Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Amanda Gonzalez will run for Colorado secretary of state in 2026, she announced Monday morning.
Gonzalez, a Democrat, is the first major-party candidate to announce her intent to seek the state’s top election job. Current Secretary of State Jena Griswold, also a Democrat, is term-limited from running again.
In an interview, Gonzalez said she’d emphasize voting access and building trust in elections. She cited her experience running elections for one of the state’s largest counties and prior experience running Colorado Common Cause, a voting rights advocacy organization.
“You need to be able to trust people that you’re electing to make good decisions, even in unforeseen circumstances, and I want people to know who I am,” Gonzalez said. “And that’s someone who has been fighting tirelessly for voting rights for a very long time.”
She also noted the date of her announcement — the fourth anniversary of Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the 2020 election certification. It’s a reminder that “our democracy is fragile and we have to fight for it,” Gonzalez said.
The fourth anniversary also comes as members of Congress prepare to certify Trump’s 2024 election win, returning him to the White House later this month.
“We know that we have another Trump presidency looming, and we also know the kind of damage that his politics can do,” Gonzalez said. “But I think what gives me hope is that we also know that Colorado has and can continue to lead the way forward. That we can choose democracy and that we have seen Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated (voters) here choose to support policies that contribute to our really good elections.”
Gonzalez was elected to the Jefferson County office in 2022. She manages the county’s motor vehicle offices, marriage licenses, public real estate records and elections.
In that role, she also advocated for changes to state election law. She highlights changes that required jails to offer in-person voting to inmates, many of whom have not been convicted of any crime and are eligible to vote, and to increase the number of ballot drop boxes and other accessibility measures.
Gonzalez has also publicly defended Griswold against accusations the outgoing secretary is too polarizing. In March, Gonzalez described the job as being the “democracy-defender-in-chief.”
Before that, Gonzalez led Colorado Common Cause, a pro-democracy advocacy organization. There, Gonzalez helped draft Amendments Y and Z, which created Colorado’s independent redistricting commissions after voters passed the measures in 2018.
If elected, Gonzalez would be the first Latina to hold the office, according to her campaign.
All of the statewide officeholders are term-limited, making all four offices — governor, attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer — open contests. Attorney General Phil Weiser announced his candidacy for governor last week, making him the first high-profile figure to declare for next year.
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