The University of Colorado Board of Regents, controlled by a Democratic majority, has elected Republican Regent Ken Montera as chair of the board, as some Democratic regents and state political organizations oppose Republican leadership on the board.
Montera’s election marks the first time the board will have a Republican as chair since 2020. In 2021, leadership on the board shifted after Coloradans elected a Democratic majority on the nine-member board for the first time in more than 40 years. Each year since then, the regents have elected a Democrat as chair, until now.
The regents held a special meeting on Thursday to elect a new chair and vice chair of the board — an election that happens every year — and two of the Democratic regents spoke out against electing Montera as chair. The same regents also criticized former board Chair Callie Rennison, a Democrat, for nominating Montera.
Montera and Democrat Regent Elliott Hood were nominated for chair. Per regent laws and policy, regent chair and vice chair elections are done through a secret ballot if there is more than one candidate. Since Thursday’s meeting was remote via Zoom, Vice President of University Counsel Kerry Tipper called each regent by phone to collect their vote. The breakdown of the vote, including which regent voted for whom, is not released. The only information shared is that Montera was elected by the majority.
“I will honor the bipartisan tradition that has driven the work of this board over the years that I’ve been on it,” Montera said after he was elected. “We all understand this is a politically charged time, but we also understand that our challenges are too many, and our opportunities too great to allow politics to limit our work. I look forward to working alongside each one of you, and together as a board, united in its efforts to advance CU in every way we possibly can.”
After Montera was elected chair, Hood was nominated for vice chair alongside Rennison. The board elected Rennison to be vice chair via another secret ballot.
The results of Thursday’s election mean Rennison and Montera essentially swapped roles. In 2025, Rennison was board chair, and Montera was vice chair. Board rules dictate that the chair and vice chair must be from different political parties.
“People are not going to see any difference in the way the Board of Regents runs,” Rennison told the Daily Camera. “It is still a 5-4 democratically controlled board. Who does the administrative work as chair doesn’t change that, and I think Ken will be a fantastic chair.”
Democrat opposition
Regent Ilana Spiegel, a Democrat, said that Rennison’s decision to endorse a Republican for chair “effectively silences the democratic will of voters.”
“At a moment when far-right organizations are engaging in extremist political agendas that put the safety of immigrants and students at risk, including through vendors under contract with CU such as Key Lime Air, that leadership responsibility matters,” Spiegel said during Thursday’s meeting. “While collaborating across the aisle is essential to a healthy board, it should not involve violating the trust given to us by voters.”
Regent Wanda James accused Rennison of “replacing merit with cronyism and favoritism” by supporting Montera’s election.
“This board exists to defend higher education, and the people who make this institution work, not to replicate MAGA extremism inside of a public university,” James said during the meeting. “We are witnessing the devastating impacts of MAGA’s open disdain and hostility to higher education throughout the country. To voluntarily hand this board over to the GOP is shockingly willful ignorance at best.”
Rennison responded by defending her integrity and affirming her belief that Montera is the right choice for chair.
“A strength of our board is that we act in a bipartisan and collaborative way that puts CU interests first,” Rennison said on Thursday. “We are pragmatic, and we strive to build bridges to the benefit of all of CU. These practices contribute to this being a highly functioning board. Some are surprised at the prospect that a minority party member might serve as chair of the board, but history shows that this is not unusual.”
Democrat Regent Irene Griego was elected board chair in 2016 by a Republican majority, for example, as was Democrat Regent Michael Carrigan in 2012 and again in 2013.
“During the time that Republicans had control, had a majority vote, Democrats were elected to the position of chair,” Republican Regent Frank McNulty said. “There was no outrage, there was no riling of activists, and there was not a single speech like those given here today. No claims that one party had control over the will of the people, and no claims that one of their colleagues was not fit to serve in that role. For those who have made those claims, you ought to be ashamed.”
Board chair duties
The duties of the Board of Regents chair are largely administrative. The chair executes agreements on the board’s behalf, with the board’s approval, and appoints board members to committee assignments, according to regent policy.
Regent and Republican Mark VanDriel said the position of chair isn’t a position of power. The chair’s role is to do administrative work and tasks, such as leading meetings, assigning roles at graduation or assigning where people sit at board meetings.
“We have an enormous task before us in transforming higher education,” VanDriel said during Thursday’s meeting. “And all of us, as regents, are fiduciaries to this institution, and meant to work hard towards that end. And we should not be considering national politics when doing so. Instead, we should be considering who’s willing to take on the enormous burden of being chair, knowing that there is not, in fact, power in the position. It doesn’t control the board. All it does is get to do an enormous amount of work for us.”
Montera initially planned to run for board chair in 2025, Rennison said during the meeting. He had everyone’s full support, she said, until “at the last minute, some on this board” grew concerned “about the optics of electing a Republican as chair.”
Rennison ran for board chair a third time last year, per the requests of those board members, who agreed that Montera would be chair in 2026, she said.
“But a month or so ago, some grew concerned again about the political optics,” Rennison said on Thursday. “And some have embarked on a campaign to smear me for supporting Ken, while hiding their own identical agreement to support Ken as chair this year. These last-minute politically motivated shenanigans do nothing to advance the important work of the university.”
James said there was no such agreement, and in a statement, called Rennison’s claims a “blatant lie.” James said she was not aware that Montera would be running and never supported it.
The Colorado Democratic Party has spoken out against Rennison’s decision, as did the Colorado Working Families Party.
“Coloradans are tired of Donald Trump’s petty retaliation politics as he attacks child care funding, threatens clean drinking water, and blocks disaster aid for hundreds of thousands of Coloradans because he doesn’t like our election system,” Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib said in a release. “We should not hand him influence over the University of Colorado by putting Republicans in charge, against the will of the voters.
Rennison has been board chair for the past three years, and Montera has been vice chair of the board for the past four years.
Montera told the Daily Camera that he wants to move on from the election and focus on bipartisan leadership and putting faculty, staff and students first.
“At the end of the day, we have a responsibility to CU, and that’s what I want to ensure we focus on,” he said.
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