Things got a little chippy Saturday at a union hall north of Denver, as Democratic gubernatorial candidates U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sparred over the effectiveness of their respective responses to President Donald Trump’s second administration in their first joint campaign appearance ahead of this year’s primary.

The two leading Democrats hoping to succeed term-limited Gov. Jared Polis each maintained that their records of “standing up” to Trump have secured wins for Coloradans and demonstrated that they’re best suited to lead the state, while accusing their rival of falling short.

Bennet and Weiser answered questions from moderators and audience members at a forum sponsored by the Colorado Young Democrats at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 68 facility.

At last count, 21 Republicans are seeking the GOP nomination for governor, an office the party has held for only two terms in the last 50 years.

The two Democrats sounded like they agree on most of the policy questions raised at the forum, including both saying they plan to overhaul spending limits under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, while preserving the state constitutional amendment’s provision requiring Coloradans to vote to approve any tax increases.

Weiser, who launched his campaign at the beginning of last year, has routinely criticized Bennet for voting to confirm numerous Trump cabinet nominees since the three-term lawmaker announced his candidacy in April.

After months of mostly ignoring his primary opponent, Bennet went on the offensive Saturday, including arguing that Weiser has been overstating his role in a slew of lawsuits challenging the Trump administration.

At the forum, Weiser tore into Bennet for saying in a recent interview that he stood by his vote to approve U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, pointing to Rollins’ recent moves to block federal food assistance to Colorado and other states, as well as her department’s moves to loosen restrictions on commercial use of national forests.

Weiser added that “one of the 50 lawsuits we brought against this administration” resulted in a Forest Service firefighter getting her job back after Rollins’ department let her go “right before fire season.”

“I don’t believe when you’re up against a lawless bully, you try to make nice,” Weiser said, citing Bennet’s stance toward Rollins. “You stand for what you believe in.”

Bennet countered that Colorado benefited from his ability to pressure Rollins after voting for her.

“I stood by that vote because of the work that I had been able to do with Democrats and Republicans throughout the Western United States to make sure all of us got the fire resources we needed in what was, for Colorado, the fourth-worst fire season that we have ever had,” Bennet said.

“I don’t need a lecture from him about the workers at the Department of Agriculture,” Bennet added, gesturing to Weiser and adding that he invited a firefighter who had been laid off by the Forest Service to be his guest at Trump’s State of the Union address.

Bennet then pivoted to criticizing Weiser.

“There’s literally nothing easier in the world than voting against a Trump nominee on the floor of the U.S. Senate,” Bennet said. “You know, except for maybe joining someone else’s lawsuit that has been filed against Donald Trump and saying that you have filed against Donald Trump.”

Weiser has repeatedly touted the number of lawsuits he has filed or joined aimed at reversing the Trump administration’s actions. Late last week, a federal judge issued a temporary block on the administration’s attempts to freeze over $10 million in federal childcare and low-income assistance funds bound for Colorado and four other states with Democratic governors, citing concerns about fraud.

In response to Bennet, Weiser fired back: “As your attorney general, I have sued this administration again and again and again, and we’re winning again and again and again. I know some people have said lawsuits don’t matter — hypothetically, maybe even in the last couple hours.”

Referring to the results of a recent lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s move to limit gender-affirming services for young people, Weiser added: “I gotta tell you, for transgender Coloradans, they matter.”

Repeating a campaign theme, Bennet said that fighting the Trump administration isn’t enough because, he argued, it doesn’t address the environmental problems that led to Republicans’ two presidential elections.

“There is no shortage of opportunity, so far, for me to take him on, and I will continue to do it as your governor. I believe this is the place where that fight is going to be waged,” Bennet told the crowd after listing examples of confronting Trump that included blocking an appropriations package, grilling cabinet nominees and administration officials, and voting twice to impeach the Republican president.

“‘You know, my opponent spends a lot of time talking about ‘fight, fight, fight’ Trump. ‘Lawsuit, lawsuit, lawsuit,'” Bennet added. “But what we really need in this nation, in addition to fighting Trump, is a vision for what the future is going to look like.”

That future, he continued, involves delivering affordable housing, health care and early childhood education to Coloradans, as well as addressing climate change.

“None of that is going to happen as long as we keep losing to Donald Trump,” Bennet said, noting that he was among the first prominent Democrats to warn that the party was facing a landslide loss in the 2024 elections after Joe Biden’s “terrible debate” with Trump.

Weiser made a similar point several times during the forum, pointing to lengthy policy proposals the campaign has released to address the same topics Bennet listed.

“I want to share with you a core campaign commitment that I know I’ll deliver on,” Weiser said near the forum’s conclusion. “It’s ‘Phil Weiser for governor, Michael Bennet for Senate.’ There’s a bumper sticker out there that captures that priority.”

Major-party candidates can qualify for Colorado’s June primary ballot at the Democrats’ and Republicans’ state assemblies, which must take place by early April, or by petitioning to be on the ballot.