By Vince Phillips
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser proudly tells voters he has filed or joined 64 lawsuits against the Trump administration and won most of them. He repeats the line often because it is the centerpiece of his campaign for governor in 2026.
The number has a kernel of truth, but it is still very deceptive.
Weiser announced his candidacy for governor in January 2025, right after President Trump’s inauguration. Of those 64 lawsuits, Colorado has been the lead plaintiff in only four. In the other 60 cases, Weiser’s office simply signed on to lawsuits organized/led by other Democratic attorneys general from states such as California, New York, and Massachusetts. Those other states chose the court, wrote the complaint, and set the legal strategy. Weiser just added Colorado’s name.
Even more important, nearly every “win” Weiser cites is a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order, not a final judgment on the merits. Most of the cases are still pending. Many are on appeal. Some early injunctions have already been stayed or narrowed.
Weiser has been the lead plaintiff in only four cases, and even in those four there have been zero final wins on the merits so far.
Of the 64 lawsuits, eight have already been dismissed or allowed to proceed. Several of those dismissed cases involve policies many Colorado voters would likely support, such as keeping reliable coal-fired power online to protect grid stability while new energy sources are built out. The threat of freezing to death is a great motivator.
These lawsuits are not neutral law enforcement. They are aggressive, coordinated resistance timed perfectly with Weiser’s gubernatorial campaign. Colorado taxpayers are footing the bill for a legal strategy that looks more like campaign positioning than careful stewardship of state resources.
The hypocrisy becomes even clearer when you remember how loudly some of the same voices criticized Donald Trump when he sued the IRS as a private citizen over the illegal leak of his family’s tax returns. That lawsuit sought damages for a clear violation of federal privacy law. Liberals called it frivolous and abusive. Yet when state attorneys general use the full power of government to file lawsuit after lawsuit against the opposing administration’s policy decisions, the same critics call it essential checks and balances.
The IRS leak caused real harm. It exposed private financial information, invited harassment, damaged reputations, and set a dangerous precedent.
Now consider the core campaign claim itself: “64 lawsuits and won most of them.” That statement is not merely an exaggeration. It is fundamentally misleading. Most of the so-called wins are temporary court orders that have not been tested on the merits and could easily be overturned. Many cases are still unresolved or have already been dismissed. When a candidate repeatedly inflates his record this way to sound tougher and more successful than he actually is, voters have every right to ask a simple question: If Phil Weiser is willing to mislead the public about something as basic as his own lawsuit scorecard, is he really the kind of person we want as governor of Colorado? Voters deserve the full story before they decide who should be the next governor of Colorado.
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