Griswold, a Democrat, is running to succeed term-limited Attorney General Phil Weiser. Her opponent is Republican Michael Allen, the district attorney for El Paso and Teller counties. The general election is Nov. 3.

Griswold said she would carry on Weiser’s legal strategy, which includes 87 lawsuits against the federal administration over matters such as funding for rural schools, anti-terrorism grants, and energy and infrastructure projects. She described the cases as necessary to protect Colorado from federal actions she considers unlawful.

Allen has said he would review all 87 cases, continue those he believes benefit Colorado residents and seek to dismiss lawsuits he considers politically motivated. Griswold said she would not trade away legal challenges for federal funding or other benefits.

“You don’t compromise on a case like that where the president is illegally and unconstitutionally retaliating against the state,” Griswold said.

She also criticized Gov. Jared Polis’ decision to commute the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was convicted in connection with a 2021 breach of election equipment. Griswold argued that the courts and a jury should determine punishment. Polis has said he commuted Peters’ sentence because he considered it too harsh, and has rejected claims that political pressure influenced his decision.

On elections, Griswold said her office has spent the past 18 months preparing for possible disruptions, including a scenario in which the U.S. Postal Service stops delivering mail ballots. She said the office added a position and hired a former U.S. Department of Justice employee to bolster contingency planning. Under the plan, the first response to a disruption in mail delivery would be to challenge it in court, she said.

Griswold also pledged to hold federal immigration officials accountable for alleged crimes and oppose expanding immigration detention facilities in Colorado. She said she would maintain a reporting tool for residents to report incidents involving federal officials and enforce state limits on cooperation between state and local agencies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Her consumer agenda includes pursuing illegal price gouging, challenging corporate landlords that illegally raise rents and opposing grocery store mergers that could weaken competition and raise food prices. Griswold said her office as secretary of state has taken action against more than 30,000 fraudulent businesses listed in the state’s business registry. She also supports protecting abortion access, fertility treatment and birth control.

Water is another central issue for the next attorney general as Western states face drought and negotiate the future of the Colorado River system. Griswold said she supports conservation, protecting existing water rights and reaching a fair agreement among the seven basin states. She argued that a deal should account for the Upper Basin states’ historical underuse of their allocations and avoid prolonged litigation. If negotiations fail, she said, she would defend Colorado’s water rights, including in its dispute with Nebraska.

Griswold said the attorney general should use consumer protection laws to address potential harms from artificial intelligence, including increasingly sophisticated scams aimed at older adults. She also called for scrutiny of the water and electricity demands of large data centers, saying families and small businesses should not shoulder the costs of expanding AI infrastructure.

“I will stand up to the monopoly utility and tech companies to protect our water and fight to make sure that data centers pay their own way,” she said.

Griswold grew up in Big Thompson Canyon, between Drake and Estes Park, and said that experience shaped her understanding of water’s importance to Colorado communities. She said her broader goal as attorney general would be to protect residents from corporate misconduct while defending the state’s authority against federal actions she views as unlawful.