Colorado Attorney General Race 2026: Griswold vs Allen From Douglas County

The attorney general is the state's lawyer. In Douglas County, for two years, that has meant the lawyer on the other side of the county government's own lawsuits. This year the office is open, and both people running for it have already been on a Douglas County ballot: one twice statewide, one in June.

What the office does, and why the county keeps meeting it in court

The office's own description: it "represents and defends the legal interests of the people of the State of Colorado," with primary authority over consumer protection and antitrust, criminal appeals, the statewide grand jury, peace officer certification and most natural resource matters, and it is legal counsel to the governor and every state department. It lists "Defending the laws and officers of the State of Colorado from legal challenge" among its priorities, on roughly 480 employees and a nearly $70 million appropriated budget. It does not prosecute street crime here; that is District Attorney George Brauchler's 23rd Judicial District.

The local part is the lawsuits. In April 2024 the Douglas County commissioners, with El Paso County, sued the State of Colorado and Gov. Jared Polis in Denver District Court over HB19-1124 and HB23-1100, the laws that bar local police from arresting or holding people on immigration status and limit what they share with federal immigration authorities. Four more counties joined in May. A Denver judge dismissed the case on December 16, 2024 for lack of standing; the county and Sheriff Darren Weekly appealed only the claims against the 2023 law, and the Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal on April 9, 2026. The attorney general's office declined to comment at filing; defending state laws from challenge is, by its own description, its job.

In January 2026 Brauchler and Sheriff Darren Weekly filed a second suit, in federal court, naming Polis, Weiser and two other state officials over HB21-1060, the 2021 law on certifying U visas for immigrant crime victims. "The state has no business in telling me what I have to attest to under penalty of perjury on a federal form," Brauchler said. Whoever wins in November inherits the U visa case as the state's lawyer.

Michael J. Allen, Republican

Allen, 54, graduated from Arvada West High School in 1991 and spent eight years in the Navy as an aviation electronics technician before the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Kansas law school. He was a consumer protection prosecutor in the Kansas attorney general's office and has served El Paso and Teller counties since 2011. He was elected district attorney for the 4th Judicial District in 2020, unopposed in the general, and re-elected in 2024 with 60.9 percent.

His site leads with public safety: an organized crime unit aimed at fentanyl traffickers, what it calls Colorado's first motor vehicle theft team, the Club Q prosecution, and the state's largest veterans treatment court. The rest is taxpayer dollars (the site says the AG's budget "has grown by roughly 84% over the past seven years"), government corruption, consumer protection and water rights. On the federal government: "The office should not sue the federal government simply because of one person." He told Colorado Politics in September he would review the more than 80 suits Weiser's office has filed against the Trump administration and withdraw from any that "do not serve Coloradans." To CPR, on state laws he might dislike: "We don't get to pick and choose what laws are enforced or not enforced."

His Douglas County support is on his endorsements page: Sheriff Weekly ("I've known Michael Allen for many years and I'm proud to call him a friend"), DA Brauchler ("Get politics out of the AG's office"), and state Sen. Mark Baisley. We have not found a stated position from Allen on the state immigration laws the county is suing over, on his site or in the CPR and Colorado Politics coverage. That is the first question for him at any Douglas County forum.

Jena Griswold, Democrat

Griswold, 41, grew up outside Estes Park, went to Whitman College and Penn Law, practiced international anti-corruption law in Washington, and ran the Colorado governor's D.C. office during the 2013 flood recovery. She was elected secretary of state in 2018 with 52.7 percent, re-elected in 2022 with 55.1, and is term-limited. She won the June Democratic primary with 44.2 percent over Boulder DA Michael Dougherty, David Seligman and Hetal Doshi.

Her platform has four planks. Rights and freedoms, starting with "Stand Up Against Donald Trump" and reproductive access. The "Colorado way of life": corporate accountability, air, water and climate. Justice: the rape kit backlog, "a strong ban on assault weapons," and crime prevention through mental health and recidivism programs. And "Standing Up To ICE," where she promises to "investigate, prosecute, and hold federal officials and ICE accountable if they violate the law" and to "restrict cooperation with a federal government that has made clear its intention to harm our communities." She told CPR that "more litigation will be needed in the future as Trump continues to attack our rights," and that she would defend existing Colorado laws even where she disagrees with them.

The Douglas County touch is direct: her ICE plank is the opposite of what the county's commissioners, sheriff and DA are asking the courts for. Her endorsements page runs to well over a hundred names, including Congressman Jason Crow and 18th Judicial District DA Amy Padden; we found no Douglas County officeholder on it.

"More litigation will be needed in the future as Trump continues to attack our rights." Jena Griswold, to CPR.

What each says about the other

Allen has made the secretary of state's data security his case against her. He told the Denver Gazette in September that an exposure of confidential voter records at her office reached 130,000 voters, with 59 actually accessed: "I have a unique opportunity to be the voice for all 59 of the confidential voters that had their private information accessed." Griswold, on primary night, called Allen "a proud Trump supporter who backed a no exceptions gestational abortion ban." Sabato's Crystal Ball rates the race Safe Democratic.

The county's numbers

Douglas County has voted against Weiser twice, by a lot. In 2018 George Brauchler, then the 18th Judicial District DA, beat him here 103,880 to 65,457, 59.6 to 37.5 percent, while losing the state 45.1 to 51.6. In 2022 John Kellner carried the county 102,683 to 80,862, 54.8 to 43.2, while Weiser won statewide with 54.7. The Republican margin here fell from 38,423 votes to 21,821 in four years.

Griswold has run a little ahead of Weiser in this county both times: 40.0 percent for secretary of state in 2018, 44.4 in 2022. The June primaries add one more number. Douglas County cast 52,334 ballots in the Democratic attorney general primary and 52,154 in the Republican one, near parity, with Griswold taking 46.2 percent of the first and Allen 60.2 percent of the second.

More: every race and measure on your ballot and the November ballot guide. We do not endorse candidates. Campaigns can send corrections to hello@discoverdougco.com.