Colorado AG Race Splits Over Data Center Costs and Car Theft

Will your property taxes and utility bills go up because of a data center? Jena Griswold says yes.

The race for Colorado’s top law enforcement job is a head-to-head between the state’s current Secretary of State and a district attorney from the Front Range. Jena Griswold, the Democrat who has served as Secretary of State since 2019, is running against Michael Allen. Allen is the Republican District Attorney for El Paso and Teller counties.

The stakes are high. The office holds a budget that supports more than 650 employees. It handles criminal cases, consumer protection, environmental law, and antitrust enforcement. The current Attorney General, Phil Weiser, hit the term limit. He cannot run again.

Griswold and Allen have different answers to your wallet’s problems.

The Cost of Living

Griswold frames the cost-of-living crisis as a corporate problem. She told the Colorado Sun she will hold companies accountable for "abusive prices" charged to consumers and renters. She specifically pointed to data centers. Her office would protect consumers from utility rate hikes driven by those facilities.

Allen argues the cost of living is a crime problem. He linked high costs to crime rates in his campaign statements. "We have to improve law enforcement against crime and hold those who commit crimes accountable," he said in a statement reported by the Colorado Sun. He pointed to motor vehicle theft as an example. Colorado is worse than the national average per capita for car thefts. Insurance companies notice that. They raise your premiums.

One candidate blames the grid. The other blames the thief. Both are running for the same job.

The candidates also split on federal issues, though their answers to specific questions about suing the Trump administration and handling ICE were not fully detailed in the initial reporting. The office represents state agencies in court. That means the next Attorney General will decide which federal battles Colorado fights and which it ignores.

Griswold lives in Louisville. Allen lives in El Paso County. Both are well-known figures on the Front Range, but their bases are narrow compared to the state they will govern.

The election is November 3. You will pick one of two philosophies for how the state spends its legal muscle. One focuses on corporate pricing and utility rates. The other focuses on crime and insurance premiums.

Neither candidate is running from the Western Slope. Neither is promising to fix the specific infrastructure gaps in our valleys. They are running for a statewide office with a Front Range-centric platform.

Read that again. The next Attorney General will be chosen by voters who mostly live in the east of the state, on issues that mostly affect the east of the state.

The office has a broad mandate. It includes protecting consumers and the environment. But with limited resources, priorities matter. Griswold wants to fight data center costs. Allen wants to fight car thefts.

Who wins? That depends on who you think is driving your bills up. The utility company or the thief.

The answer isn't in the press releases. It's in your next bill.