This interview took place on Feb. 16, 2026, and the full transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity. The broadcast report aired Feb. 20, 2026.
BRETT FORREST
Take me back to when you decided to run for governor. What ultimately went into the decision to make you jump into this race?
AG PHIL WEISER
My whole life has been about how can I serve. I have such gratitude for America, such love for Colorado. I'm a first-generation American.
My mom and my grandmother were liberated by US Army soldiers in a Nazi concentration camp, and I've been able to live an American dream, becoming a lawyer, working for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, President Barack Obama in the White House, and as Attorney General. And of all of my service, this is the most meaningful, being elected to serve the people as the people's lawyer. It is important to me to be doing this work, and there's much more work to do.
As I look at the work I've done on the youth mental health crisis, on affordability challenges for people, protecting our land, air, and water, public safety, and more, I'm in the middle of a lot of important work. I want to continue at the state level. I'm ready to do it. That's what led me to decide to run for governor.
BRETT FORREST
You got in the race pretty early. What was your reaction when Senator Bennett decided to jump in the fray as well?
AG PHIL WEISER
Well, I was surprised when Senator Bennett got in. I had heard directly from him that he wasn't interested or thinking about it, so it was obviously something of news that he was going to do it. It's his right to run. My challenge is to make sure that people know what the choices are, and I believe Senator Bennett's best use of Colorado is to stay as a US Senator, where he's got 17 years' experience and ready to be chair of the Agriculture Committee if the Democrats can take the Senate.
I want to be our governor because I've got the experience. I've got the know-how to lead our state at a crucial time with so much on the line. There's actually a bumper sticker out there that says “Phil Weiser for Governor. Michael Bennett for Senate.”
BRETT FORREST
And ultimately, do you think the Democratic primary then will kind of decide the governor for Colorado, or do you think Republicans might have a fighting chance this year?
AG PHIL WEISER
The Republicans have to make a decision about what type of candidate and campaign they're going to run. If the Republican candidates focused on trying to get Tina Peters out of jail or making death threats against me and other elected officials, I don't think that's going to go over. Colorado wants responsible governance that cares about people. They want to deal with important issues that matter to their lives, like how do we make housing more affordable for people, how do we improve education for our kids? How do we protect rural healthcare? Those are the issues that I'm focused on. That's what Colorado deserves.
BRETT FORREST
I don't want to gloss over the death threat comment you just made. So who has made death threats and what have they said?
AG PHIL WEISER
One of the Republican candidates for governor has threatened me because of my work along with DA Dan Rubenstein prosecuting Tina Peters. What I will say is I've had multiple death threats. I'm not going to be afraid. I'm always, always going to fight for what's right. I'm in public service because I believe that we need a government that works on behalf of people, and I'm going to do it without fear or favor.
(NOTE: Weiser was likely referring to conservative podcaster Joe Oltmann)
BRETT FORREST
And shifting gears to the current administration–statewide at least–Governor Polis, do you think he's done a good job as governor? What would you want to continue if you were the governor that he's done? And what do you think you would do differently from what Governor Polis has done?
AG PHIL WEISER
I've worked side by side with Governor Polis, and there's a number of things I can tell you that have made him a very strong and effective governor. The time during the pandemic that he was focused on what's best for Colorado, recognizing the diversity of our state, having to walk a difficult line like closing ski slopes during spring break so we weren't spreading COVID, and letting businesses open up appropriately when that can happen. That type of leadership, data-driven thinking, has been a real asset to our state.
I also will say that he and I have some differences on social media. I see the youth mental health crisis as being caused by companies like Meta, like TikTok, who've been irresponsible. That's why I'm suing Meta for the harm they're doing to young people, taking them down dark holes, keeping them awake with notifications and alerts. I also don't like the fact that Meta and other social media platforms have enabled people to get fentanyl or guns online. That's why I pushed a bill to address that issue. Governor Polis vetoed it. As governor, I'll sign it.
BRETT FORREST
Ultimately, though, would you want his endorsement when that time comes?
AG PHIL WEISER
The governor has said he's not going to make any endorsement in this race. I actually think that's appropriate. I'm not making any endorsement in the AG's race. I don't think it's right for someone to try to pick their own successor.
BRETT FORREST
And then when it comes to the state house, obviously, Colorado's facing some major budget strains. You know, last year and this year, some factors, the federal spending bill, some one-time funds in the legislature being spent. In your mind, what do you think are the biggest contributing factors to this deficit, and then what would you do as governor to address it?
