ASHE IN AMERICA — OPINION
Paul Weiser
The 2026 Gubernatorial campaign is going to be wild, and a big part of that prediction is the Democrat front runner’s detachment from reality.
Earlier this month, Attorney General Phil Weiser posted to X, “In Colorado, we know what responsible governance looks like — and our leadership on the opioid crisis is a stellar example. As Governor, I will take our tradition of collaborative and innovative leadership to meet the range of challenges facing our state.”
In the post, he includes a link to an article that he wrote, in which we find his source for the “stellar” leadership:
“On his national TV broadcast, John Oliver had a lot of say about how other states have failed on their opioid response; he also called out Colorado an
d North Carolina as setting the gold standard for how transparent we have been in how we’re spending these funds.”
Praise and affirmation of Weiser’s leadership is so low that he’s quoting a red-coated, failed comedian whose “national TV broadcast” is watched by 0.057% of the target demo, per September 2025 Nielson data.
Look at demographic breakdowns. P2+ in ratings refers to the total number of viewers aged 2 and older — it’s a broad demographic metric that captures the overall audience size, including adults, children, and anyone else (i.e., everyone in a Nielson house.)
Weiser cites this comedian(?) — the one reaching 61,000 people in a 107.5M person national demo — as an authority on Colorado leadership.
That’s enough for the AG. But should it be enough for Colorado voters? Setting aside what the foreign comedian says, what story does the data on lawfare, crime, and fentanyl say about Weiser’s performance?
As of mid-2025, the Attorney General of Colorado, Phil Weiser, has filed more than 20 lawsuits against President Trump and/or the federal government. He’s doing this in his official capacity, and using Taxpayer dollars, while citing the lawsuits as a campaign accomplishment.
While Weiser’s attention is focused on his campaign and portfolio of Trump-deranged lawfare (at your expense), his job performance — as the head of the justice department in the Centennial State — is stunning.
In 2022, the year of Weiser’s reelection, Colorado was ranked 4th highest nationally for overall crime (combining property and violent crime), according to FBI data, as reported by Common Sense Institute.
According to USAFacts, in 2024 Colorado’s violent crime rate was about 476 per 100,000 — placing it 7th highest among all states. That same source shows the state’s property crime rate at 2,593 per 100,000, ranking it 2nd highest among states in 2024.
In July, the Denver Gazette reported that Colorado was the “second most dangerous state” in the US, behind only New Mexico. But let’s get even more specific.
Weiser cites the state’s “stellar” leadership on the fentanyl crisis — but from 2018 (Weiser’s election) to 2023 (one year after Weiser’s reelection), fentanyl overdoses in Colorado increased by 900%, according to preliminary data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, as reported by KKCO 11 News. 900%!
In 2023, the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Field Division — a federal agency — seized a record 2.6 million fentanyl pills and an additional ~425.6 kilograms of fentanyl seized in 2023 in Colorado. In fact, Colorado is tied for second highest fentanyl seizures, according to Newsline’s assessment of the 2023 Colorado data. Despite these outcomes, the fentanyl crisis cost taxpayers an estimated $16 billion in 2023, about 3% of Colorado’s GDP, around $2,200 per taxpayer.
No wonder the campaign needs to rely on foreign storytellers to rebrand and spin Phil Weiser as a “stellar” leader and viable candidate.
Weiser is desperate for Colorado voters to imagine him expertly navigating the new, more powerful job of Governor while convincing them to forget his abysmal performance in the current AG spot.
But that strategy requires voters not believing their own eyes. And Colorado voters notice the examples of Phil’s stellar leadership all around them. Check out @dobetterDNVR on X for plentiful examples.
Alternatively, perhaps when Weiser claims “stellar leadership” in fentanyl, he means that Colorado is leading the nation in expanding illicit fentanyl access, use, and addiction. That’s certainly the story of leadership that the data tells.
Regardless of what he means by his words, electing Weiser for Governor will see Colorado continue the way things are right now. We’re living Weiser’s policies, positions, and politics right now. He’s literally bragging, right now, about almost nabbing the spot for worst performance in the nation on fentanyl. From his standpoint, it’s all “stellar.”
If you want Colorado to change, you must fire those making it stay the same.
Start with the guy who decriminalized crime.
Ashe in America is a writer and activist. Find all her work at linktree.com/asheinamerica.
