Boulder Democrat Elliott Hood, an education attorney, announced on Thursday that he’s running for the open at-large seat on the University of Colorado Board of Regents in next year’s election.

The 41-year-old CU alumnus and former public school teacher said he wants bring a lifelong devotion to “the promise of higher education” to the nine-member board.

“I am running for regent to ensure that CU is affordable and accessible, to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, to protect academic freedom, and to push CU to take bolder action on climate and to protect our environment,” Hood said in a statement.

In addition to the presidential race, the at-large regent seat Hood is seeking is the only statewide office on next year’s ballot in Colorado.

The nine-member board of regents, established in the state constitution, oversees the CU system’s roughly $5.5 billion annual budget and makes key hiring and policy decisions for the university’s four campuses – CU Boulder, CU Colorado Springs, CU Denver and the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. Members serve staggered six-year terms.

The board has one at-large member and eight members elected from each of the state’s congressional districts. After last year’s election, Democrats hold a five-seat majority on the board 

Hood is so far the only announced candidate for the at-large seat, whose current occupant, Democrat Lesley Smith, announced in April that she’s running for an open state House seat, rather than seek a second term on the regent board.

A slew of current and former public officials are endorsing Hood’s run, including Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett, state Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Eagle, and half a dozen state representatives.

“Elliott is a leading education attorney in Colorado and is a true champion for public education,” said state Rep. Shannon Bird, D-Westminster. “I know that Elliott will be an effective leader of our state’s largest university system and will build opportunities for students across our state.”

State Rep. Judy Amabile, D-Boulder, called Hood “smart, compassionate and strategic” in a statement.

After graduating from CU’s Boulder campus in 2004, Hood taught fifth grade to students who were mostly first-generation immigrants before getting his law degree at Northwestern University.

“As a teacher, I emphasized to my students that education and a college degree is the best way to pursue and achieve their dreams,” Hood says on his campaign website. “I plastered my classroom walls with photos of CU and other universities and talked often about how, if they worked hard, they, too, could attend and graduate from college. I still believe deeply in the promise of higher education.”

Hood is vice chair of the Boulder Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and a former vice chair of the Colorado Disability Funding Committee. He’s also a director of the I Have A Dream Foundation of Boulder County. He and his wife, Caroline, have two young sons.