Wanda James

Wanda James

Democratic Party

Candidate, U.S. House Colorado District 1

University of Colorado Board of Regents District 1

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

2

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 8, 2022

Next election

June 30, 2026

Education

Bachelor's

University of Colorado, Boulder, 1986

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Navy

Years of service

1986 - 1991

Personal

Profession

Business owner

Contact

Official website

Personal Facebook

Personal Twitter

Personal Instagram

Wanda James (Democratic Party) is a member of the University of Colorado Board of Regents, representing District 1. She assumed office on January 5, 2023. Her current term ends in 2029.

James (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Colorado's 1st Congressional District. She declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on June 30, 2026.^[source]

Biography

Wanda James served in the U.S. Navy from 1986 to 1991. James earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1986. Her career experience includes owning a business.

Elections

2026

See also: Colorado's 1st Congressional District election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on June 30, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 1

The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 1 on June 30, 2026.

		Candidate
		Diana DeGette
	Submit photo	Carter Hanson
		Wanda James
		Melat Kiros
	Submit photo	Olivia Miller
	Submit photo	Santiago Palomino
		Tiffany Rodgers

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2022

See also: Colorado State Board of Regents election, 2022

General election

General election for University of Colorado Board of Regents District 1

Wanda James defeated Amy Naes and Ben Pope in the general election for University of Colorado Board of Regents District 1 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Wanda James (D)	78.6	213,030
	Submit photo	Amy Naes (R)	21.4	57,953
		Ben Pope (D) (Write-in)	0.0	51

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 271,034
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for University of Colorado Board of Regents District 1

Wanda James defeated Johnnie Nguyen in the Democratic primary for University of Colorado Board of Regents District 1 on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Wanda James	51.3	45,617
		Johnnie Nguyen	48.7	43,334

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 88,951
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Scott Mangino (D)
• Jason Robinson (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for University of Colorado Board of Regents District 1

Amy Naes advanced from the Republican primary for University of Colorado Board of Regents District 1 on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Amy Naes	100.0	19,386

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 19,386
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view James' endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Wanda James has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Wanda James, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for.  More than 23,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.

Help improve Ballotpedia - send us candidate contact info.

2022

Wanda James completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by James' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Wanda L. James is the founder and CEO of Simply Pure Dispensary. She is the first African American legally licensed to own a dispensary in America

A former Naval Officer, Fortune 500 Executive, a small business owner, and a leading advocate in the cannabis industry focused on social equity, justice, and ending the drug war, Wanda’s work on cannabis reform has led to her working with a host of politicians including President Barack Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Barbara Lee, and Governor Jared Polis.

She was the first cannabis professional inductee into Ad Week’s Trailblazers along with VP Harris, the women presidents of NBC, Universal, and MSNBC. Wanda was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Cannabis and 50 Most Influential Women in the industry. She has graced the cover of Black Enterprise, Sensi, Cannabis Dispensary, Cannabis & Tech, and Vanguard Magazines.

A first-generation graduate from CU Boulder and the first Black woman commission through CU’s Naval ROTC Battalion. She is now running for CU Regent to represent CD1. There has not been a Black woman on the Board of Regents for 38 years.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral parts of the university system, while developing a national reputation of Affordable Excellence.
• Create more flexible programs to educate the next generation of doctors, nurses, researchers, teachers and the next generation of CEOs.
• Support the university researchers working to solve complex problems - like climate change - which will provide a robust higher education system that strengthens Colorado’s economy.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I understand that it’s not enough to enroll students. That’s why my focus will be on helping them find a path to graduation and ensuring the CU system prioritizes a diverse student body and an inclusive faculty and administration. I want to continue CU’s nationally known legacy of excellence and ensure every student has the opportunity to learn from voices that enrich their lives, challenge their intellect and opinions, and teach them how to achieve more.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Morally, I look up to my Dad. He raised me as a single-parent father and gave his all to my well-being and education. He was my rock, I miss his words and laughter every day.

Politically, there is not one person, there are many qualities of many leaders I respect. Tenacity. Honest. Strength of character. Innovated ways to solve daily issues.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The 1968 moonwalk. I was 5 years old. From that day forward, I have been amazed by space and wanted to be an astronaut. This was the reason I joined the military. And although I didn't make it to flight school, I did find my way to reach my passion in life through J.E.D.I ( Justice. Equality. Diversity. Inclusion)

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I was a sacker at Safeway grocery store. I worked there for two years.

What is your favorite book? Why?

so many...

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto, because it shows how we are all interconnected.
Wild Seed, because ancient, powerful, African deities are fascinating.

Black Beauty, because I have loved horses my entire life. The time spent with my horses growing up was the most special time of my life.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Caught a Vibe by Willow Smith

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

---

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

---

Wanda James campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2026*	U.S. House Colorado District 1	Candidacy Declared primary	$101,301	$3,919
2022	University of Colorado Board of Regents District 1	Won general	$66,257	$65,745
Grand total			$167,558	$69,664
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

2026 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Officeholder

University of Colorado Board of Regents District 1

Website

Personal

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	University of Colorado Board of Regents District 1 2023-Present	Succeeded by -

[show]

Colorado's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Michael Bennet (D)

John Hickenlooper (D)

Representatives

District 1

Diana DeGette (D)

District 2

Joe Neguse (D)

District 3

Jeff Hurd (R)

District 4

Lauren Boebert (R)

District 5

Jeff Crank (R)

District 6

Jason Crow (D)

District 7

Brittany Pettersen (D)

District 8

Gabe Evans (R)

Democratic Party (6)

Republican Party (4)