Denver attorney David Seligman, the director of a nonprofit that advocates for workers’ rights, announced on Tuesday that he’s seeking next year’s Democratic nomination for Colorado attorney general, vowing to take on “political corruption and corporate greed.”

“I’ve seen throughout all my work the ways in which people are getting squeezed and screwed over and are scared right now about all the threats they’re facing,” Seligman told Colorado Politics. “They’re feeling the consequences of a system in which corporations and billionaires play by one set of rules, and everyone else plays by another.”

Seligman, 42, is executive director of Denver-based nonprofit Towards Justice, a legal and labor rights organization founded in 2018 that has racked up wins in court and at the state Capitol for rideshare drivers, sheepherders, meatpackers and renters.

David Seligman for Colorado Attorney General.

He joins a crowded primary field for the office held by term-limited Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is running for governor.

Others in the race for attorney general include Secretary of State Jena Griswold, Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty, and former state House Speaker Crisanta Duran. Political newcomer Connor Pennington is the only Republican candidate for the office so far.

Seligman, who hasn’t run for office before, acknowledged that he’s going up against seasoned politicians but said that his experience “litigating alongside” Weiser’s office and other attorneys general has prepared him for the job.

“My campaign is going to be about going out and talking to people and listening to them and telling them about how the AG’s office can help them take on not only corruption in Washington but also the healthcare system that puts profits over people, and price-gouging that makes life unaffordable,” Seligman said.

Seligman said the array of billionaires who were front and center when President Donald Trump took office, including Tesla founder and top Trump advisor Elon Musk, helped encourage his decision to run for attorney general.

“I think we’re facing a real crisis in this country,” Seligman said. “We had some of the richest men in the world behind Donald Trump at his inauguration. They seem hellbent on pursuing an agenda that involves, among other things, dismantling the parts of our government that are there to protect working people, to protect consumers, to protect small businesses, to protect the environment.”

Seligman added that there’s no job better suited to challenging the Trump administration than the one he’s seeking.

“Right now, state attorneys general are going to need to be the tip of the spear in fighting to save not just our democracy, but also in fighting for an economy where people aren’t being destroyed by corporate power abuse,” Seligman said.

His campaign launched with endorsements from more than a dozen current and former progressive Democratic state lawmakers, including state Sens. Julie Gonzales and Mike Weissman and state Reps. Jennifer Bacon and Elizabeth Velasco, who are both members of their chamber’s leadership.

Former Colorado Democratic Party chair Morgan Carroll and former House Speaker Pro Tem Chris DeGruy Kennedy are also among Seligman’s supporters.

Raised in East Denver, Seligman is a graduate of Harvard Law School. He clerked for federal district court and appellate judges on the East Coast and worked for the National Consumer Law Center before returning to Denver a decade ago.

Seligman and his wife, a teacher, live with their three daughters in East Denver.