Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet announced Friday he is running for governor of Colorado, saying the best solutions to the state’s challenges “will not come from the broken politics practiced in Washington.” “They will come from us, and that’s why I’m running for governor,” Bennet says in his campaign launch video. “It’s here we can make health care, housing and child care more affordable. It’s here we can best fight [President Donald] Trump’s corruption while building a better future for our kids and our grandkids.” With his entry into the race, Bennet joins state Attorney General Phil Weiser in the primary to succeed term-limited Gov. Jared Polis, a fellow Democrat and former congressman. This is not Bennet’s first attempt to leave the Senate. He ran for president during the 2020 cycle, dropping out after a poor showing in the New Hampshire primary. Bennet is currently Colorado’s senior senator. He was appointed to the seat in 2009 to succeed Democrat Ken Salazar, who left to become the Interior secretary in the Obama administration. Bennet subsequently won three elections for the seat, most recently in 2022. His current term is not up until 2028. Bennet told The Colorado Sun he plans to hold his Senate seat while campaigning for governor, and, should he win, he plans to remain a senator until he is sworn in and would be able to pick his successor in Washington. “I believe that if I’m elected governor, I will be in the position to pick the replacement,” he told the news outlet. Bennet’s move had been long speculated, with the senator saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press” last month that he was “considering where the best place to have this fight is, and where the best place to reinvent the Democratic Party is. And what I can do … where I can fight best for the people of Colorado who have given me the privilege to represent them in Washington, D.C.” Bennet told NBC News that he agreed with California Gov. Gavin Newsom that their party’s brand had become “really problematic,” but he said Trump’s policy agenda, especially on taxes and health care, would give Democrats an opening again. “The Democratic Party ought to be able to come back under those circumstances, with a pretty good argument about why we could lead better than Donald Trump and why we are able to provide a better set of economic policies, a much better set of health care policies that ensures universal health care,” Bennet said. Before coming to the Senate, Bennet ran the Denver Public Schools under then-Mayor John Hickenlooper, now his Senate colleague who has also served as governor. At the time of his appointment in 2009 by Gov. Bill Ritter, Bennet was a virtual unknown outside of Denver, with no background in elected office. He had worked in the Justice Department during the Clinton administration and was chief of staff to Hickenlooper before becoming school superintendent. While Bennett is the first senator to launch a campaign for governor this cycle, others could follow. Republicans Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Mike Rounds of South Dakota are either considering bids or have been mentioned as potential candidates.
