Our last election is in the rearview mirror by more than a week now, meaning we’re more than a week into the 2026 election cycle slog. God help us.

Ever been in a line at Disneyland? You think you’re finally at the end of it as you turn a corner to see it just keeps going, seemingly indefinitely. Same with elections, an ongoing purgatory we did nothing to deserve.

This is a blue state and while President Donald Trump is in office it will remain a blue state. This means the real battle for next year’s statewide offices will be the Democratic primaries, not the general election in November. And the most important race is for governor.

If I had $20 to bet right now, which I don’t since I instead paid the energy bill, I’d put it on Attorney General Phil Weiser becoming our next governor.

At first glance it seems U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet has the clear advantage. Though Weiser has raised more money for his official campaign, the real money comes from outside PACs, where Team Bennet is already outraising him by a couple fold. It’s good to be a three-term senator — special interests throw money at you.

This perversion was created by campaign finance laws. For their official campaign a candidate can only ask for a limited amount of money per donor ($3,500). Outside groups can collect unlimited amounts if they don’t coordinate with the candidate.

The reason we have out-of-control, expensive, ugly campaigns is because we bought the lie campaign finance reform would keep big money out of campaigns.

“I did not have sex with that woman”… “if you like your health care plan, you can keep it”… “rail transit will be completed on budget and reduce traffic”… “campaign finance limits will get big money out of politics.”

We keep buying what they’re selling.

So why Weiser for the win? Many say that along with his money advantage Bennet has better name recognition. I think not.

There are two elected offices guaranteed get their name in the news every day in Colorado — the governor and the mayor of Denver. The Colorado press no longer really have Washington bureaus.

Our federal delegation doesn’t get daily coverage here unless they’re being happily groped at a showing of “Beetlejuice.” And I don’t wanna see the video of that happening to Bennet.

Add the fact our Attorney General has turned his office into a lawsuit-palooza, public-relations machine. There is no one he won’t sue, on our dime, to bring himself a little more press coverage.

Bennet says he needs to become governor to defend us from Donald Trump. Apparently, the U.S. Senate — that little-known federal body — isn’t a better office from which to do that. But Weiser is the Lawfare Tooth Fairy litigating Trump for waking up in the morning. And each suit is another press conference and news story.

The real reason Weiser is likely to win the primary is when you vote for him, you’re only voting for him. You’re voting for only one person. Whereas a vote for Michael is a vote for two people — Michael and a mystery date of his choice to replace him as United States senator.

Bennet has made clear he’s not going to give up his Senate seat until after he’s sworn in as governor. This means as the new governor he will appoint his own replacement — all perfectly legal. But it leads to one teensy-weensy inevitable question:

Michael Bennet, who will you appoint to replace yourself as our senator?

Won’t answer that one? How about this one: how is not telling us not disrespectful as hell?

Colorado primary voters will be resistant to voting for a secret senator. And though they’ll never say it out loud, even Bennet’s most ardent backers want to know who he’s going to choose. Just who are they supporting by supporting Bennet?

If you think Bennet is a good senator and unsure if his replacement will be better, you’ll vote for a Weiser to keep Bennet where he is.

Michael has two choices if he wants to win this primary: he must either resign before election day, letting Gov. Jared Polis choose his replacement, or tell us who he’s going to choose.

If he doesn’t do one of these two things, no amount of money will bring him the primary victory.

Jon Caldara is president of the Independence Institute in Denver and hosts “The Devil’s Advocate with Jon Caldara” on Colorado Public Television Channel 12. His column appears Sundays in Colorado Politics.