DENVER — U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser traded plenty of jabs during their first televised debate Thursday night, but they established little policy distance between themselves as they vie to become the Democratic gubernatorial nominee.

In their longest appearance together as competing candidates, the two men threw familiar pitches: Weiser touted the 64 lawsuits he has joined or filed against the Trump administration and the money those legal efforts have returned to the state. Bennet criticized the pressing affordabilty crisis that continues to plague Colorado and, in an oft-repeated line, he said the state’s leaders needed to “color outside the lines” to address it.

They also hit each other with familiar attacks, with Weiser opening the hour-long debate with a swipe at Bennet for voting for some of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees and arguing that the state’s senior senator should stay in Congress.

“This campaign comes down to a choice,” Weiser said. “The candidate of Colorado or the candidate who is from the Washington, D.C. establishment.”

Bennet initially sidestepped Weiser’s jabs, joking at one point that he was “grateful that Phil Weiser has become such a fan of my Senate service.” He later said that Weiser’s lawsuits against the Trump administration were political and were filed “later in your second administration.”

“I would say with respect to Phil’s observation about his closeness to being an insider in the state government,” Bennet said, “I’m speaking as a citizen of Colorado — I don’t think the state government has done very much to solve our housing crisis, to solve our childcare crisis, to solve our healthcare crisis, to solve the fact that for the first time in a generation, businesses are moving out of our state because they can’t succeed as well in Colorado.”

When given the opportunity to ask each other a question, Weiser criticized Bennet for his Cabinet votes. Bennet said he regretted voting for Energy Secretary Chris Wright but that he voted for Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins because the state needed support on wildfires. Bennet then pressed Weiser for saying he would take Trump’s first administration back “in a heartbeat”; Weiser agreed that Trump’s first term was “lawless” but that the president’s current administration is even worse.

The debate was an opportunity for Weiser, who polling has shown is less well-known than Bennet, to curb the gap in name recognition and highlight his ties to the state and his efforts to resist Trump.

“If you try to take away our rights, if you harm us, you’re going to have to go through me,” Weiser said.

Bennet, meanwhile, pressed his criticism of the disappearing American dream in Colorado and his belief that he would be better positioned to fight “the battle for America” in Denver than in D.C.

If elected governor, Bennet will also select his own replacement in the Senate. He said he didn’t have a replacement shortlist, and he wouldn’t commit to providing any possible candidates to voters before primary ballots were mailed next month.

But when it came to policy questions, the two men frequently agreed. The debate was sponsored by The Denver Post, Denver7 and Colorado Public Radio, and the first question asked Bennet and Weiser to identify a policy position that separated them. They used that opportunity to offer introductory remarks. And when CPR’s Ryan Warner pushed them for an answer, Weiser said he had published policy plans on water and public safety and Bennet hadn’t. Bennet said he wanted to address affordability concerns while Weiser was focused on attacking his record.

Both said they were skeptical of overturning a state law that prevents municipalities from enacting rent control. Both supported expanding Peña Boulevard and called for “guardrails” around the use of license-plate-reader technology.

On six yes-or-no questions, they offered identical answers: Both supported efforts to redraw the state’s congressional map before the 2028 election, each said Colorado should lean more on nuclear energy, and they agreed that that state should exempt education funding from the state’s spending cap.

In shots at their would-be predecessor Gov. Jared Polis, both candidates said Tina Peters’ sentence wasn’t harsh and that they wouldn’t support the state’s “current path” of building more housing by leapfrogging local control.

(They also each said they wouldn’t wear a suit with sneakers, a below-the-ankle swipe at Polis’ fashion choices.)

The two men are looking to replace Polis, who is term-limited and will leave office early next year. Given Colorado’s decidedly blue hue, whoever wins the Democratic primary will be in pole position to next occupy the governor’s mansion. The next governor will find mixed fortunes: The state has significant — and unresolved — structural budget issues, with more Medicaid cuts on the near horizon.

Asked about the growth of Medicaid spending in the state, Bennet took another whack at Polis: “I don’t believe the current administration has done a very good job of administering Medicaid.” He called for “dramatically transforming” how the program works here.

On the other hand, a Gov. Weiser or Gov. Bennet almost certainly would be greeted by strong Democratic majorities in the state Capitol. As Polis has discovered, firm Democratic control doesn’t translate into a unified vision for the state. Still, it provides a smoother runway for a Democratic governor’s policy agenda — especially in a legislature that is looking to reset its relationship with the governor’s office.

On that front, Weiser highlighted his collaboration with other state officials and said he would sign a social media regulation bill that Polis vetoed last year; the measure would’ve required the platforms to better police themselves and ban users who violate either their terms of services or state law.

The primary election will be June 30. The Post, Denver7 and CPR will host another debate on May 14 for Republican gubernatorial candidates Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and Rep. Scott Bottoms. A third candidate, Victor Marx, declined to participate.

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