Weiser pens op-ed in Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 17, 2026
Media Contact:
Nate Jackson
(903-638-1874)
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Read the op-ed here
DENVER, CO – On Saturday, Colorado Attorney General and candidate for governor Phil Weiser penned an op-ed in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel highlighting the importance for candidates for governor to appear at local forums across the state.
Titled “Colorado deserves leaders who show up and listen,” the op-ed lists the critical issues facing Colorado’s communities – including “jobs and economic challenges on the Western Slope, unique issues facing our recognized tribal nations, healthcare challenges facing veterans, and farming issues in northern Colorado” – and Weiser underscores his pledge to show up and listen to Coloradans in every corner of the state. Weiser shows up, especially when invited by local leaders – even if other candidates do not.
The full op-ed is below.
Colorado deserves leaders who show up and listen
By PHIL WEISER
In Colorado, we expect our leaders to show up for all communities — and to really listen. Past Colorado governors lived this value. I’ve done my best to learn from them, regularly joining Club 20 conferences, taking the time to get to know Western Slope leaders, and building relationships across our state.
Since announcing my candidacy for governor last year, I’ve met voters across Colorado face to face, listening to them, and taking time to work with them to develop plans for our future. That’s why, when community organizations like Club 20, local leaders like district attorneys and school superintendents, and community groups like CoWest Noticias Collaborative reach out to me or take the time to organize forums to discuss critical issues, I show up. To encourage engagement across Colorado, I have made a point to outline my plans for our future — such as how we protect our water — in different parts of the state.
Local forums are designed to meet people where they are — in their communities — and give voters a real opportunity to hear from those seeking to represent them. Since announcing my candidacy to serve as your next governor, I’ve appeared at every forum I’ve been invited to. As the June 30 primary election inches closer, the requests to appear at forums over the next several months have grown — as they should. Given what’s at stake in our state and country, our next governor owes it to Coloradans to show up and engage with Coloradans across our entire state.
As we approach the June primary for governor, both my opponent, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, and I were invited to a number of important opportunities for side-by-side forums, including ones sponsored by the Grand Junction Economic Partnership, Durango Indivisible, an organization serving veterans in Colorado Springs, and Northern Colorado Indivisible in Fort Collins. I have accepted all four invitations. Organizers for all four events are still waiting on Sen. Bennet’s response.
The importance of joining forums across our state — and not just in Denver — is because our state is so diverse. Jobs and economic challenges on the Western Slope, unique issues facing our recognized tribal nations, healthcare challenges facing veterans, and farming issues in northern Colorado are all unique to specific communities and are just some of the important issues that merit discussion.
Colorado faces many challenges in the years ahead — including a hostile and vengeful federal government; a changing climate and the need to protect our land, air, and water (including in the face of droughts and wildfires); increasingly unaffordable housing, health care, and child care; the youth mental health crisis; and developing the workforce to keep our state competitive. And at a time when our state’s population growth is the lowest it has been this century, we don’t have room for error. That’s why we need a governor ready on day one — and with the type of hands-on relationships across our state necessary to be successful.
From my travels across our state–from discussing strategies to address the opioid crisis to protecting public safety to preparing my department’s challenge to the (now failed) Kroger/Albertson grocery merger — I know that there is no substitute for meeting people where they are. That’s why I look forward to seeing you in Grand Junction on April 23rd and across all of Colorado — to listen to what matters to you.
Phil Weiser is the attorney general of Colorado and is running for the Democratic nomination for governor.
For more information, visit https://philforcolorado.com/.
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