Sen. Bennet says he’s running for Colorado governor partly to oppose Trump

DENVER | U.S. Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet is running for Colorado governor next year, saying in an interview with The Associated Press that he could better oppose President Donald Trump from the governor’s office.

Bennet, whose practical approach to Democratic politics has been punctuated more recently by fiery and viral moments, has spent over 16 years in the U.S. Senate. Now, he joins a growing field of candidates from both parties vying for Colorado’s executive seat.

Colorado’s recent transition to a solidly Democratic state gives Democrats a strong advantage, and Bennet’s stiffest competition will likely come from Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser.

Weiser was already on the attack Thursday, insinuating in a statement that Bennet shouldn’t leave his Senate seat at a time of such political upheaval in the nation’s capital.

Jason Crow for US Senate?

Even as word leaked out this week that Bennet would make his bid for Colorado governor official, talk started about who might vie and eventually run for that Senate seat in 2028, should Bennet win the governor’s race.

Should Bennet leave the Senate for the governor’s office in 2026, it would create a vacancy and appointment by the governor. That’s how Bennet was elevated to the Senate in 2009.

One of the names offered among Colorado Democrats as a possible contender for an appointment, under the Gov. Bennet scenario, is Aurora Democratic Congressperson Jason Crow.

For the last few months, Crow has elevated his already growing statewide and national image, appearing recently on numerous national TV news shows, in a large part as vocal opposition to the Trump administration moves.

“Right now, Congressman Crow is working hard and focused on holding the Trump Administration accountable,” Crow spokesperson Grace Wright said when asked about Crow’s thoughts on going for a Senate seat. “Whether as an Army Ranger who served three combat tours overseas in Iraq or Afghanistan, or as a Member of Congress who flipped a long-held Republican seat in 2018 to win back power for Democrats, Jason has always been someone who runs into the fight.”

Crow was recently profiled by the The New York Times, in a story about the future of the Democratic Party, calling him, “a Democrat who may just hold the key to his party winning back the House in 2026.”

When pressed Thursday, Crow officials said it’s too soon to make commitments beyond the nearly daily political battles in the House.

Crow endorsed Bennet Friday morning.

“Senator Bennet is a proven leader and champion for Colorado who is working to lower costs, fight climate change, and hold President Trump accountable,” Crow said in a statement. “As a former Army Ranger, servant leadership has always guided my work in public service. Michael Bennet has been a fierce fighter for Colorado and is exactly the type of servant leader our state needs right now. I’m proud to endorse Michael Bennet to be Colorado’s next governor.”

Bennet has a political pulpit in Washington

Bennet’s position in Congress has given him a political pulpit in Washington, D.C., as when he questioned Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ confirmation hearings. But in an interview with the AP, Bennet said his decision to join the governor’s race isn’t a retreat from political battles.

“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,” Bennet said. “I have come to believe strongly that the best place to fight that fight is from the state of Colorado.”

Bennet is currently pressing to make permanent expansion of the child tax credit, and in the past has advocated for bipartisan legislation to address immigration and border security. A central part of his campaign is tackling the affordable housing crisis.

In his 16th year in the Senate, Bennet has been frustrated with Congress’ seeming inability to act decisively. He is the latest in a line of Democrats leaving Congress to seek governor’s offices.

As Congress struggled last year to agree on wartime aid for Ukraine, the senator tried nearly everything possible to prod his colleagues forward: legislative maneuvers, bipartisan agreements and sharing personal stories to move the needle, as when he recounted how his mother had fled Poland during the Holocaust.

Bennet has sought a prominent position in the Democratic Party

Bennet has long sought a prominent position in the Democratic Party, including unsuccessfully running in the presidential primary in 2020. Last year, he was among the first Senate Democrats to openly call for then-President Joe Biden to withdraw from the election, and amid recent criticism of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, suggested the party will be looking for new leaders.

“The Democratic Party has to figure out what it is we’re going to offer going forward,” Bennet said. “What we have to offer is a vision not into the past, but into the future, about how we are going to create an economy again in America that, when it grows, it grows for everybody.”

A former superintendent of Denver Public Schools, Bennet plans to focus his campaign not simply on opposing Trump, but on the cost of housing and health care and putting Colorado in a position to lead other states. He said he wants to make it “easier and faster to build housing” by removing red tape.

At a campaign launch event at Denver’s City Park Friday morning, Bennet plans to announce endorsements from a number of Colorado Democrats.

The winning gubernatorial candidate will replace term-limited Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat whose name has been bandied about as a presidential contender, though the governor has demurred from questions about his political future.

Bennet represents a similar wing of the Democratic Party to Polis — fiscally moderate and socially liberal — without the current governor’s quirkiness.

Polis revels in nerd culture, quoting Yoda in speeches to the Legislature, and is more inclined to buck party orthodox than Bennet, a child of a prominent diplomat with a professorial demeanor who delights in asking people what books they’re reading.

A Bennet victory, however, could open up a Senate seat to a new generation. The state’s younger Democratic representatives in the U.S. House, such as Joe Neguse, Brittany Pettersen or Jason Crow, may seek the position in the future.

The Senate’s Democratic Caucus is already anticipating a generational change. Three other Democrats — Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Gary Peters of Michigan and Tina Smith of Minnesota — have already announced they will not seek reelection in 2026.

The Republican candidates in Colorado’s gubernatorial race include two state lawmakers, Sen. Mark Baisley and Rep. Scott Bottoms. They face an uphill battle with the states’ political shifts as GOP contenders have failed to secure statewide offices in recent elections.

Aurora Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Groves reported from Washington. Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.