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Newsletter — Issue 6 — May 6, 2026
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This newsletter has been published by Engage Colorado.
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Michael Dougherty — and Not Jena Griswold! — in the Colorado AG Democratic Primary
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I created Engage Colorado to make the case that Colorado deserves pragmatic, balanced, and competent leadership that puts the long-term interests of all Coloradans ahead of the divisive extremes of either national party. If you share that view, please do not vote for Jena Griswold in the Colorado Attorney General Democratic primary on June 30. She lacks the credentials, the judgment, and the temperament the office requires — and electing her would send a chilling signal to every founder, investor, and operator weighing whether to build their next chapter in Colorado. Jena, if elected Attorney General, would be a major setback to Colorado reestablishing itself as a leader in opportunity, innovation, and pragmatic governance.
Recent polling shows Griswold ahead — but with 42% of Democratic primary voters still undecided. Her lead is name recognition, not earned support. The case against her has not yet been made to most voters.
Michael Dougherty is the candidate Colorado deserves at the top of its legal apparatus. He spent twelve-plus years as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's office, where he led the Sex Crimes Unit. He then served in leadership roles at the Gilpin and Jefferson County DA's offices, then as Colorado's Deputy Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Section, and — since 2018 — as Boulder County District Attorney. He led the prosecution of the King Soopers shooter in 2021, coordinated the public-safety response to the Marshall Fire, and launched Colorado's first human trafficking unit. More than ninety Colorado officials and community leaders have endorsed him. He is a centrist by record, a prosecutor by training, and a leader whose judgment has been tested under genuine pressure.
Visit michaelforag.com →
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Why Not Jena Griswold
The Attorney General's office is the state's top prosecutorial role. Despite her claims to the contrary, Jena has no record of having prosecuted anyone. Moreover, Jena has no meaningful business experience. She is a career politician who has advanced as a far-left extremist.
The credentials gap — and the "small business" claim. Two years as a junior associate at Paul Hastings in Washington, D.C., is Jena's only substantive private-sector legal experience. Her campaign biography also asserts she "ran a small business." The Colorado Secretary of State's business filings identify the entity as Griswold Strategies, LLC — a single-person LLC registered to her Louisville home, formed in 2016 and voluntarily dissolved in March 2019, three months after she became Secretary of State. No employees. No managers. No operating reports. It is a personal consulting vehicle, framed on her campaign biography as small-business experience.
Toxic workplace. A former senior aide has gone on the record describing bullying, retaliation, and the use of NDAs to silence staff. A former director called her "the single most insecure person I've ever encountered." Erratic leadership, blurred lines between political ambition and public duty, a culture that discouraged dissent.
Campaign finance complaint. In January 2025, the Public Trust Institute filed a complaint alleging she had been expending funds and operating a website for a gubernatorial campaign without registering a committee or filing a candidate affidavit.
The BIOS password leak — under her watch. In October 2024, it became public that critical BIOS passwords for Colorado's voting equipment had been posted on a state website for several months. The Colorado Libertarian Party sued for negligence.
The Trump ballot case and the Supreme Court fabrication. Griswold campaigns on protecting our democracy — yet she led the charge to keep the Republican nominee for president off the ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed her position 9–0, unanimously — including all three liberal justices. She has since publicly claimed she "argued the case at the Supreme Court." She did not. She was the named respondent in Trump v. Anderson by virtue of office, and independent legal experts have called the claim inaccurate.
Impeachment articles. In April 2024, Republicans introduced articles of impeachment in the Colorado House citing her conduct around Trump v. Anderson and her incorrect public claim that Trump was not on the Colorado primary ballot.
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The signal she would send to capital and companies — and why it matters most.
An AG sets the posture of state government toward the private sector — and Griswold's posture is on the record. Her campaign launched on a platform of "holding big corporations accountable," "combating special interests," and "defending Coloradans from President Trump's policies." This is the language of an adversarial AG — one who treats business and the federal government as enemies, and the office of Attorney General as a national political platform.
