Attorney David Seligman joins 2026 race for Colorado attorney general

Worker and consumer rights attorney David Seligman, executive director of the Denver-based progressive legal nonprofit Towards Justice, will join the 2026 race to be Colorado’s next attorney general. 

Seligman, a Democrat, told Newsline Colorado voters need to know that he is “new to politics, but I’m not new to this work.” He said he’s spent his entire career “fighting for regular people” in Colorado and across the country, and the role of attorney general is an extension of that work. 

“I’ve seen how there are two sets of laws in this country — one for the rich and powerful and one for everybody else, and right now those problems are more acute than ever,” Seligman told Newsline. “We’re seeing the Trump administration and his billionaire backers dismantle the parts of the federal government that are really essential to protecting workers and consumers and small businesses and the environment, and now more than ever we need state AGs that not only are going to fill in the void left by the federal government, but that are going to fight for a better world.”

Towards Justice represented a Colorado grocery store worker in a lawsuit against Kroger and Albertsons alleging the companies illegally colluded by entering into a “no poach” agreement amid a 2022 strike against King Soopers. Seligman’s organization also represented UCHealth patients ​who alleged a third-party collections vendor’s lawsuits against patients of the hospital violated state law.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is term-limited and announced he will run for Colorado governor in 2026. The Democrat joined a growing number of legal challenges to Trump administration policies. 

Seligman said Weiser has done “a terrific job of fighting back against the abuses of the Trump administration,” but he thinks “we need to double down even more” to protect the rights of Colorado consumers and workers. He said the office of attorney general “can be put back on the side of regular people” and “make people’s lives better” while also challenging actions from the Trump administration.  

Early supporters for Seligman’s campaign include some of the Colorado Legislature’s most progressive members. Supporters include Colorado state Sens. Julie Gonzales and Mike Weissman, House Assistant Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon, House Majority Whip Elizabeth Valesco, Denver City Council member Sarah Parady, and state Reps. Meg Froelich, Lorena Garcia, Javier Mabrey, Emily Sirota, Steven Woodrow and Yara Zokaie, according to the campaign. 

“Our campaign will be based on renewed hope that we can and will hold powerful, corrupt interests accountable and make them play by the same rules as the rest of us, so that regular people have a fighting chance to achieve the American dream we all seek,” Seligman said in a statement announcing his run.

The attorney general heads the Colorado Department of Law and oversees enforcement of consumer protection and antitrust laws, defends state laws in legal challenges, and advocates for law enforcement and community safety.  

Other Democrats running for attorney general include Secretary of State Jena Griswold, Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty and former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives Crisanta Duran. Conner Pennington is the only Republican candidate to file paperwork in the race so far.

Primary elections to decide party nominees for state offices will be held in June 2026.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 12:20 p.m., June 5, 2025, to correct the spelling of Conner Pennington’s name.