Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser beats Sen. Michael Bennet in the Democratic primary for governor

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser won the Democratic nomination for governor on June 30, defeating Sen. Michael Bennet in the primary for the seat Gov. Jared Polis is vacating after two terms. The Associated Press called the race for Weiser just before 8 p.m. Mountain time.

HERO_IMAGE

The result

With most of the vote counted, Weiser led Bennet 54.7 percent to 45.3 percent, a margin of about nine points. Weiser ran strongest in the Denver metro area and along the Interstate 70 corridor west of the city, according to results reported by Colorado Public Radio and The Colorado Sun.

Bennet, the state's senior U.S. senator, entered the race as the better-known candidate and outspent Weiser, The Colorado Sun reported. He keeps his Senate seat, which is not on the ballot until 2028. Polis is term-limited and did not run.

The Republican field

On the Republican side, state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer led the primary for governor with about 40.7 percent of the vote, ahead of ministry leader Victor Marx and state Rep. Scott Bottoms, according to Colorado Newsline and Ballotpedia. Kirkmeyer advances to the November general election against Weiser.

Colorado has not elected a Republican governor since 2002, when Bill Owens won a second term. The general election is set for November 3.

The Senate primary

In the other statewide Democratic primary the same night, Sen. John Hickenlooper won renomination, defeating state Sen. Julie Gonzales 57 percent to 43 percent with more than 80 percent of the expected vote tallied. Hickenlooper, 74, is a former governor and Denver mayor who flipped the seat for Democrats in 2020. Gonzales campaigned on the argument that the party needs a younger generation of leaders.

Republican Mark Baisley, a state senator, was unopposed in his primary and will face Hickenlooper in November.