Colorado's race for governor was always going to matter. What few expected was how completely it would come to revolve around a president 1,600 miles away.
An open seat in a blue-leaning state
Gov. Jared Polis is term-limited, leaving an open seat in a state that has not elected a Republican governor since 2002. That makes the Democratic primary — set for Tuesday, June 30 — effectively decisive. The two contenders are Attorney General Phil Weiser and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, and on the substance of governing Colorado they agree on most things, The Colorado Sun found after comparing them across more than a dozen major issues.
What divides them, each insists, is who has done — and can do — the most to push back on Donald Trump.
Lawsuits versus the Senate floor
Weiser has built his campaign around his litigation record, saying he has filed or joined dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration since 2025 on issues from immigration to federal funding. His message: he has been on the legal front lines from the start.
Bennet counters that a governor wields a different kind of power than a senator and casts himself as the candidate able to build the broad coalitions needed to shield Coloradans from federal cuts. But he carries a vulnerability Weiser has pressed hard — votes to confirm several of Trump's nominees — and the two clashed over exactly that in a June primary debate, each questioning whether the other had drawn a firm enough line.
A tightening race
A late poll suggested the contest had moved. A Public Policy Polling survey released June 25 put Weiser ahead of Bennet 45 percent to 36 percent, with 19 percent undecided — a notable shift from earlier surveys, the Colorado Sun reported. The large undecided bloc leaves the outcome unsettled heading into Tuesday, when ballots are due.
Bennet has drawn endorsements from several prominent Colorado Democrats, while Weiser won the top ballot line at the party's spring assembly — different signals of strength heading into a close finish.
What's really being decided
There are real policy distinctions beneath the Trump-centric framing — over health coverage, emissions pricing and water, among others. But in a primary held against the backdrop of sweeping federal cuts and an administration testing the limits of executive power, Colorado Democrats appear to be answering a blunter question first: who do you trust to fight back? Whoever wins Tuesday will be heavily favored in November, and very likely the state's next governor.