AG PHIL WEISER
We have a number of factors that are driving our current budget situation. A big one obviously, is the way the federal government has been operating in a reckless and often mean-spirited way, trying to pull money away from people who need it. The HR 1 bill, for example, is doing huge damage, including on Medicaid.
We in Colorado have to respond to this. We have to have a balanced budget. Unlike the federal government, we will respond. It's going to take real creativity and real problem-solving, looking at every angle. How do we get more bang for our buck? Where are the best investments we can make, and how do we protect crucial priorities? This is a challenge this year. It's going to be a challenge next year.
BRETT FORREST
When it comes to TABOR, how do you want to address or change TABOR? And do you agree that it should be changed?
AG PHIL WEISER
TABOR needs to be changed. TABOR has antiquated formulas that we're now living with, including this hard cap, which limits our state's ability to make critical investments in counterproductive ways. We have a youth mental health crisis. We've got big education challenges, workforce challenges, and we're not able to make crucial investments which, if we could make them, would pay great dividends in our future. Any business would want to make smart investments in their future.
Our state, the Constitution right now, doesn't allow it. The way we're going to change TABOR is do what I did when I challenged the King Soopers Albertson merger. I went community by community, 19 town halls, to explain to people how this merger could harm them, how we can stop it. I'm willing to put in that work to change TABOR, making sure, from the bottom up, we develop a proposal. I don't believe we're going to do it top down. I believe it's got to be bottom up.
BRETT FORREST
And obviously, I guess the people ultimately have to decide. If you're able to convince them, when would you expect the change to TABOR to actually come?
AG PHIL WEISER
The challenge that I have is it's going to take some time to change TABOR. We probably don't get something on the ballot until maybe 2028, which means in the short term, we have real budget pain. Part of what I will do is explain to people the pain that we're feeling, the long-term harm that we're setting ourselves up for, doesn't have to be this way. One of my responsibilities as governor is going to be to go to the people to make the case for how we change TABOR.
BRETT FORREST
And then another big issue, obviously at the Capitol, is just affordable housing. How do we address the housing shortage or just making it more affordable for people to find housing in the metro area, but also just elsewhere in Colorado? What are your best solutions to try to tackle that?
AG PHIL WEISER
The Great Recession broke our housing market, and if you look at the supply situation, we are simply not building enough for what we need. I'm committed to finding ways to build a lot more of the type of housing we need, which is starter homes that a teacher here in El Paso County could afford to buy in El Paso County. Or a firefighter in Denver could afford to buy in Denver.
When you are asking people, teachers, nurses, firefighters, law enforcement, to commute hours from where they're working, those communities are less sustainable, are less safe. We can build this type of housing. It's going to take a lot of work. I'm going to have a chief housing officer to help spearhead that work to organize the programs at the state level to make sure that we're working with local governments to lower permitting fees and make it quicker to get permits so that we're not pricing out building of the exact units we need. I also believe in modular housing solutions, which can be up to 20% quicker to build 30% cheaper.
It's going to take a lot of work, including a down payment assistance program so those firefighters or teachers can afford to make a down payment. This is work I'm going to prioritize. Our future depends on it.
BRETT FORREST
And I mean housing and otherwise, do you think we just have too many regulations in Colorado, you know, considering the Chamber of Commerce's report last year about just how many we have here in the state. I think it is one of the most in the country–6th highest maybe. Would you address that? Do you think we have too many regulations?
AG PHIL WEISER
One of the challenges we have in Colorado is we have to get better at looking at regulations and asking, is this necessary? Is this the best way to do this? Too often we've adopted regulations or we've kept them in place without that type of rigorous analysis. I'm going to bring that rigorous analysis and leadership to Colorado.
I've already led on this as Attorney General, building the regulations for the Colorado Privacy Act. I demonstrated what I believe sound regulations look like. People are listened to, so you don't adopt regulations without the input of those who are affected.
We make sure the work is transparent. People can offer feedback on it. That type of model is one I'm going to make sure across state government, we've got smarter and better approaches to regulations and that we don't create unnecessary barriers to businesses.
BRETT FORREST
And kind of stepping back to housing, I did a report last week about home insurance rates, and there's new data that came out about how much hail contributes to spiking rates. I know there's some bills yet to be introduced in the legislature, but how would you want to address trying to lower the premiums themselves, because that does contribute to affordable housing as well.
