Sen. Michael Bennet loses Colorado governor primary after being cast as a DC insider

[Autumn]

Sen. Michael Bennet lost the Democratic primary for Colorado governor Tuesday, a stunning loss for one of Colorado’s most prominent Democrats and the latest sign of boiling anti-establishment rage among the electorate.

State Attorney General Phil Weiser’s victory marks a remarkable upset in a contest Bennet allies only weeks ago believed he was heavily favored to win.

Weiser worked to reframe the race around a message that has increasingly resonated with Democratic voters, casting Bennet as a D.C. insider and himself as the best candidate to fight President Donald Trump, highlighting the many lawsuits he’d lobbed at the administration.

In the end, that message won over Bennet’s massive fundraising advantage and lead in name recognition and public polling.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/30/bennet-loses-colorado-governor-primary-00983357

I think Democratic leadership might want to pay attention, the voters sure are.

[marble falls]

1. Understanding of course, that if Sen Bennet had been nominated, he'd have been a good candidate and a ...

... good choice if he'd been elected.

[Autumn]

2. I cast my vote for Phil Weiser with the full understanding that I believe he would be a better governor

for the state of Colorado than Michael Bennett.

[RobertDevereaux]

16. Same here.

[ananda]

21. I'm OK with that.

The more anti-establishment fight we have,
the better!!!

[FSogol]

3. I predict that the anti-incumbent trend will hurt the Democrats more than the Republicans. n/t

[Autumn]

4. Bennet's senate seat is secure until 2029. Governor Polis is term limited out.

[V850i]

14. You may/probably are on to something here

We nominate unknowns or lesser knowns and it could hurt in the general. On the other hand it is possible new people will energize the electorate... I hope...??

[BComplex]

20. The democrats have been hurt plenty by the republicans for 40 years, as the

money has pushed them further and further to the right, and away from our core values.

The democrats have conceded ground to the takeover of the media, the churches, and the schools so that the only message most people hear is how the right feels about everything. And all the republicans have to sell is more swamp!

I'm not sure the democrats have much more to lose, as is evidenced by the six sinister supremes taking powers from congress, and the total media & election machine ownership and takeover by right wing activists, and, well, a dictator in the white house.

Once people have nothing else to lose.....

[DavidDvorkin]

5. I was surprised when Bennet announced that he was running for governor

Is he tired of being a senator? Will he decline to run for reelection?

And if he does run again, will he have trouble winning the primary?

[Autumn]

6. His confirmation votes for some of Trumps pick were an issue for me.

He told a big whopper when he tried to take credit for Weiser’s actions to protect Colorado from Brooke Rollins after he voted to confirm her

Rollins tried to cut SNAP food benefits – also known as food stamps – from 600,000 Coloradans during the government shutdown in late 2025, which would have had devastating consequences for families in need in Colorado. She also sought to deprive 600,000 Coloradans of food assistance by requiring Colorado to meet an impossible to satisfy audit. In both cases, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sued to protect Colorado against her illegal actions. Bennett tried to take credit for Weiser’s actions to protect Colorado from her harmful actions without acknowledging his support for her.
https://www.bennetvotes.com/

Voters are paying attention. I think he might want to pay attention to voters when it comes to 2029. People here are pissed off.

[yankee87]

8. 100% anti MAGA

We should never vote for anything MAGA wants.

[newdeal2]

7. IMO it's not personal, but some elected officials are not up to the task

They are perfectly fine in most scenarios and certainly in years past. But that's not enough to combat what Trump and MAGA are doing.

[FakeNoose]

9. Bennet is still the senior Senator from Colorado until 2028

Wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bennet

So maybe this headline is a little misleading....

[h2ebits]

17. The headline is completely accurate. Colorado had its primary election June 30, 2026. . . .

Michael Bennet ran for Governor of Colorado on the Democratic primary ballot and his competitor was Phil Weiser (currently State Attorney General.) Phil Weiser won the Democratic primary contest and will appear on the ballot in November.

[littlemissmartypants]

10. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser & Dr. Heidi Wald ​with their children plus a former U.S. President

[intheozone]

11. I liked Weiser and voted for him mostly because

I wanted to keep Bennet in the Senate until '29. I thought he'd be better than an having a Jr senator for Trump's last years in office.

[h2ebits]

12. Yeah! for Phil Weiser. . . .

And, yes, Democratic leadership should wake up and smell the roses.

US House Rep Dianne DeGette lost the Dem primary to a newcomer; Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros

What is disappointing to me in the results of the primary is to see how many Districts had no competitors.

[BComplex]

18. That's one of the reasons people are looking for new leadership in the Democratic

party: the current leadership is out of touch by NOT having competitors in ALL races via a 50-state solution. Howard Dean....way back when....kept trying to get the Democratic party to go for a 50-state solution, and they let him get metaphorically swiftboated by the media with no fight back.

Voters, like me, have been sick to our stomachs over the lack of fight from the Democratic party. Now we're starting to get our voices heard, and the money and leadership had better accept the fact that we STAND FOR SOMETHING, and that something is to fight for the people who fund the government: us.

[coffeenap]

23. Agreed. It was Rahm Emmanuel who ditched it.

Let's remember this as centrists fight against the new progressive movement inside our party.

[surfered]

13. Love Colorado. Spent many a summer there camping with my parents and they' retired to Buena Vista.

And I skied there 27 consecutive years. Still, I know little about its politics, but this seems like a seismic shift.

[Aepps22]

15. I Voted For Phil

I know Phil personally and know his character so the vote for governor was very easy for me. We need Mike to keep that Senate seat so this in reality was a best of both worlds situation. With that said, I hope people don’t get let down when the policy differences between Phil and Mike are so small and Phil is not as progressive as people think. He will be a huge upgrade over Polis

[BComplex]

19. Jared Polis let a MAGA election cheater out of jail.

WTF??? He betrayed his voters. Voters are no longer standing for betrayal by our elected officials. We're not having any of it.

[niyad]

24. Fortunately, jared is term-limited out, so he was not in the race.

[Joinfortmill]

22. Wow. This might be a trend.

One word of warning: Beware the Fetterman effect.