Griswold, Allen question each other’s qualifications in Colorado attorney general debate

Secretary of State Jena Griswold and El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen attacked each other’s records and leadership of their current offices in the only scheduled debate in the Colorado attorney general’s race Wednesday.

The candidates vying to be Colorado’s top law enforcement official debated their approaches to challenging the Trump administration, protecting Colorado water rights, data centers and more at an event hosted by the Colorado Sun at the University of Denver,

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is term-limited and won the Democratic nomination for governor in November.

Griswold, a Democrat, criticized Allen, a Republican, for his stance on federal immigration enforcement, highlighting comments he made praising the “trigger discipline” of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Renee Good. Allen wants to change Colorado laws that prohibit state law enforcement from cooperating with ICE. 

“When we have masked men in unmarked cars grabbing people that may or may not be citizens, not following due process, we are in danger as a democracy,” Griswold said.

She said she would continue to run an online portal Weiser’s office implemented that allows Coloradans to report misconduct by federal law enforcement officers, and said the “fundamental role of the next attorney general is to stand up between immigrant communities and ICE.” Allen, the district attorney for Colorado’s 4th Judicial District in El Paso and Teller counties, said he would evaluate whether the portal is necessary.

Allen said immigration policy should never be based on discrimination and that he would defend anybody who is victimized by law enforcement, whether by a federal or state agency.

As a Republican whose opinions conflict with several state laws, including those around abortion and gun regulations, Allen said he would still enforce and apply the law regardless as attorney general. He mentioned, for example, his role in prosecuting the shooter who killed five people and injured several others at Club Q in Colorado Springs in 2022.

“I prosecuted that case and filed hate crime charges, and said from the courthouse steps, that every person, regardless of where they come from, whatever, everyone has inherent human dignity,” Allen said. “And I used the power of the prosecution to hold the shooter in that case fully accountable to the law.”

Allen repeatedly flagged concerns about Griswold’s legal experience, particularly her limited experience as a trial attorney. Griswold argued that the office of attorney general is not a trial attorney, but an executive who manages an office of 700 people. The solicitor general argues cases on behalf of the state, such as those before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Griswold defended her leadership during election-related legal challenges, including the removal of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters after she led a breach of her own election equipment to search for evidence of fraud in the 2020 election.

“During my time as Secretary of State, I set the legal direction of my department through some serious election and democracy issues,” Griswold said.

Allen acknowledged former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, contradicting persistent false claims from some Republicans who say that Trump won the election.

Scrutiny of Griswold’s record

Griswold faced intense criticism after she disclosed in 2024 that a document posted to her office’s website included a hidden but accessible worksheet containing passwords to election equipment in counties throughout the state. County clerks said that while election security in the state remained strong following the breach, many were upset that Griswold did not inform them about the breach until after the Colorado Republican Party learned about and announced it.

More recently, a mistake within Griswold’s office resulted in the personal information for more than 130,000 confidential voters being publicly accessible for over a week. Allen is one of the voters whose information was temporarily made public.

Griswold said while she takes responsibility for the mistaken exposure of election equipment passwords, she is proud of the work her office has done to improve Colorado’s election processes and security.

Two years after Griswold was elected, her office hired a consultant to evaluate leadership within the secretary of state’s office amid high turnover in the office. She rejected claims of high turnover within her office and said she ran an executive office “in a very difficult atmosphere” amid thousands of threats against her and her staff.

Allen did not say he would continue Weiser’s streak of pursuing lawsuits against the Trump administration and said he does not have evidence to determine if he should. He has previously criticized Weiser for the lawsuits that Allen views as politically motivated. Griswold said confidently that she would continue lawsuits challenging unlawful actions from the Trump administration.

Wednesday’s debate was the only time Griswold and Allen are scheduled to meet face-to-face before the November election. During the primary election season, Griswold faced criticism for skipping roughly a dozen debates and forums with her three Democratic primary opponents.

The attorney general heads the Colorado Department of Law and oversees enforcement of consumer protection and antitrust laws, defends state laws in legal challenges, and advocates for law enforcement and community safety.