The 2018 Colorado Attorney General election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next attorney general of Colorado.
Incumbent Republican Cynthia Coffman did not run for re-election, instead opting to run for governor. The Democratic Party nominated Phil Weiser, who subsequently defeated Republican nominee George Brauchler in the general election.
Weiser's victory marked the first time a Democrat became attorney general since Ken Salazar in 2005 and the second time a Democrat was elected to the office since 1983.
Republican primary Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler won the Republican nomination unopposed.
Democratic primary The Democratic primary was contested between Phil Weiser, former dean of the University of Colorado Law School, and Joe Salazar, a state representative. Prior to the primary, outgoing Governor John Hickenlooper took the "extraordinary move" of publicly endorsing Weiser. Salazar's campaign had received support from democratic socialist U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and left-wing organization Our Revolution.
Convention results Weiser and Salazar qualified for the Democratic primary ballot. Attorney Amy Padden did not qualify.
CandidateTotal raw votesPercentage of vote won (%)Phil Weiser1,80552.87Joe Salazar1,24936.59Amy Padden36010.55
Primary results Weiser narrowly defeated Salazar by a 50.43% to 49.57% margin.
Libertarian nomination Attorney William F. Robinson, III was the Libertarian nominee.
General election
Predictions SourceRankingAs ofGoverningOctober 26, 2018
Results Weiser won the general election by a 6.5% margin of victory.
Results by congressional district Weiser won four of seven congressional districts. District Brauchler Weiser Representative 26% 72%Diana DeGette 37% 60%Joe Neguse 52% 45%Scott Tipton 60% 37%Ken Buck 59% 37%Doug Lamborn 45% 52%Jason Crow 41% 55%Ed Perlmutter
References