Michael Guzman is running for the Democratic nomination for Colorado’s 34th Senate District in the 2026 primaries.
SD34 covers downtown Denver, spanning about 26 square miles and containing about 166,000 people, according to the U.S. Census.
The district is currently represented by state Sen. Julie Gonzales, who has held the seat since 2019. Gonzales is term-limited and announced in December her bid to challenge U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper.
Also running in this primary are Graciela “Chela” Garcia Irlando and Andrés Carrera.
Who is Michael Guzman?
Guzman, 45, grew up in the Baker neighborhood. He’s a proud grandson and son of U.S. Marines and said he learned to ride the bus while canvassing for Democrats with his mother and grandmother.
He is currently an elected official representing the Regional Transportation District’s District C.
He wants to look at how the state is operated, how it runs and how it’s shaping the future, he said.
His main issue is the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), which prohibits tax increases without voter approval and limits how much government revenue can grow each year.
“We have to look at TABOR in order to fulfill some of our Democratic aspirations and dreams to make it a beautiful place to live, but also a place where people can afford to be,” Guzman said. “I am highly concerned about losing access to public education, defending our environment, providing public infrastructure, and unfortunately all of that is going to cost money. And the TABOR laws prevent us from doing that.”
He said there’s no quick fix for TABOR, which could only be abolished by voters with an amendment to the state constitution, but he hopes to start the process of reform.
Guzman also pointed to affordability as another top priority issue, as well as Denver’s infrastructure.
What’s his experience?
As an RTD director, Guzman said he is already serving more than 200,000 constituents. He’s also been a precinct officer for the Democratic Party for two decades, and served as the local party’s co-captain and finance chair for House District 5 and Senate District 34 during Sen. Gonzales’s term, until he ran for the RTD board.
He’s been on the RTD board for a little over three years and has served as the secretary of its executive committee. He also served as the chair of the finance and planning committee, as well as the performance committee.
He volunteers on Prodigy Coffee's board. Prodigy Coffee employs young adults through apprenticeships.
He went to St. John’s University for a bachelor’s in Spanish language. He is working toward a certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School program in public leadership.
Guzman's take on the state and national Democratic party
“We need to be honest about what we can and cannot do,” Guzman said of Democrats.
The Democratic Party needs to generate excitement and bring people back to the party.
“We need to live out our promises to everybody, but we can't over-promise and under-deliver,” Guzman said. “We need to make promises to get us moving forward and generate excitement about the party, but we also need to bring people in who've been run off because they haven't been heard or they feel like they've been ignored after they vote for something.”
He added that the joy of the Democratic Party is “that we can always build a bigger table, but we have to include everybody. So we need to move away from just the elite voices, the big moneymaking voices, and really get back to our roots, which is the ground game in the Democratic Party, and getting people turned out, voices heard, and integrating all of that diversity into our platforms and our committees and then moving those votes forward.”
Where to find more information
Guzman has a campaign website and can be found on social media under the handle Guzman4Colorado.
