer or pastor and Marine Corps veteran Victor Marx. The GOP primary election was held on July 1 in a race still too close to call.
Weiser and Jonathan Nuechterlein are the co-authors of “Digital Crossroads: Telecommunications Law and Policy in the Internet Age” published in 2005 by MIT Press.
