Former state Rep. Lang Sias, an Arvada Republican, on Tuesday launched his long-anticipated candidacy challenging Democrat Dave Young’s bid for a second term as Colorado state treasurer.

An attorney, former Top Gun instructor and 2018 GOP lieutenant governor nominee, Sias says on his campaign website that he’s running “because Colorado families and taxpayers deserve a champion for them to be a good steward of their dollars and to call out misappropriation.”

Colorado Politics reported Friday that a Sias candidacy appeared to be imminent after he formed a nonprofit last week called “Lang Sias for Colorado.”

Sias says his priorities will be to fight inflation, serve as a responsible steward of funds the state treasurer manages and protect the state pension fund as a board member of the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association.

A pilot for FedEx, Sias flew F-18s for 11 years in the Navy and is a retired lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Air National Guard.

Colorado’s state treasurer manages more than 750 state funds and is an ex-officio member of the PERA board. The treasurer also runs the state’s Unclaimed Property Division, which reunites people and businesses with unclaimed property and cash through the Great Colorado Payback.

Young, a former state legislator from Greeley, described Sias as a risky option for taxpayers in a statement to Colorado Politics.

“Lang Sias would undo our progress,” Young said. “Sias has a partisan track record of putting his party above what’s best for the people of Colorado. In these uncertain economic times, the last thing we should be doing is gambling our hard-earned retirement savings.”

Added Young: “As state treasurer, I’ve kept Coloradans’ tax dollars safe and increased our assets while our state has recovered from the economic downturn. We have provided millions of dollars in small business loans, increased PERA’s value, and are saving Colorado taxpayers billions of dollars in retirement savings while helping to provide a dignified retirement for over one million Coloradans.”

Sias hasn’t responded to multiple requests for comment.

Sias was elected in 2016 to a full term representing the northwest metro area’s House District 27 after winning an appointment a year earlier to fill a vacancy in the seat. Before that, he ran two unsuccessful campaigns to represent Senate District 19 and lost a GOP primary in the 7th Congressional District.