John Suthers - Attorney General

Attorney General

Following the election of Ken Salazar to the United States Senate, John Suthers was nominated by Governor Owens and confirmed by the State Senate as the 37th Attorney General of Colorado in January 2005. Suthers served the remaining two years of Salazar's term before running for reelection in 2006. In November 2006, Suthers won election to the Attorney General's Office, defeating challenger Fern O'Brien by nine points. During the same election cycle, the Republican candidate for Governor, Bob Beauprez, lost 56–40.

Despite being courted in 2008 and 2010 for runs for the U.S. Senate, Suthers chose to run for re-election. Suthers defeated his Democratic opponent in 2010 election by a 14-point margin – the largest margin of victory in a two-way race in Colorado that year. In both 2006 and 2010, Suthers received the endorsement of virtually every major newspaper in Colorado. including The Denver Post, which called him a “tireless public servant.”

Suthers has served on the executive committee of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) since 2007. He chaired the NAAG Criminal Law Committee from 2005 to 2007 and has been a member of the U.S. Attorney General’s Executive Working Group on Prosecution since 2005.

In June 2012, Suthers was awarded the Kelley-Wyman Award by the National Association of Attorneys General. It is the highest award given by the Association and is presented annually to the Attorney General who has done the most to advance the interests of the Association.