AG PHIL WEISER
One of the concerns that's very much on my mind is indeed how much people are paying for home insurance, and a big factor that is wildfires and the fact that a lot of insurance companies are now concerned that Colorado is too risky for homes to be burned like we saw in the Marshall Fire in Boulder County, for example. We've got to get a lot smarter, a lot better at wildfire mitigation and wildfire prevention.
I'm going to have a chief resilience officer when I'm governor, working with communities, focusing on these questions of how do we keep our forests healthy, how do we prevent wildfires, how do we make sure that we're reducing this risk. We have not done enough in this area. It's important both from a climate perspective and from a home insurance perspective.
BRETT FORREST
And you've had, by my last count, 53 lawsuits against the Trump administration, largely I think successful, but some Republicans I've spoken to personally–and in interview settings–have said they feel these lawsuits are kind of painting a target on the back of Colorado, leading to the Trump administration to maybe target us, and they don't think they're helpful to us.
And then we saw the county and city council of Colorado Springs kind of come out against your lawsuit for Space Command. Do you think these lawsuits are a good method to help Colorado, or do you agree that maybe they are painting a target on our backs?
(Note: AG Weiser filed his 54th lawsuit against the Trump administration in the days since this interview took place.)
AG PHIL WEISER
There's two philosophies out there. One philosophy, and Senator Bennett has said a version of this, I want to support the Agriculture Secretary who he voted for and stands by that, even though she's engaging in harmful activity, thinking it will somehow benefit Colorado.
My view is I'm not going to support or say nice things about people who are hurting us. This Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who Senator Bennett voted for and supports, I've had to sue three times. Once because she illegally fired Forest Service firefighters, twice because she tried to take away SNAP benefits from 600,000 Coloradans. All three of those lawsuits were successful.
Here's my view. When someone is harming you, is a bully, they're trying to take your lunch money, you don't just say, Here, take it. You say this is legally mine. You are wrong. I'm not going to let this happen.
My job is to fight for what's right, to fight for Colorado, to defend the rule of law. And when this administration breaks the law, acts as if they're above the law, harms Colorado, yes, I am going to stand up to them every time.
BRETT FORREST
And adding on top of that, the Arkansas Valley Conduit that was vetoed, the disaster funding that was also denied, do you think President Trump is targeting Colorado because of our state's actions?
AG PHIL WEISER
President Trump has said he's targeting Colorado. He has said he doesn't like that we have mail-in elections. That's why he's moving Space Command.
He said he doesn't like that Tina Peters is incarcerated. He's promised severe measures. He has made all sorts of threats. But what I'll say about this president, you can see this in a lot of context, when you stand strong against the threats, when you stand together, they don't work.
He didn't invite Jared Polis to a dinner with governors. The response was telling. All the governors said, ‘We're not going to dinner then.’ That's the type of response we need. Our nation is not the blue states or the red states. We're the United States. All states deserve to be treated fairly and equally under the law. That's a principle that's worth fighting for.
BRETT FORREST
And then when we think about the ICE situation in Minneapolis, which is drawing down, but it's not unheard of to think something similar could happen in Denver or elsewhere in Colorado. How would you respond as governor?
AG PHIL WEISER
We learned a lot from how Minnesota responded. They led very peaceful protests, saying this is not how we operate in America. The wreaking of havoc, the lawless actions, and the harm done by federal agents is unacceptable and needs to stop, and the way they made that clear, I believe, may mean we won't see more Minneapolises because they are and they need to pay a political price for what they've done.
In Colorado, we set up a complaint system for our office to make sure that if ICE does illegal actions that harm people, whether it's an unjustified killing or like an alleged assault in Durango, we can hear about it. We can work with local law enforcement to hold people accountable, and if they violate constitutional rights like they've done in Minnesota, we're prepared to stand up for our rights and to bring them to account.
BRETT FORREST
And is there a method you would work with the Trump administration to address immigration, and if so, what would that look like?
AG PHIL WEISER
I want to work with the federal government under the law in fair and sensible ways. There are people who have committed crimes who are dangerous. They are deportable, they should be deported. But the type of fear inducing and senseless actions being done, including for people who are in the middle of a legal process, is wrong, and it's not OK. This administration has a choice. Are they going to try to operate under the rule of law, fairly and according to common sense? And if they do, I will be a partner with them. But if they operate in ways that are lawless, make no sense, I'm going to oppose them.
BRETT FORREST
And currently, with the partial government shutdown right now, Democrats are pushing for more accountability with ICE, banning face coverings, identification, body cameras, whatnot. Are you in support and agreement with all the demands Democrats have to give DHS its funding?
