Colorado Springs District Attorney Michael Allen has become the sole Republican seeking to run for Colorado attorney general.
Allen filed his formal candidacy paperwork last week. He’s a year into his second term at the helm of the Fourth Judicial District, which covers El Paso and Teller counties. He’d served as a prosecutor in the office for nearly a decade before running for district attorney, after previously working as a prosecutor in Kansas, including a stint in that state’s attorney general’s office.
Attempts to contact Allen for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.
In a story Wednesday, he told The Gazette: “We’ve done some really great things over the last five years in the DA’s office and with 21 years in prosecution, I’ve got a lot to offer this state, and I think the state is in desperate need of some change.”
Allen becomes the sole Republican running in the field to succeed Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is term-limited from seeking a third term and is now running for governor in the Democratic primary. The only other Republican AG candidate who had been in the race — the much lesser-known Conner Pennington — sent a letter to the state ending his candidacy on Dec. 30.
The Republican nominee will be chosen in the June primary, ahead of the November general election.
The Democratic field, meanwhile, is more robust. It includes Secretary of State Jena Griswold, Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty, advocate and attorney David Seligman, and former assistant U.S. attorney Hetal Doshi.
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