Boulder Democrat Kubs Lalchandani, an attorney and serial entrepreneur, has thrown his hat in the ring for the open University of Colorado Board of Regents seat representing the 2nd Congressional District in next year’s election.

The incumbent, Democrat Callie Rennison, isn’t seeking a second six-year term on the nine-member board that governs the state’s largest university system. Lalchandani is the first major-party candidate to announce a run for the heavily Democratic seat.

“As a proud product of Colorado’s public education system, I believe the University of Colorado deserves steady, informed leadership that protects its mission of access, excellence, and inclusion,” Lalchandani said in a statement.

“This election is not about political posturing; it’s about ensuring CU remains an intellectual and economic engine for all Coloradans,” he added.

The 48-year-old Boulder native attended public schools and graduated from Fairview High School before heading east to Cornell University in upstate New York for his undergraduate degree and law school. In recent years, he’s been a guest lecturer on the intersection of law and emerging technology at Cornell.

After working at a large international law firm, Lalchandani co-founded and is a partner at Lalchandani Simon PL, a law firm specializing in technology, health care and navigating government regulations, with clients in Florida, Colorado, New York, California, and Ohio. He moved back to Boulder in 2019 from Miami, where he practices law and co-founded Treeline Veterinary Cancer Care, a cancer center for pets.

Lalchandani said he’s concerned that national policy shifts could harm Colorado institutions, including the CU system.

“Federal decisions are already affecting Colorado’s nonprofits, public programs, and universities,” he said. “Our state’s commitment to science, research, and educational access is being tested. I’m stepping forward to defend those values and keep CU strong, innovative, and equitable.”

College affordability will be a central element of Lalchandani’s campaign, he said in a release, including what he termed “smarter budgeting,” expanded scholarship opportunities and partnerships that cut student debt while preserving CU’s academic programs.

“Affordability is not just an economic issue, it is about fairness, opportunity, and keeping the doors of higher education open to all,” Lalchandani said.

Regents oversee the CU system’s $6.25 billion annual budget and make top-level hiring and policy decisions for the university’s four campuses: CU Boulder, CU Colorado Springs, CU Denver and the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. The board includes eight members elected from each of the state’s congressional districts and one at-large member.

Lalchandani ran unsuccessfully in 2018 for an open Florida legislative seat centered in Miami Beach but lost in the Democratic primary.

During the campaign, Lalchandani took heat in the press and from a primary rival for representing plastic surgery clinics whose patients were “maimed and killed” in botched cosmetic surgery procedures, according to a Miami Herald story that bore the sensational headline, “His clients botched butt lifts. Now he wants you to send him to the state legislature.”

When one of Lalchandani’s primary opponents, former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Grieco, sent out mailers highlighting the Herald article and using his full given name — Kabir Arjan Lalchandani — Lalchandani fired back, accusing Grieco of mounting a “race-baiting” attack, Florida Politics reported.

“Over the weekend, Democratic voters received a racist filled mail piece from my opponent, Michael Grieco, that clearly aims to inject the very worse of politics into our campaign,” Lalchandani said in a statement to the website.

Added Lalchandani: “While I am not surprised by Mr. Grieco’s shameless efforts to use my profession as a vehicle to wrongly attack my character and values, what I am truly stunned by his disgusting tactics to use my heritage in a way to sway voters. It’s the very thing Republicans used against President Obama when he ran for office — and quite frankly, comes at a moment in our nation’s history when President Trump has waged a full on effort to divide our country.”

Grieco, who had until only recently been on probation and banned from running for public office following alleged campaign finance violations, rejected Lalachandani’s accusations, claiming his opponent was trying “to create a narrative that does not exist and distract from Mr. Lalchandani’s lack of civic involvement and local ties.”

Grieco won the primary and general election after defeating Lalchandani and a third Democrat, who faced allegations she’d inflated her academic record.