AG PHIL WEISER
Well before this current conversation started, I was working with a coalition of state AGs, making very clear that ICE needs to get rid of this masking that is unsafe as a public safety matter. There are people out there who can do copycat ICE activity, kidnapping people, pretending they're ICE. It is not safe. We need to make sure that law enforcement operates transparently and fairly, and that effort right now underway needs to be successful.
BRETT FORREST
And then the Save Act, what's your opinion on the Save Act in relation to how Colorado currently operates its elections? Typically, we like to tout ourselves as the gold standard. Do you agree, and what's your concern with the Save Act if it does pass?
AG PHIL WEISER
My concern with the Save Act is it's designed in a way to disenfranchise people. Women who get married and may change their names may not have easy access to a birth certificate. They've been using a driver's license, which has been a reliable form of ID for a long time. This law could disenfranchise people. I also have real concerns about the federal government trying to tell us how to administer our elections, which is a state function. So if the Save Act passes, I'm prepared, along with other AG colleagues, to take this administration to court once again for what I see as a threat to our Constitution's commitment that states manage elections.
BRETT FORREST
When it comes to those lawsuits, do you fear that some of them just take too long through the judicial process, that–the elections are in November–maybe your lawsuit doesn't get addressed by then. What kind of fears are there?
AG PHIL WEISER
There is often a time lag in lawsuits, that mean the lawbreaker, in this case, the Trump administration, may be able to do some real damage before it's rectified, but I want to point out what happened last week because we moved incredibly quickly. On Monday, the Trump administration said we're withholding public health funding just from a few blue states.
By Wednesday or Thursday, we had filed a lawsuit, and by Friday, we had secured that money, so we are prepared to, we will keep moving quickly like we did in the case involving SNAP benefits recently. We're going to do our best to protect Colorado to make sure this administration cannot act as if they're above the law.
BRETT FORREST
The proposal for the Nexstar-Tegna merger. Our station might also have a merger here locally. Do you think these mergers that, if the Trump administration approves them, will ultimately hurt Colorado and local journalism, and can you talk about that?
AG PHIL WEISER
I've talked about my commitment as Attorney General to make sure that any form of undue consolidation or mergers that can hurt consumers will be stopped by state AGs, even if the federal government won't.
And right now, the federal government is an uncertain partner on pretty much anything, including enforcing our merger laws. We in Colorado are prepared to enforce our merger laws. In fact, the reason we didn't have a merger between King Soopers and Safeway is us and other states went to court to stop that merger. I've done that before, prepared to do that again on whatever merger that harms consumers. I'm ready to take action regardless of what the federal government does.
BRETT FORREST
And ultimately, it seems like lawsuits are your best tool to fight this administration on behalf of Colorado. How would you continue that work as governor since you'll be out of the AG role?
AG PHIL WEISER
As a governor, it's very important to understand the law and to be working with an attorney general in an effective partnership, like I'm currently working with Governor Polis. We need to make sure we bring our A team as a state, knowing the law, knowing our rights, and we need a governor with moral clarity.
As you talked about before, there's different approaches, and Michael Bennett has said that I am too hard on someone like Brooke Rollins suing her again and again, saying that lawsuits aren't the right tool, and he stands by his vote of her. I've got a different view. Supporting people like Secretary Brooke Rollins only can embolden them. We need our lawsuits. We need moral clarity, calling out wrongful behavior. I believe only by consistently making clear what is unacceptable will we change the behavior of this administration. That's what I've done as Attorney General. That's what I'll do as governor.
BRETT FORREST
Democrats are targeting. They announced they're targeting CD-5 for the first time ever, thinking they might have a chance to actually flip the seat. Do you get a sense in your own campaign that there is a growing support for Democrats–or at least independents who support Democrats–here in our viewership area?
AG PHIL WEISER
Coloradans are tired of the lawlessness and the bullying of this administration. It is very clear that whether it comes to illegal tariffs or the effort to move Space Command and NCAR from Colorado or efforts like the Agriculture Secretary to take away SNAP benefits, that the way this administration is acting is wrong and is harmful.
And if Jeff Crank doesn't have the courage to call that out, that makes him vulnerable. Members of Congress have to make a choice. Are they going to say and fight for what's right, or are they going to accommodate and support an administration that's harming Colorado?
And it's important that we as citizens render a judgment on when our leaders are failing to serve us. And right now, Jeff Crank has not served Colorado Springs because he's been too willing to support harmful actions by this administration.
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