Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announces run for attorney general
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced her campaign for attorney general on Monday. Current Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced in January that he's running for governor.
"I am running for Attorney General because Colorado needs a strong, proven leader in this critical moment," said Griswold in a statement. "I'll stand up to Donald Trump to protect our rights and freedoms. I'll fight for working- and middle-class Coloradans, hold big corporations accountable, and safeguard our land, air, and water."
Griswold was elected as Secretary of State in 2018, the first Democrat to be elected to the position in Colorado since 1963. Bernie Buescher, a Democrat, was appointed by former Gov. Bill Ritter in 2009 to fill the vacancy left by Mike Coffman, the current mayor of Aurora. Griswold is also the first Democratic woman to ever hold the position in Colorado. She was reelected in 2022.
She's been the center of national attention amid questions last year surrounding President Trump's eligibility to run in the 2024 election. Griswold said at the time that she "will follow the court decision that is in place at the time of ballot certification."
She was also the subject of inquiries surrounding a security breach of Colorado's election equipment leading up to that election.
In 2021, she filed a lawsuit against former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters over election equipment password leaks at the time.
Peters was later found guilty of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty, and failing to comply with Colorado's Secretary of State in a related criminal case. She was acquitted of an additional count of criminal impersonation, a charge of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, and an identity theft charge.
Originally born in Ohio, Griswold, a Democrat, moved to Estes Park with her family when she was 10. She grew up there before going to college at Whitman College in Washington and law school at the University of Pennsylvania. She worked on former President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign as a voting rights attorney and, in 2013, former Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed her liaison to the federal government.
