Grand Junction, Colo. — Sean Pond stood before a packed room of college students Thursday night and did something few county commissioners ever do: he announced he is running for the United States Senate.
The Montrose County Republican, a Navy veteran and former oil and gas owner, formally launched his 2026 campaign to challenge Democratic incumbent John Hickenlooper, promising to bring rural Colorado values to Washington.
“I’m doing this because career politicians have forgotten who they work for,” Pond told the crowd at Colorado Mesa University.
A Fifth-Generation Coloradan Steps Up
Pond grew up on a ranch outside Montrose. His family has ranched and farmed in western Colorado for five generations.
He joined the Navy after high school, deployed twice, then came home and built an oil and gas service company that employed dozens of local workers.
In 2020, voters elected him to the Montrose County Board of Commissioners, where he has served as chairman. He won re-election in 2024 with 78 percent of the vote.
Friends describe him as plain-spoken, hardworking, and allergic to Washington drama.
The Speech That Lit Up the Room
Turning Point USA at Colorado Mesa University brought Pond to campus Thursday night.
He wasted no time going after what he calls the biggest threat to Colorado’s future: federal overreach on public lands.
“Right now, 36 percent of Colorado is owned by Washington bureaucrats who have never set foot here,” Pond said. “They want to lock it all up. No hunting, no grazing, no energy development, no recreation. Just fences and signs that say ‘keep out.'”
He pointed to Colorado’s projected $1.2 billion budget hole over the next two years and asked a simple question: why are we begging Washington for money when we sit on trillions of dollars worth of resources?
With modern technology, Pond argues, the state can responsibly develop energy and minerals while still protecting the environment.
“We can have conservation and production at the same time,” he said. “We’ve been doing it for decades. The only thing stopping us is politics.”
Where Pond Stands on the Big Issues
Pond laid out four main pillars of his campaign:
- Secure the southern border and finish the wall
- Return federal lands to multiple-use management
- Cut federal spending and balance the budget
- Protect Second Amendment rights and school choice
He also promised to fight any new federal gun restrictions and to push for nationwide school choice so parents can send their kids to the school that works best for them.
On energy, Pond was blunt: “Colorado families are paying $4.50 for gasoline because Washington shut down drilling and pipelines. I’ll fight to bring those prices down.”
Early Reactions Pour In
Western Slope leaders praised the announcement.
Montrose County Sheriff John Gardner called Pond “exactly the kind of fighter we need in Washington.”
State Representative Matt Soper said Pond “understands rural Colorado better than anyone currently serving in the Senate.”
Democratic Party officials declined to comment Thursday night, but sources say Hickenlooper’s team is taking the challenge seriously. The senator won his last race by 9 points, but rural counties have been trending red.
A Long Road Ahead
Pond becomes the first Republican to officially enter the 2026 Senate race in Colorado.
He acknowledged the difficulty of taking on an incumbent with $10 million in the bank, but said voters are ready for change.
“I’ve never been afraid of hard work,” Pond told the students. “Whether it was on a drilling rig at 3 a.m. or serving overseas in the Navy, I’ve always done what needs to be done.”
As he left the stage Thursday night, dozens of students lined up to shake his hand and take photos.
One freshman told him: “We need someone who actually gets it. Thank you for running.”
For Sean Pond, a fifth-generation Coloradan who still wears boots to work, the journey to Washington has just begun.
But if Thursday night was any indication, he plans to fight for every single vote between the Western Slope and the Eastern Plains.
What do you think? Can a county commissioner from Montrose beat an incumbent senator? Sound off in the comments below.
