Attorney General Phil Weiser on Wednesday announced that he’s tapped Jefferson County Commissioner Lesley Dahlkemper, a fellow Democrat, as his running mate in Colorado’s gubernatorial race.
If Weiser is elected in November, Dahlkemper — who was an earlier supporter of Weiser’s campaign — will be his lieutenant governor.
“She’s going to be an extraordinary asset to our administration,” Weiser said at a news conference in downtown Denver. “If you look at her life’s work or her tremendous ability to take on complex problems — to give back to the community at every step of the way — it’s extraordinary. It makes her truly special.”
Dahlkemper was elected to the Jefferson County Commission in 2018 and reelected in 2022. Before that, she was a member of the Jefferson County Public Schools board and served a stint as the panel’s president.
Before entering politics, Dahlkemper worked in public relations and as a journalist at Colorado Public Radio.
Dahlkemper moved to Colorado in 1989 and is married to Mike Feeley, a former state senator who served as the top Democrat in the chamber. Feeley also worked and was a shareholder at the powerful Denver law and lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.
“I have seen Phil’s leadership up close, time and again,” Dahlkemper said at the news conference, mentioning her work with the attorney general battling the opioid crisis. “Like Phil, I take showing up, listening and getting results seriously.”
Dahlkemper declined to say whether she would take both a salary as lieutenant governor and for additional work in Weiser’s administration, should he win.
That’s what’s happening with current Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, who is paid for both her role as Gov. Jared Polis chief deputy and for her leadership of Polis’ Office of Saving People Money on Healthcare, an arrangement that has drawn intense criticism from Republicans.
“It remains to be determined,” Dahlkemper said Wednesday. “I think we have to shape first what that looks like and how I can best contribute to advancing our next governor’s agenda.”
Weiser faces Republican Victor Marx, a first-time candidate who served in the Marines and runs an evangelical Christian ministry, in November.
Marx has not announced a running mate yet.
This is a developing story that will be updated.