DENVER -- Secretary of State Jena Griswold said Friday she is not running for U.S. Senate, ending months of speculation that she would join a large Democratic field against Sen. Cory Gardner.
Griswold, 34, is younger than any current member of the Senate and would have been the youngest U.S. senator in Colorado history. She also could have been the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Colorado in its nearly 150-year history.
However, the secretary of state, who oversees Colorado’s elections, would have faced criticisms for seeking higher office so soon after winning her first office. She launched a Senate exploratory committee in July, six months after taking office and eight months after winning the November 2018 election. The exploratory committee raised $200,000 in two weeks.
During Griswold’s 2018 race against Republican Wayne Williams, she accused the incumbent secretary of state of working “part time” and moonlighting as a private attorney. Griswold vowed then to focus all of her time on being secretary of state, eschewing outside interests.
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