The head of a nonprofit law firm announced his candidacy for Colorado attorney general on Tuesday, promising to police “corporate abuse” and to support worker and consumer protections.
For David Seligman, that focus would be a continuation of what he called his “life’s work.” A Harvard Law grad, Seligman since 2018 has led the Denver-based nonprofit Towards Justice, which has backed litigation and legislation to support ride-hailing app drivers, renters, migrant workers and meatpackers.
“I’ve seen throughout my career that there are two sets of law in this country,” he said in an interview. “There’s one for those with wealth and power, and one for the rest of us. Especially as the Trump administration is dismantling … the parts of the government that are there to protect workers, consumers, small businesses and the environment, it’s critical right now that we make sure those with wealth and power play by the same set of rules as the rest of us.”
Seligman enters an increasingly crowded 2026 Democratic primary field to succeed term-limited Attorney General Phil Weiser. Secretary of State Jena Griswold is an immediate front-runner, but other candidates include Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty and former state House Speaker Crisanta Duran.
He said he wants to build upon and expand the work of Weiser, who is running for governor. Weiser has filed or joined lawsuit after lawsuit against the Trump administration since January. Before that, his office had pursued consumer-protection investigations and lawsuits — some of which Seligman’s firm was involved in — against landlords and companies like Wyatt’s Towing.
Seligman said he would continue that work while focusing on medical debt, corporate price gouging and responding to the the federal government’s withdrawal from regulatory oversight.
Against the longstanding political figures in the AG’s race, Seligman — who’s never run for office — stands as a relative unknown among the broader voting public. His early challenge will be elevating his message and finding a constituency in a crowded political environment and in a Democratic Party still searching for a path forward.
Seligman’s charted path will likely be the most liberal of the AG field. He spoke at U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Greeley rally earlier this year, and he joins the race with endorsements from most of the progressive lawmakers in the state Capitol. That includes the state House’s third-ranking Democrat, Rep. Jennifer Bacon, along with former state Democratic Party chairwoman Morgan Carroll.
“Right now, people know that the world feels deeply unfair and deeply scary,” Seligman said. “And I want to fight to be their lawyer to make sure the law is on their side — and not on the side of billionaires and corrupt politicians.”
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