Phil Weiser

Phil Weiser is the son and grandson of Holocaust survivors. His grandmother was imprisoned at the Buchenwald concentration camp, where his mother was born; U.S. Army soldiers liberated the camp, including his mother and grandmother. After the war his family immigrated to the United States as refugees, and he is a first-generation American.⁠[1][2]

He lives in Denver with his wife, Dr. Heidi Wald.⁠[1][2]

Weiser graduated with high honors from Swarthmore College, where he was politically active in the early 1990s. He then attended New York University School of Law, graduating with high honors in 1994. Recalling how the school’s public service offerings drew him during an admissions visit, he said, “I was totally riveted by that picture”; his formal adviser there was Richard Revesz.⁠[3][4]

After law school he clerked for Judge David Ebel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and then for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Byron R. White, who had retired, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He called the clerkships “an extraordinary experience, getting to know two unbelievable role models.” Explaining why he never wanted to leave Colorado once he moved there, he said, “In Colorado, the ethos is that we're all in this together.”⁠[3][4]

During the Clinton administration he spent several years in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice as senior counsel to the assistant attorney general in charge of the division, advising primarily on telecommunications matters.⁠[3][5][4]

In 1999 Weiser joined the faculty of the University of Colorado Law School, where he taught constitutional and antitrust law and later held the title of Hatfield Professor of Law and Telecommunications. He founded the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship.⁠[3][1][4]

In the Obama administration, Weiser served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from July 2009 to April 2010, and then as senior advisor for technology and innovation to the director of the White House National Economic Council from April 2010 to June 2011. His federal work covered broadband access, entrepreneurship programs, and curbing corporate monopolies.⁠[3][1]

In June 2011 Weiser returned to the University of Colorado Law School as dean, serving until July 2016.⁠[3][4]

On June 26, 2018, Weiser defeated Joseph Salazar 50.4% to 49.6% in the Democratic primary for attorney general; in the November 6, 2018, general election he defeated Republican George Brauchler 51.6% to 45.1% to become Colorado Attorney General.⁠[5]

In January 2019 he was sworn in as Colorado’s 39th attorney general. Describing his approach early in his tenure, he said, “I will be effective only by helping others be effective.”⁠[4][2]

In 2019 Weiser helped strengthen the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. His office has obtained more than $550 million in refunds, credits, and debt relief for consumers and more than $900 million in opioid settlement funds for treatment, recovery, and prevention.⁠[2]

He chairs the Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, which directed the first update of the state’s officer training curriculum in 30 years. On natural resources, he secured more than $6.6 million in settlement funds for the Bonita Peak Mining District and took part in Colorado River negotiations.⁠[2]

He argued Colorado Department of State v. Baca before the U.S. Supreme Court. He has led multistate investigations into Meta and TikTok and sued Juul Labs, securing $31.7 million for vaping cessation and youth mental health programs.⁠[2]

On November 8, 2022, Weiser was reelected attorney general, defeating Republican John Kellner 54.7% to 43.0%. Since January 2025 he has filed more than 80 lawsuits against the Trump administration.⁠[5][6]

On June 30, 2026, Weiser defeated three-term U.S. Senator Michael Bennet 56.9% to 43.1% in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. His running mate was Jefferson County Commissioner Lesley Dahlkemper, and his general election opponent was the Republican nominee, Victor Marx.⁠[5][6][7]

On November 3, 2026, minutes after polls closed in Colorado, the Associated Press declared Weiser the winner at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time. Unofficial returns showed Weiser with about 61% of the vote and Marx with about 33%. Marx conceded shortly after 9 p.m., saying he had called Weiser to congratulate him.⁠[8][6][5]

In his victory remarks Weiser said that two years earlier he had set a goal to “listen to every neighbor in every corner of Colorado.” He is set to succeed term-limited Democratic Governor Jared Polis and take office in 2027.⁠[6][8][5]

Weiser co-wrote Digital Crossroads: American Telecommunications Policy in the Internet Age with Jon Nuechterlein (MIT Press, 2005; second edition 2013), The Jury and Democracy with Gastil, Deess, and Simmons (Oxford UniversityUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university in Oxford, England, where teaching existed in some form by 1096; it describes itself as the oldest university in the English-speaking world and is organised as a federal system of the university and dozens of self-governing colleges.Open the full entry Press, 2010), and Telecommunications Law and Policy with Stuart Benjamin, Howard Shelanski, and James Speta (Carolina Academic Press, 2012). He also wrote monographs on wireless spectrum and national broadband policy for the Brookings Institution and the Aspen Institute.⁠[3]

Weiser founded nonprofits that support Colorado startups and chaired Governor Ritter’s Innovation Council.⁠[1]

Colorado Attorney General’s Office: Official website: https://coag.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

Phil Weiser for Colorado: Official website: https://philforcolorado.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

X: Public account: https://x.com/PhilForColorado (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/PhilforColorado (opens in a new window).⁠[1]