Two concrete consequences for Colorado's innovation economy:
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She would inherit the Colorado AI Act (SB24-205). The Colorado AI Act assigns the Attorney General both rule-making power and exclusive enforcement authority. If Griswold becomes AG, she is likely to use her powers under SB24-205 to accelerate the exodus of tech investment, capital, and talent from Colorado. She will almost certainly turn the xAI v. Weiser lawsuit into a major battle with the federal government. The Honest Assessment documented how SB24-205 has already cost Colorado companies, capital, and reputation. An AG Griswold would deepen that damage, not unwind it.
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The signal alone would do damage. The Honest Assessment established that Colorado's decline as a destination for tech investment is driven not only by specific statutes, but by the signal the state sends about its posture toward business. Griswold's rhetoric is precisely that signal — and electing her would deepen it. Investors who already say "don't show me any company in Colorado" (Seth Levine, Engage Colorado, Issue 4) would find their concerns confirmed.
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The fight Engage Colorado has been chronicling — the Open Letter, the Honest Assessment, the xAI lawsuit, the ask of Phil Weiser, the CO-8 race — does not end at the legislature. It runs through the Attorney General's office. Whoever holds that office for the next four years will determine whether Colorado course-corrects or continues drifting.
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Griswold aligns with the partisan extreme of her party — and the substance of her record does not justify the leap to chief legal officer of Colorado.
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Why Michael Dougherty
I sat with Michael on The Bear Roars podcast for a candid conversation about prosecuting serious crime, leading through public crises, and what the Attorney General's job actually demands. The depth of his preparation for this office — and the temperament behind it — is not something a campaign biography can convey. The conversation can.
What you will hear is a person who chose this work for reasons unrelated to political ambition. He is in this race for the right reasons, and he has already done the hardest version of the job at the county level. The temperament that made him the right person for the King Soopers prosecution is the temperament Colorado needs at the top of its legal apparatus.
Michael's case rests on something rare in Colorado politics today: support that crosses partisan lines from the people who do the work. More than half of Colorado's elected District Attorneys — Democrats and Republicans alike — have endorsed him for Attorney General, representing nearly two-thirds of the state's counties. Both Bob Troyer, the Obama-appointed U.S. Attorney for Colorado, and Troy Eid, the Bush-appointed U.S. Attorney for Colorado, are backing him. The Colorado Politics "Trail Mix" column put it directly: "Prosecutors from both parties make the case for Democrat Michael Dougherty."
Michael's record as a prosecutor reflects what a serious prosecutor looks like when he is also serious about getting it right. As Deputy Attorney General, he led the Colorado DNA Justice Review Project — which resulted in the exoneration of an innocent man wrongly convicted of murder. As Boulder DA, he co-chaired Colorado's Sentencing Reform Task Force, launched Colorado's first Mental Health Diversion Program, and created a Conviction Integrity Unit. His office was selected as one of three nationwide for the Vera Institute's Reshaping Prosecution program. This is the record of a leader who understands what justice actually requires — convictions when the evidence is there, and the discipline to look back when it isn't.
I encourage you to listen to the conversation and judge for yourself.
Listen → The Bear Roars with Michael Dougherty
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What You Can Do
The race is winnable. The June 30 primary is six weeks away. Centrist engagement now is what closes the gap.
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Vote on June 30
Colorado's open primary system lets unaffiliated voters cast a Democratic ballot. If you have not already chosen a primary ballot for June, this is the one to use.
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Tell your network
Every Coloradan who relies on competent legal administration — every business, every employee, every consumer, every voter — should be paying attention to this race.
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What Engage Colorado Stands For
Engage Colorado stands for what is best for all Coloradans over the long term — a Colorado that leads the country in opportunity and innovation, governed from the center rather than the divisive extremes of either national party. That mission includes weighing in on consequential elections and policy decisions. The AG primary is one of those decisions. The Governor's primary is next.
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