2018 Colorado Attorney General election

2018 Colorado Attorney General election

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Nominee Phil Weiser George Brauchler Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,285,464 1,124,757 Percentage 51.6% 45.1%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Weiser:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Brauchler:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Tie:     40–50%     No votes

Attorney General before election Cynthia Coffman Republican Elected Attorney General Phil Weiser Democratic

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. ^[1] The Democratic Party nominated Phil Weiser, who subsequently defeated Republican nominee George Brauchler in the general election. ^[2] Weiser's victory marked the first time a Democrat became attorney general since Ken Salazar (in office from 1999 to 2005) and the second time a Democrat won the office since the 1970s. ^[3]

Republican primary

Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler won the Republican nomination unopposed. ^{[4] [5]}

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George Brauchler	414,532	100.0
Total votes			414,532	100.0

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 John Hickenlooper took the "extraordinary move" of publicly endorsing Weiser. ^[6] Salazar's campaign had received support from democratic socialist U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and left-wing organization Our Revolution. ^{[7] [8]}

Convention results

Weiser and Salazar qualified for the Democratic primary ballot. ^[9] Attorney Amy Padden did not qualify. ^[10]

Candidate	Total raw votes	Percentage of vote won (%)
Phil Weiser	1,805	52.87
Joe Salazar	1,249	36.59
Amy Padden	360	10.55

Primary results

Weiser narrowly defeated Salazar by a 50.43% to 49.57% margin. ^[11]

Democratic primary results by county

  Weiser

•   50–60%

  Salazar

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

Tie

•   50%

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Phil Weiser	298,048	50.43
	Democratic	Joe Salazar	292,912	49.57
Total votes			590,960	100.0

Libertarian nomination

Attorney William F. Robinson, III was the Libertarian nominee. ^[12]

General election

Supporters of Weiser at a rally

Weiser won the general election by a 6.5% margin of victory. ^{[13] [14]}

Colorado Attorney General election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Phil Weiser	1,285,464	51.6
	Republican	George Brauchler	1,124,757	45.1
	Libertarian	William F. Robinson, III	81,733	3.3
Total votes			2,491,954	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

Results by congressional district

Weiser won four of seven congressional districts. ^[15]

District	Brauchler	Weiser	Representative
1st	26%	72%	Diana DeGette
2nd	37%	60%	Joe Neguse
3rd	52%	45%	Scott Tipton
4th	60%	37%	Ken Buck
5th	59%	37%	Doug Lamborn
6th	45%	52%	Jason Crow
7th	41%	55%	Ed Perlmutter

References

1. Paul, Jesse; Frank, John (November 8, 2017). "Cynthia Coffman is running for governor of Colorado, adding to long list of GOP primary candidates". The Denver Post. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
2. "Colorado Attorney General election, 2018". Ballotpedia. Archived from the original on May 23, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
3. "Colorado Attorney General: Weiser To Be The Next AG After Brauchler Concedes". Colorado Public Radio. November 7, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
4. "George Brauchler". Ballotpedia. Archived from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
5. "CO Attorney General – R Primary". Our Campaigns. July 24, 2018. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
6. "Hickenlooper, in extraordinary move, endorses Phil Weiser in Democratic primary for Colorado attorney general". The Denver Post. June 18, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
7. Luning, Ernest. "Bernie Sanders endorses Joe Salazar in Democratic attorney general's race". Colorado Politics. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
8. Luning, Ernest. "Democrat Joe Salazar endorsed by Bernie Sanders-aligned Our Revolution group for attorney general". Colorado Politics. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
9. "Colorado Democratic Assembly Results". Colorado Pols. April 13, 2018. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
10. "CO Attorney General – D State Assembly". Our Campaigns. December 1, 2018. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
11. "CO Attorney General – D Primary". Our Campaigns. July 24, 2018. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
12. "Robinson, III, William F." Our Campaigns. September 22, 2018. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
13. "CO Attorney General". Our Campaigns. December 3, 2018. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
14. "2018 Attorney General General Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. February 24, 2019. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
15. "DRA 2020". Daves Redistricting. Retrieved August 18, 2024.