El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen Announces Run for Colorado Attorney General

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice

District Attorney of El Paso County Michael J. Allen has declared his intention to run for attorney general in Colorado.

Allen served in the Navy and is in his second term as district attorney for Colorado’s Fourth Judicial District. His announcement comes as the state grapples with rising auto theft, higher insurance costs, and continued overdose deaths.Allen framed the decision as a gradual one.

Allen framed the decision as a gradual one.

“It was a long time coming to make the decision,” Allen said. “I’ve had people reaching out to me really starting January of 2025 — both statewide, local folks, and then even national folks — trying to talk me into running.”

For Allen, the question was not simply whether to run, but whether the moment demanded a different approach to the office.

“It really came down to trying to figure out, could a Republican actually win the Attorney General race,” he said. “Over time, just talking with folks and looking at the evidence… deciding that it was the right time.”

A Prosecutor’s Case for the Office

Allen enters the race with more than two decades of prosecutorial experience and is currently serving his second term as district attorney for Colorado’s Fourth Judicial District, which covers El Paso and Teller counties. His background is rooted in trial work and direct supervision of criminal prosecutions.

“It really comes down to experience,” Allen said. “I’ve stood in a courtroom and argued cases hundreds of times — from minor theft cases all the way up to the most heinous murder cases.”

In a video message posted to his campaign website, Allen described his record leading major prosecutions in Colorado, including cases involving organized crime, violent offenders, and high-profile homicides.

“As an experienced prosecutor and military veteran, I have led major prosecutions in this state, from theft to murder, such as going after drug cartels who traffic fentanyl to prosecuting the Club Q shooting that killed five and injured twenty-five others,” Allen said.

Much of the attorney general’s work involves criminal enforcement across jurisdictions, along with constitutional and courtroom matters.

Allen said that role requires practical legal judgment grounded in real-world prosecution.

“When you’ve got the current Attorney General saying things like people can steal three or four cars before they spend any time in jail, that’s a problem,” Allen said. “That’s sending a message to the public that a lot of violations is okay and you should just suck it up, essentially.”

Public Safety, Cost of Living, and Crime

Allen tied his campaign directly to the impact crime has on household finances, arguing that public safety failures translate into higher costs for families.

“The cost of living in Colorado is rising every day,” Allen said. “Families are paying more for housing, groceries, and insurance; crime is the big reason why. Vehicle theft, property crime, scams, violent gangs, and fentanyl are driving up costs for Colorado families.”

“When we are the forty seventh worst state in the nation currently on motor vehicle theft, it stands to reason why our auto insurance rates are so high,” he added.

Colorado’s vehicle theft problem is well documented. With vehicle theft crossing the 24,000 mark statewide in 2024, Colorado ended up ranked worst in the country on a per-capita basis.

Theft raises claims.

Claims raise costs.

Industry data compiled by Experian show Colorado drivers pay well over $2,200 per year on average for auto insurance, placing the state among the most expensive in the nation. State officials and insurers have cited vehicle theft and claim volume as major contributors to those costs.

Allen pointed to results in his own district as an example of what focused enforcement can accomplish.

“In 2024 we had over five thousand motor vehicle theft cases here in the fourth judicial district,” he said. “And then in 2025… it was down to fifteen hundred.”

His campaign materials describe that reduction as the result of Colorado’s first dedicated motor vehicle theft prosecution team, pairing prosecutors with investigators to focus exclusively on auto theft cases.

Allen applied the same logic to retail theft.

“When you’ve got retail theft occurring at the rate that it’s been occurring in the state of Colorado, the retailers themselves — the businesses — they’re not paying for that retail theft,” he said. “Those costs are being passed on to consumers.”

“The consumers pay those costs,” Allen said. “It’s borne in the individual prices on items.”

Fentanyl is also part of that public safety conversation for Allen.

The overdose death toll didn’t peak in 2020, when nearly 1,500 Coloradans died, and over the next three years annual deaths climbed past 1,800, with state health data showing fentanyl involved in 57.4 percent of unintentional overdose deaths.

“We’ve lost thousands of people in Colorado as a result of fentanyl,” Allen said.

Resources, Priorities, and the Attorney General’s Office

Allen also raised concerns about how the attorney general’s office has grown and how its resources are being used.

“The volume and types of lawsuits that have been filed have just been purely politically motivated,” he said. “They don’t result in anything being better for the people of the state of Colorado.”

When Phil Weiser began his term in 2019, the Colorado Department of Law was operating on a budget of roughly $83 million in FY 2018–19. In the years since, that figure has climbed to more than $146 million — a growth that coincided with an aggressive federal litigation posture, including nearly 50 lawsuits filed against the Trump administration during 2025.

“As Colorado’s next Attorney General, my priority will be focused on Colorado families and the price they are paying because politicians in Denver are focused on partisan political lawsuits that do nothing to help bring down costs for Colorado families,” Allen said.

Constitutional Guardrails and the Role of the Courts

Allen said his approach to the attorney general’s office would be grounded first in constitutional analysis.

“The lens I’m always going to look at everything through is: is something constitutional or not,” Allen said.

“If a law is determined to be not constitutional, then maybe the best action to take there is to not defend it when it’s challenged,” he said.

At the same time, Allen said there are circumstances where allowing a case to proceed through the courts serves a broader legal purpose.

“There could be instances where you just flat refuse to defend something if it’s flatly unconstitutional,” he said. “There could be other times where maybe the best course is, yeah, this is going to end up being constitutional, but let’s get a ruling from the Supreme Court.”

“Once the Supreme Court weighs in on something like that, that’s a good thing,” Allen said. “That can have wider impact and actually affect the entire country, so that other states also cannot go down that sort of path.”

“So just because you may defend a case in the classical sense… that could be a way that you’re actually testing its constitutionality,” he said.

Support and Campaign Kickoff

Allen’s campaign launch drew early support from law enforcement leaders.

“I’ve known Michael Allen for many years and I’m proud to call him a friend,” said Darren Weekly. “As a District Attorney, he’s demonstrated strong judgment, real leadership, and a clear commitment to the rule of law and public safety. Michael Allen is the clear choice for Attorney General of Colorado.”

Measuring Success

Asked how voters should judge his performance if elected, Allen returned to outcomes.

“Has the Attorney General’s office had a positive impact on public safety?” he said. “Has cost of living gone down? Are criminals being held accountable across the state?”

Allen plans to take those issues directly to voters later tonight in Colorado Springs—at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, following an introduction from former Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly is expected to be there in support.

“I look forward to speaking with Colorado families all over our state to hear their concerns and share my vision for what we can do in the Attorney General’s office.”