The current governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, is term-limited.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) announced on April 11 that he will run for governor of Colorado.
“Like most of you, my parents raised me to have the highest ideals for America,” Bennet said in his announcement video.
Bennet said in the video that his mother, Susanne, survived the Holocaust, while his father, Douglas, served in diplomatic roles in the Carter and Clinton administrations.
“They taught me to believe we all have a responsibility to each other and the next generation. It’s the same lessons Susan and I have tried to pass on to our daughters,” he said, referring to his wife.
Bennet touted his time in the Senate working on issues such as preserving public lands, expanding the child tax credit, and limiting prescription drug costs.
The senator criticized the cost of housing, groceries, child care, and health care in Colorado.
“Our best solutions to these challenges will not come from the broken politics practiced in Washington,” he said. “They will come from us. And that’s why I’m running for governor.”
Bennet has been in the Senate since 2009 and previously was superintendent of Denver Public Schools. He was the chairman of the Senate Democrats’ main fundraising and campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, between 2013 and 2015. He unsuccessfully ran to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for president in 2020.
The current governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, is term-limited. Were Bennet—whose term does not expire until Jan. 3, 2029—to win, it would create a vacant Senate seat that Polis would have to fill.
“There is not a person in the Senate who’s more worried about what Trump is doing to our democracy and our economy than I am,” he said. “I have come to believe strongly that the best place to fight that fight is from the state of Colorado.”
Bennet faces Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser in the primary. He entered the gubernatorial race in January.
“While Senator Bennet has been in Washington, I have served Colorado as the People’s Lawyer, working directly with people in every county of every background to solve difficult challenges. That’s just what a governor does. I am prepared for this job and will continue to build a better future for us all,” Weiser said in an April 10 statement.
“Two years ago, the voters sent Senator Bennet back to DC because we believed he would be there for us no matter what – especially in historically dangerous moments like the one we currently face. Now more than ever, we need experienced Democratic leaders in Washington.”
There are a handful of Republicans running in the race, including state Sen. Mark Baisley and state Rep. Scott Bottoms.