CD8 and Colorado attorney general races heat up as union leader, former federal prosecutor jump in

The races to represent Colorado’s 8th Congressional District and to be the next Colorado attorney general grew more crowded Thursday as new candidates entered the 2026 Democratic primaries.

Amie Baca-Oehlert, the former president of the state’s largest teachers union, announced her run for Congress, and Hetal Doshi, a former federal prosecutor, said she will run for attorney general.

Baca-Oehlert planned to formally announce her candidacy Thursday evening at Adams City High School. The U.S. House seat, the newest and most competitive in Colorado, was formed after the 2020 census and spans from Thornton to Greeley.

U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, a Republican, currently holds the position after defeating Democratic incumbent Yadira Caraveo in 2024. Baca-Oehlert is the fifth person to enter the Democratic primary alongside Caraveo, Colorado Treasurer Dave Young and state Reps. Shannon Bird and Manny Rutinel.

In the race to be Colorado’s next attorney general, Doshi enters with prosecutorial experience. She worked as an “anti-monopoly litigator” as a deputy assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice from 2022 to 2025, according to a news release. She has led cases against Google, Apple and Ticketmaster.

She earlier worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Colorado.

“Right now, the rule of law is under attack by those who have abandoned patriotism for power,” Doshi said, according to the release. “Colorado’s next Attorney General must have a proven record of taking on the toughest fights — and winning.”

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, is term-limited and is now running for governor in 2026.