BRAUCHLER MAY SWITCH TO COLO.’S RACE FOR AG

District attorney reconsiders his bid for governor after Coffman decision.

Republican gubernatorial candidate George Brauchler could be weighing a run for attorney general instead.

WASHINGTON» Republican gubernatorial candidate George Brauchler is weighing a run for attorney general now that Cynthia Coffman, currently in the post, has entered the governor’s race, according to his campaign and several GOP sources.

Brauchler already has reached out to some potential rivals — notably U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Windsor, who said earlier this year that he might seek Coffman’s job if she left the post.

Buck said in an interview Wednesday that he was staying put in Congress.

Brauchler’s campaign confirmed in a statement that he has entertained the idea of switching races. Brauchler, who serves as the 18th Judicial District attorney, made his name prosecuting the Aurora theater shooter.

“The AG race in Colorado will be bigger than George, and the list of people qualified and dynamic enough to win a down-ticket race at this late date, less than one year out, is short. So, is he taking the calls and hearing people out? Yes, he is,” wrote Sean Tonner, a Brauchler adviser.

If Brauchler were to leave the race for governor, it would add another twist to what’s so far been a roller-coaster contest.

Already, the gubernatorial campaign has seen one notable candidate enter and exit — Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter — and the field on both the Democratic and Republican sides is one of the deepest and widest in years.

His financial firepower pales in comparison to that of GOP rivals Walker Stapleton or Victor Mitchell. Plus, the recent entry of Republican firebrand Tom Tancredo would make it hard for Brauchler to win a primary by consolidating support among hard-line conservatives.

Still, a run for attorney general would have its own challenges.

Other Republicans have expressed interest in running, including state Rep. Cole Wist of Centennial, and George Leing, who lost in 2014 to Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder. Polis is now one of the many candidates looking to replace Gov. John Hickenlooper in 2018.

Said Leing of the AG race: “I’m looking at this. I’m looking at this seriously.”

Any Republican running for attorney general could face a sizable fundraising deficit with at least one of the five Democrats vying to become Colorado’s top law enforcement officer: Phil Weiser. The former dean of the University of Colorado Law School and a one-time Obama administration official had hauled in more than $700,000 for his campaign heading into October.