Updated at 10:44 p.m. on Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Edie Hooton, a former state House representative, appeared headed Tuesday night to be the Democratic nominee for the 2nd District seat on University of Colorado Board of Regents.
As of 10:30 p.m., Hooton had 43% of the vote. Her opponents, Murray Smith and Kubs Lalchandani, had 30% and 27%, respectively.
It’s unclear how many votes remain to be counted.
If the result holds, Hooton will represent the Democratic Party in the November election for CU’s District 2 regent seat, against Marty Neilson, a Republican who ran unopposed in the primary. The seat leans Democratic.
Democratic incumbent Callie Rennison did not run for reelection.
The board includes one statewide at-large member and one member from each of Colorado’s eight congressional districts. Regent terms are six years long, and members can serve a maximum of two terms.
The regents oversee the four campuses in the University of Colorado system: the institutions in Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs and Aurora’s Anschutz Medical School.
Hooton’s campaign was recently at the center of controversy after her campaign manager was linked to a Reddit post targeting Lalchandani. After that, Boulder City Councilmember Mark Wallach withdrew his endorsement, and instead endorsed Lalchandani.
Edie Hooton
Hooton has lived in Boulder since 1997. She was a state House representative for District 10, which includes Boulder, Gunbarrel and the CU Boulder campus, from 2017 to 2023.
She did undergraduate coursework at the University of Alaska and received a master's degree in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania.
In her time at the legislature, Hooton chaired the Capital Development Committee, which determines capital construction for higher education. She says her legislative experience sets her apart in this race.
Hooton wants to prioritize affordable tuition for in-state students and improve retention and graduate rates.
She was endorsed by several well-known figures in the area, including Boulder’s mayor, Boulder County’s district attorney, U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, several members of the Boulder City Council and many state legislators. Elliott Hood, a current at-large regent, also supported her.
Kubs Lalchandani
Lalchandani was raised in Boulder after his parents immigrated from India when he was 2. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and graduated from Cornell Law School in 2004.
He is a partner at Lalchandani Simon PL, a law firm that represents health care, technology and hospitality companies. He says his experience as a technology lawyer has exposed him to challenges that graduates are facing, like competition with AI when seeking a job.
Lalchandani runs a veterinary cancer care practice in Boulder with his wife, who is a veterinary oncologist.
He’s endorsed by several state lawmakers, current regent Wanda James, and Rob Kaplan, a Boulder City Council member. He also has the support of the Boulder Progressives.
Murray Smith
Smith is a CU graduate from 2015. He was born in Boulder and has spent most of his life in Colorado. Since graduating, he’s worked as a geospatial data scientist.
He wants to bring unions to the decision-making table, make college more affordable and ensure the university has affordable housing for faculty, staff and students. He also said he would push to increase pay for advisers and other “high-impact roles.”
Smith is also interested in the board supporting research in climate science and reaching sustainability goals. He’s endorsed by several Boulder city council members, a former co-chair of the Boulder Police Oversight Panel, a Boulder County commissioner, and various workers’ guilds.
