U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., announced a gubernatorial bid on Friday, becoming the second Democrat to jump into the 2026 race to succeed term-limited Gov. Jared Polis.
Phil Weiser, Colorado‘s Democratic attorney general, has already announced a bid. Weiser has emerged as a high-profile opponent of the Trump administration, joining with other state attorneys general to file lawsuits over a series of policies and executive orders.
But Bennet, a former Denver Public Schools superintendent, immediately becomes the defacto front-runner in blue-leaning Colorado’s gubernatorial contest.
“From expanding the Child Tax Credit to securing $7B for Colorado’s infrastructure, we’ve made real progress together,” Bennet said on X. “Now, it’s time to keep building a future in Colorado that works for all of us.”
Bennet has served in the Senate more than 16 years.
The lawmaker won re-election in 2022, so if he were elected governor, he would vacate his Senate seat before the end of his current six-year term.
Bennet previously mounted a presidential bid in 2019 but dropped out in 2020.
His announcement on Friday makes Bennet the latest Senate Democrat planning to move on from Congress at the end of next year.
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Gary Peters of Michigan, and Tina Smith of Minnesota announced earlier this year that they wouldn’t seek re-election in the 2026 midterms
