Dougherty enters 2018 race

A deputy prosecutor from Boulder announced this week that he’ll run for state attorney general, joining an increasingly crowded field for the 2018 election.

A career prosecutor, Michael Dougherty currently serves as assistant district attorney for the 1st Judicial District in Jefferson and Gilpin counties, after previous stints in the Colorado attorney general’s office and the district attorney’s office in New York City.

“I cut my teeth as a prosecutor in New York City when crime was at an all-time high,” Dougherty told The Denver Post in an interview. “It is essential that the (next) attorney general has prosecution experience and be a public servant before taking office.”

Dougherty, 45, joins a Democratic field that already has two entrants, with the primary election still a year away. State Rep. Joe Salazar and Phil Weiser, a former University of Colorado Law School dean and Obama administration alumnus, have also announced plans to run against incumbent Republican Attorney General Cynthia Coffman.

Dougherty said he plans to focus on the environment, public safety, consumer protection and government transparency. And, he added, the attorney general needs to do more than simply pledge to oppose President Donald Trump’s agenda, something that Salazar and Weiser list as priorities in their own campaigns.

“It’s easy for individuals to be anti-Trump,” Dougherty said, “but, in my mind, we need a lot more, … not simply someone who’s going to point out the problems.”

Dougherty came to Colorado in 2010, initially overseeing the Colorado DNA Justice Review Project under former state Attorney General John Suthers. He was later tapped to lead the criminal justice division under Suthers, a Republican.