Jena Griswold, staunch opponent of Trump’s anti-voting crusade, wins Democratic nomination for Colorado attorney general

By Jen Rice

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold speaks outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Feb. 8, 2024 after oral arguments in Trump v. Anderson, a case on whether or not former President Trump can remain on the ballot in Colorado for the 2024 presidential election. (Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a staunch opponent of President Donald Trump’s anti-voting agenda, won the race Tuesday to become the Democratic nominee for state attorney general. 

If Griswold is elected, Colorado’s next chief law enforcement officer will be an official who has vocally opposed the Trump administration’s unprecedented assault on elections, including the threat of deploying immigration agents at the polls, Trump’s desire to seize control of voting and the FBI’s unprecedented seizure of election records in Georgia.

Griswold would also bring to the table experience defending the state’s voter rolls against purges and federal data requests. Last year, she rejected a demand from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to share private, unredacted voter data with the federal government.  

“The DOJ can take a hike; it does not have a legal right to the information,” Griswold said in December. “Colorado will not help Donald Trump undermine our elections and hurt the American people.”

Last week, Griswold celebrated a major legal win when a federal judge blocked a Trump order that would have let the United States Postal Service (USPS) refuse to deliver mail ballots. Colorado was one of the plaintiffs in the case.

“Trump will not be able to use the Postal Service to control which voters receive a mail ballot, and cannot use the DOJ to intimidate election officials into following his unlawful order,” Griswold said. “The Constitution is clear: States run elections, not Trump.”

Griswold also publicly urged Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) to resist Trump’s demand to release election denier Tina Peters from prison, then blasted the governor when he caved. Peters had been convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison for her role in a 2021 voting system breach motivated by election conspiracy theories. 

“The Governor’s grant of clemency to Tina Peters is an affront to our democracy, the people of Colorado, and election officials across the country,” Griswold said in a statement to Democracy Docket. “It sends a dangerous message about accountability for those who would attack elections. Peters’ release also will embolden the election denial movement; since the grant of clemency, she has continued to spread election falsehoods and conspiracies.”

Griswold was first elected secretary of state in 2018 and went on to serve as chair of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State.