Denver — The Colorado Attorney General’s Office is located 10 stories high in downtown Denver. From his eagle nest, Phil Weiser has a sweeping view of the city skyline, the gold-domed Capitol Building and the occasional red hawk on its wings.
But looking ahead to November, Weiser sees a darker picture.
Federal agents swarmed polling places. Voters were intimidated or prevented from voting. A ruthless president used his power, real and imagined, to undermine or try to overturn the November 3 election.
“What we’re seeing in this administration is that it’s important that we don’t limit our imagination… to the types of harm that could happen,” Weiser said on a sunny noon day in Miligao City.
For that reason, Colorado’s attorney general and fellow Democrats across the country have spent more than a year strategizing over the phone, over Zoom and sometimes in person to ensure Trump wins the midterm elections.
They researched history and law, conducted what-if analyses, divided responsibilities, and drafted emergency lawsuits and temporary restraining orders so they could appear in court at a moment’s notice.
“We have prepared for a range of contingencies … so that we are ready to take action,” Weiser said.
“We’re not going to react immediately” or stay up all night, he added. “We will continue to execute the plans we have developed and take into account what is possible.”
The efforts by Weiser, California’s Rob Bonta and more than 20 other Democratic attorneys general are part of a massive mobilization to thwart Trump’s unprecedented efforts to distort and subvert the November midterm votes.
It’s important to note that this kind of roadblock-everyone action is needed to preserve and protect the right to vote in this land of the free and home of the brave. But after weighing the threats, Weiser said his biggest fear about election interference comes not from bad overseas actors or a terrorist group, but from our own federal government “and possible actions by this administration.”
So here we are.
To fend off threats from within, state Democrats across the country plan to recruit 10,000 volunteers to guard polling places in case armed federal agents show up.
Various sponsors launched educational campaigns to explain election rules and provide hotlines for voters who had difficulty casting their ballots.
Civil rights groups and democracy defense groups have held their own tabletop exercises to brainstorm ideas and rehearse various scenarios. A group of Democratic U.S. senators did the same.
“What we’re doing is preparing ourselves for the fact that Donald Trump lied before the 2020 election, lied afterward, went to court … and then he incited a violent insurrection in this building,” Marc Elias, a Democratic election lawyer, told MS NOW at the Capitol in July. “So I think we need to have a midterm election in 2026 … in 2026.”
In a world of braver, less reckless partisanship, Republicans would work with Democrats to rein in a power-drunk Trump. (The House and Senate are said to be a separate and co-equal branch of government, with their own powers, prerogatives, etc.)
But, as Weiser points out, the Republican-led Congress “has been spineless and devoid of checks and balances. That has left state attorneys general to fill that vacuum, go to court and essentially act as a check on a lawless, often bullying president.”
During Trump’s second term alone, 24 Democratic attorneys general in the United States filed more than 125 lawsuits against his moves on trade and tariffs, energy and immigration policies, and the destruction or elimination of programs and entire government agencies. They win in the vast majority of cases that are decided or settled.
Even before Trump was re-elected, some attorneys general began discussing how to combat the excesses they expected to emerge in a second administration. Anyone who didn’t see them coming wasn’t paying attention, said Weiser, who will likely be elected as Colorado’s next governor on Nov. 3.
(His victory in the Colorado Democratic primary stemmed in large part from Weiser’s court battles with Trump.)
“The worst-case scenario is that if Trump is elected president, he will commit to Plan 2025 and do things like try to end birthright citizenship, try to interfere with mail-in voting, seek to use ICE in a way that basically affronts the rule of law,” Weiser said. “All of these things happened.”
So why not expect more of the same in November?
Under the Constitution, Trump (lowercase “c”) cannot recognize the results of any election he did not win. He publicly urged supporters to “cheat like crazy.” So when the president attempts to wantonly purge voter rolls, hijack the U.S. Postal Service to screw up mail voting, and overturn the Constitution (with a capital “c”) by federalizing the November election, one can only assume he has malicious intent.
Some may think this concern is overly dramatic or exaggerated.
But as Weiser said, “We need to remain nervous and vigilant because [of] What this president demonstrated, January 6th was a telling example. ”
The attorney general said Trump’s refusal to accept the election results was “historic.” “It’s unique. It’s a threat. That’s why we have to remain vigilant.”
votebring this rogue president to heel. stay vigilantto ensure the vote is valid.
Two great slogans for this midterm election.