The two Democrats facing off for a chance to become Colorado’s next attorney general were quick to skewer the state’s contentious Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights at a recent Denver candidate forum.

They were also quick to disagree on what to do about it.

State Rep. Joe Salazar, of Thornton, said he wants to repeal the amendment to the Colorado Constitution that requires voters to approve any tax increase in the state. Phil Weiser, a former Obama administration official and former University of Colorado law school dean, said he would go to the voters in the hopes of reforming TABOR.

“I will use my discretion not to defend TABOR — to let it fall in the courts,” Salazar said. “That’s the fastest way to get rid of it.”

“I don’t believe I can abandon an argument in favor of a constitutional amendment,” Weiser said. “Whether it’s on marijuana or on TABOR, I’ve got to defend it.”

On June 26, primary election voters will choose between two drastically different attorney general candidates with disparate backgrounds. While they agree on a long list of topics, from calls for more gun control to their distaste for President Donald Trump, they often diverge on what constitutes the best course of action.

Salazar is a three-term state representative and community activist with backing from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has called himself a “street fighter” and tossed barbs at Weiser to undermine his credentials. Weiser is a pun-prone law professor with a broad fundraising base but little name recognition and who says he is committed, above all, to enforcing the law.

“The Democrats are dramatically different,” said Floyd Ciruli, an independent political analyst in Denver. “A very mainstream, respected attorney-dean in Mr. Weiser versus a sort of insurgent legislator coming from the deep liberal wing of the party in terms of a lot of his positions and a lot of his support. It’s sort of the classic choice we are seeing in primaries across the country in the Democratic Party.”

He added: “I think it’s a competitive race.”

MORE: Five things to know about Phil Weiser

MORE: Five things to know about state Rep. Joe Salazar

Justin Edmonds, Special to the Denver Post State Rep. Joe Salazar, Democratic candidate for Colorado attorney general, speaks during the Democratic State Assembly at 1STBANK Center on April 14, 2018 in Broomfield.

Justin Edmonds, Special to the Denver Post Phil Weiser, Democratic candidate for attorney general, speaks during the Democratic State Assembly at 1STBANK Center on April 14, 2018 in Broomfield.



The Trump factor

Trump’s election drove Salazar’s and Weiser’s decisions to jump into the contest.

“It was the catalyzing reason,” said Weiser, a first-time candidate. “The legal term is: It was the ‘but for’ cause. But for Trump getting elected, I would not be running for attorney general.”

“I thought this was the time, if we ever needed a street fighter, this is the time that we needed one in the office of attorney general,” Salazar said.

Both candidates have vowed, if elected, to join other Democratic attorneys general across the U.S. who have sued to halt Trump administration actions. They include the president’s attempts to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, and his ban on travelers from predominantly Muslim countries.

Weiser appears to be campaigning on this pushback more than Salazar, launching a more than $500,000 TV ad buy outlining how he wants to fight the Trump administration. (It features former Colorado Attorney General and U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, a fellow Democrat who has endorsed Weiser.)

“You know who has stood up? State attorneys general,” Weiser told voters during a recent campaign stop. “Not from Colorado, but from other states. We need an attorney general here in Colorado who is strong enough to stand up for our values.”

Salazar agrees that Colorado needs to join challenges to the Trump administration, but he said there are issues at home that need to be addressed, too.

“This attorney general’s office under the direction of Cynthia Coffman has left an awful lot on the table,” he said. “So, there is no one priority.”

Weiser has called Coffman — Colorado’s current Republican attorney general, who sued the Obama administration several times over policies she disagreed with — “complicit” with Trump.

On the issues

Weiser and Salazar also want to protect Colorado municipalities that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities — so-called sanctuary cities that the Trump administration and other conservatives say have enacted policies to protect people living in the U.S. illegally.

“The question here is what can an attorney general do? And the answer is defend the constitutional rights of cities to do that,” Weiser said.

Salazar said he would go a step further by taking legal action against local governments in Colorado that assist immigration officials.

“I will protect our undocumented families as well as our citizen families here in the state of Colorado from being terrorized by the Trump administration,” Salazar said. “If that means that I have to sue local governments as well as the state government, … I will do that.”

Salazar, who has spoken out against laws targeting the homeless, said he would also consider suing “the hell out of” cities — such as Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder — over their policies toward transients.

“I’m putting (them) on blast that when I become attorney general, we better sit down and talk with each other about their policies,” said Salazar, who tried and failed several times to pass legislation allowing homeless to occupy public spaces and not face arrest.

Weiser and Salazar have a similar disconnect on the death penalty, which they are both against.

The Colorado attorney general’s office is responsible for defending the state’s capital punishment laws in legal challenges — and Weiser says he would fulfill that duty.

“That’s part of enforcement of the law — if we have the death penalty, I would carry out the role of the office,” Weiser said.

But Salazar said he’s “not so certain that I would defend” it.

On oil and gas, an industry the current attorney general has supported, Salazar and Weiser each blasted Coffman’s decision to sue Boulder County last year over its decision to block drilling.

Salazar and Weiser also agree on a ruling that industry regulators have to take into account public health and the environment before issuing new drilling permits. Both say they would withdraw the state’s Colorado Supreme Court appeal of what’s known as the “Martinez case,” with Salazar saying he’d take action during his first hours in office.

Where the two Democrats in the Colorado attorney general’s race primary stand on the issues A look at where Phil Weiser and state Rep. Joe Salazar stand on some of the most pressing issues facing Colorado. The pair face off in the June 26 primary for a chance to become Colorado’s next attorney general.

Salazar’s barbs

Another factor coming into play in the race is attacks from Salazar, who is trying to frame Weiser as inexperienced — calling him a “paper tiger” — and out of touch with Coloradans’ needs.

“He doesn’t practice in Colorado courts, and he never has,” Salazar said. “I know that he clerked for (U.S. Supreme Court Justice) Ruth Bader Ginsburg and that’s a really pretty résumé that he has and that he worked for the Obama administration — it has nothing to do with Colorado actually. I actually practice in our Colorado courts.”

Weiser has committed to abstaining from attacking Salazar. (He is committed to voting for whomever the Democratic nominee is come November. Salazar says he will vote for the Democratic nominee, but that Weiser would have to earn his endorsement.)

Things got especially testy during a May 19 candidate forum in Denver when Salazar claimed that Weiser had been ignoring marginalized communities.

“In our communities of color, my friend here has been absent for years,” said Salazar, who has Latino and American Indian roots. “He’s never been around. … If I don’t see you out in our communities of color, then I’m not going to be there to give my endorsement or my support.”

Weiser rejected Salazar’s criticisms.

“During my life, I have been engaged in communities of color,” he said. “The Colorado Hispanic Bar Association did not honor me because I was not engaged. I did not work with the Sam Cary Bar Association to bring two African-American judges here to Colorado, who are my friends, because I was not engaged.”

Weiser added: “Winning teams fight the competition; losing teams fight themselves.”

Primary ballots will be mailed out June 4. The Democratic primary winner will face 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler, the Republican nominee, in November.