George Brauchler, a Front Range district attorney, will run for the Republican nomination for governor of Colorado in 2018, he announced on Wednesday morning.
In a video posted to Facebook, he described a "pioneering" spirit that drives Colorado and his own candidacy.
"Colorado voters were the first to extend the right to vote to women. We were the first state to perfect craft brewing. Coloradans can lead with purpose," he said, going on to describe his Lakewood roots, military service and Christian faith.
Brauchler is the elected district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, and The Denver Post last month reported that he was waging a "shadow campaign," meeting local Republican groups and dinging potential rivals. The 18th covers Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties.
Brauchler's announcement video gave a hint of his campaign messaging.
"I want them to inherit the Colorado I did," he said of his children.
"I want them to have the best public education available, because that's the key to the future. I want them to have affordable housing, good-paying jobs, safe neighborhoods and roads that don't suck."
Brauchler, a Republican, was the prosecutor in the Aurora theater shooting trial. He supports the death penalty and opposes new gun controls, saying that "there wasn't a single law" that could have changed the theater massacre. More recently, he was central to a huge bust of an alleged illegal pot grow.
"We're frustrated with weak elected officials who continue to dodge difficult decisions and career politicians who assure us that the answers to Colorado's biggest problems are just one more election away," he said in an announcement video, adding that the system "seems to work best for those who have most."
