U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is “strongly considering” running for Colorado governor in next year’s election, two of the Democrat’s top aides told Colorado Politics Friday.

A Bennet aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, said the senator has been having discussions recently with people who have reached out and is now “very open” to running after having essentially closed the door to the possibility earlier this year.

Bennet, who is his third term and has been among the Democrats most prominently challenging the Trump administration, believes that it could be a time where leadership in Colorado can make more of a difference than remaining in the U.S. Senate, the aide said.

Bennet’s interest in the gubernatorial race was first reported by the Colorado Sun.

Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, a former five-term congressman from Boulder, is term-limited after the 2026 election.

Bennet, an attorney and former Denver Public Schools superintendent, was appointed to the Senate seat in 2009 by then-Gov. Bill Ritter to replace Democrat Ken Salazar, who stepped down to join the Obama cabinet as Interior secretary. He’s won election to full terms three times since, in 2010, 2016 and 2022.

The race to succeed Polis has been slow to take shape. So far, Attorney General Phil Weiser is the only Democrat who has launched a campaign, while U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse and Jason Crow and Secretary of State Jena Griswold have been seen as potential candidates. Salazar, Bennet’s predecessor in the Senate seat and the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has also indicated an interest in possibly seeking the gubernatorial nomination.

So far, state Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs, is the only major Republican to have declared. Other potential GOP candidates include state Sens. Barb Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, and Mark Baisley, R-Woodland Park. Former University of Colorado Regent Heidi Ganahl, who lost to Polis in 2022, is also a possible candidate.