Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold sent an official letter to incoming Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on March 9 demanding written confirmation that ICE agents will not appear at polling locations during the 2026 elections. Two federal officials had already said exactly that. Griswold is running for Attorney General.
The letter acknowledges its own redundancy. It cites Heather Honey, DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Election Integrity, who told an election officials’ briefing on February 25 that any suggestion of ICE at polling places “is simply disinformation” and “there will be no ICE presence at polling locations.” It then cites former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who told the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3 that “there are no plans to have ICE officers at our polling locations.” Having documented both statements, the letter asks Mullin to confirm the policy in writing anyway.
The letter is addressed to Mullin as “Secretary of Homeland Security — Nominee.” Trump announced his nomination on March 5. His tenure begins March 31.
Four weeks before the letter, Griswold posted to LinkedIn from an account identified as “Colorado Secretary of State” promising to prosecute ICE agents — not in her current role, but in one she doesn’t yet hold. “ICE is terrorizing our country,” she wrote. “As Attorney General, I will prosecute any ICE or federal agent that breaks the law.” The Secretary of State oversees elections and business filings. The Attorney General prosecutes cases. The offices share no authority. HCA documented the post at the time.
That post was not an isolated incident. Since announcing her Attorney General candidacy in April 2025, Griswold has issued at least six official Secretary of State press releases with language tracking her campaign’s core messaging. In March 2025, her official office accused the Trump administration of “weaponizing the federal government.” Her campaign launch statement that same month pledged to “stand up to Donald Trump to protect our rights and freedoms.”
When Democracy Docket — a Democratic election litigation operation — quoted one of those official releases in February, Griswold reshared the article on her Attorney General campaign page. Her own government press release, issued under her Secretary of State title, appeared on her campaign page as external coverage. HCA documented that pattern on February 28.
Colorado law gives her room to operate this way. C.R.S. § 24-75-115 bars the Secretary of State’s office from spending public money on advertising that prominently features a declared candidate, but it explicitly exempts “ongoing and routine communications” — a category that covers press releases. No statutory violation has been documented. What has been documented is the pattern.
The Mullin letter is not the first official correspondence timed to her campaign calendar. On January 13, Griswold sent a letter to Governor Polis urging him not to grant clemency to Tina Peters — one day before a Court of Appeals hearing in the Peters case. The primary was five months away. HCA reported at the time that each official letter reinforces her campaign brand at no campaign cost.
Eight other Democratic secretaries of state signed the Mullin letter, from Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, Connecticut, Maine, New Mexico, and Rhode Island. Griswold’s name is listed first.
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