ALAMOSA — Phil Weiser, Colorado’s attorney general and 2026 candidate for the Democratic nomination to be governor, pledged to the people of Colorado to block the policy agenda of President Trump in those areas that were bad for the state of Colorado and its people. Six months into the administration, Weiser is proving time and again that he is true to his word. 

As of July 1, Weiser has either led or joined 27 lawsuits with other Democratic attorneys general filed against the Trump administration, many involving funding that has been cut or is being withheld. Three of the suits Weiser led resulted in either partial or full preliminary injunctions, meaning the courts ruled that allocated funds have to continue to be distributed to the states involved until there’s a final ruling in the case.  

Weiser is no stranger to taking on – and winning – big cases for Colorado, including several that were of tangible benefit to this community.  

“We stopped the merger between City Market and Kroger,” he says. If successful, that merger would have had a negative, valley-wide impact on consumers. “When it comes to the opioid crisis, we went after Big Pharma, and I brought $900 million to Colorado. Now, we have recovery houses in this community, a treatment facility and a regional body led by [Alamosa County Commissioner] Lori Laske that is doing important work.” Legal action in that area is ongoing as, on Tuesday, it was announced that Weiser secured for Colorado over $12 million from eight opioid manufacturers. 

Weiser has also taken on cases that may not garner national attention but are of great local importance. “I was the first person to stand up to exporting water and said I would take it to court, if I had to. And I’m not letting go of that,” he says. “I also took action on public safety. When this community was dealing with a DA unlike any I’d ever seen, I got right on it. I protected victims and stepped in to make sure this community is protected.” 

But what is going on now with the executive branch of government is unlike anything seen in recent years.  

Weiser was first elected as attorney general in 2018 and served in that role through the last two years of Donald Trump’s first term in office. In the entirety of those two years, Weiser was involved in a total of eleven lawsuits against the administration, some of which were already filed when he became AG. 

There’s a stark difference between those first two years and Trump’s second term. “We’re only six months into this administration,” he says, “and we’ve already filed 27 times. That’s a lot.”  

Weiser does not view that number as a sign of being overly litigious. Instead, he views it as an indicator of actions taken by the executive branch of the government. 

“Part of what’s been so hard with President Trump,” he says, “is that he’s disregarded norms right and left. If we don’t have legal safeguards that have clear consequences, this administration is going to say, ‘So what if we pardon all sorts of people? So, what if we fire independent commissioners? I’ll deal with the consequences in court’. 

“I’ve been in court way more than I thought I’d have to. That’s part of their plan – to flood the zone.”  

When asked about his approach to these challenges were he elected as Colorado’s next governor, he says, “If there’s a policy principle that you believe in, you fight for it. So, I would be standing strong, standing on the front lines. 

“There are two different philosophies. One is accommodational, where you…make nice. The other is stand your ground and fight. You have to meet strength with strength.  When you are confronted with, in this case, a lawless bully, that is the only response.  

“Some of the members of [President Trump’s] cabinet are doing reckless, dangerous things and all of them need to know we’re not going to tolerate that in Colorado. We’re going to defend the principles we believe in.” 

Weiser feels that his legal background makes him uniquely qualified to serve as the governor of Colorado in these times. That belief is backed up by Bob Ferguson, the governor of the state of Washington and its former attorney general. 

Weiser quotes Ferguson as saying that the most important background for a governor is a governor who understands our Constitution, our legal system and the limits on an executive branch that is running amok and seeking to undermine the rule of law. 

“I’ve shown my ability and willingness to do that. As governor, I will continue to do that.” 

But he also realizes that a leader not only has to fight in the legal court but in the court of public opinion.  

“Part of why the Democratic Party has suffered is that too often people feel that Democrats have been condescending, not concerned with people’s lives, not showing up, not getting results. I’m committed to being fully engaged. To being accessible. To showing up. To really listen and to deliver results.” 

Weiser’s pledge to “show up” and “to listen” was born out in the first part of this week when he came to the San Luis Valley for a few days. Over the course of his visit, he met with Dr. Tandberg at Adams State University, staff at the clinic in La Jara, local media [including the Valley Courier], a group of AmeriCorps volunteers, people at the Rio Grande Basin Roundtable and a coalition of groups to discuss youth mental health, and others. 

Making it clear that he is not interested in any position other than serving as the governor of Colorado, Weiser says, “There is a lot of work we have to keep doing. How do we protect our water? How do we make sure life is affordable? How do we protect our health care? How do we get good paying jobs for our youth? There’s a lot of work I want to do.”