PERSPECTIVE-Why I Support Phil Weiser for Colorado Governor

The fact that Weiser was selected by the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as her law clerk is almost enough for me. You couldn’t spend time around RBG without being inspired by and sharing her concern and work against injustice, especially towards the most vulnerable and marginalized of us. But we all need more than that for a Governor.

Weiser’s resume also includes time in both the Obama and Clinton administrations at the DOJ and the White House, where he focused on expanding broadband access, programs to expand entrepreneurship (as a female entrepreneur in the late 1970s, early 1980s, I can assure you the hurdles were formidable and daunting; yet small business is often the leader in adding jobs), and consumer protection. At the University of Colorado, he taught constitutional and antitrust law, served as Dean of the Law School, and founded a center on law, technology, and entrepreneurship. He founded successful nonprofits that supported startup businesses across Colorado and served as chair of Governor Ritter’s Innovation Council.

In addition to the influence of RBG, Weiser learned personally of the horrors of fascism and hate mongering. Weiser’s mother was born in Buchenwald concentration camp, where his Jewish grandmother was imprisoned by the Nazis. Liberated by the U.S. Army, at the end of WWII, his family was able to emigrate to the United States, where Weiser was born.

The position of Attorney General (AG) has become increasingly important as the Trump administration 1.0 and, especially, 2.0 has ignored the Constitution, the rule of law, and is dismembering our democratic republic form of government. As AG, Weiser has protected Colorado and its citizens from much of this upheaval. Three diverse examples are: he went to court to ensure that abortion care remains legal and accessible in Colorado; protected Colorado’s right to set tougher vehicle emissions standards; and sued Juul Labs (makers of vaping products whose ads specifically targeted young people), securing $31.7 million for vaping cessation, prevention, and youth mental health programs.

Recently, on July 17, Weiser, as Colorado’s AG, joined a coalition of 21 other states to sue the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services challenging their new rule impacting the availability of those services. The suit argues the rule would create significant barriers to purchasing health coverage under the Affordable Care Act in multiple ways including the addition of new “burdensome and costly” paperwork, verification requirements, and shortening the open enrollment period. According to research by his staff, he announced that it would cause nearly two million people nationally to lose their health insurance.

According to the Colorado Office of Attorney General’s website: “Peace officer training and recruitment is a core part of Weiser’s agenda, and as the chair of the Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, he has directed the first update to the state’s officer training curriculum in 30 years. During Weiser’s tenure, the department’s Criminal Justice Section has prioritized investigating and prosecuting auto and retail theft, human trafficking, and drug trafficking organized crime rings. Additionally, Weiser has spearheaded solutions to address recidivism by supporting businesses that hire people leaving prison to create opportunities and reduce crime. Weiser also has advocated fervently for victims of crime, including the first-ever enforcement of the state’s victims’ rights law, investigating child sex abuse by Catholic clergy, defending Colorado’s stalking law at the U.S. Supreme Court, and addressing the scourge of domestic violence.”

He was first elected as Colorado Attorney General in the 2018 election and took office in January 2019. He was re-elected in 2022.

For more information about the responsibilities of Colorado’s Attorney General and Weiser’s work specifically, see https://coag.gov/about-us/colorado-attorney-general/ For more information about his goals as Governor, see https://philforcolorado.com/about/

On a personal level, Weiser is married to Dr. Heidi Wald, a well-credentialled MD in both internal and geriatric medicine. They have 2 children, 1 in college and 1 in high school, and live in the Denver Metro area.

I support Phil Weiser for several reasons. The following list is for starters, but I’m sure doesn’t include everything.

1. He gets the right things done, and, as in the Juul vaping case, uses the money in an appropriate and effective way.
2. He supports in concrete ways threatened and marginalized groups, e.g., women victims of domestic abuse, LGBTQ+ persons, members of religious minorities, and others, who may be victims of hate crimes. Weiser developed “a public-private partnership with the Colorado Coalition Against Hate to address the rise in hate crimes across the state. This initiative aims to improve training for law enforcement, encourage better reporting from both the public and law enforcement, and provide support for victims.” (AI/Google research)
3. He understands the business environment and doesn’t let large corporations get away with intentional and unintentional consumer abuse. As well, he strongly supports small business and entrepreneurship. Between March 2023 to March 2024, small business contributed 71.8% of new jobs in Colorado according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
4. As of May 25^th, Weiser was included in 20 lawsuits against the Trump administration, with at least 1 added since then. In spite of the Supreme Court, lawsuits have been the most effective means at delaying our democratic republic’s demise at the hands of Trump and his allies.
5. On my personal scale, he’s smart, articulate, he strongly supports our democratic republic form of government, he reads books, and he’s basically liberal (which for me, means we agree on most topics). My biases.

Weiser’s contributions come mainly from in-state and small amount donors, such as me. I can’t afford large contributions to anyone, no matter how much I might support them. Weiser received $157,657 from 1,051 individual donors the first day after the launching of his campaign. As of July 2, over 7,600 people have contributed, with over 85% coming from Colorado residents, according to his campaign office, but I have not been able to verify this from secondary sources, partly because of my own time constraints. Weiser does not accept donations from PACs.

Michael Bennet’s contributions come from mostly out-of-state. As of 2024, his 2 largest contributors were the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Blackstone Group, a large private equity firm based in New York.

Phil Weiser and me, but don’t blame my look on him.