CU at-large regent Heidi Ganahl has declared her intent to run for Governor. Ganahl’s campaign filed paperwork with the Secretary of State's office on Friday to "raise funds and support for Republican Heidi Ganahl to be the governor of Colorado."
Ganahl is the only Republican in Colorado to currently hold a statewide office. She’s expected to formally announce her gubernatorial bid next week. She’d be the most high-profile GOP entrant in the race so far to face off against Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.
In 2016 Ganahl won a hotly contested statewide race for a seat on the University of Colorado’s Board of Regents. At the time, her victory kept Republicans’ slim, 5-4, majority on the board. Since then, Democrats have won additional seats and now hold the majority.
As regent, Ginahl has focused on bringing more diversity of thought, and more conservative voices, to the state’s campuses. Prior to getting into politics, she founded the doggy daycare chain, Camp Bow Wow.
She told Colorado Matters in an interview in 2017 that higher education affordability was another top priority and she wanted to preserve and increase state funding for colleges and universities.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
