Anonymous Reddit attack rattles Boulder CU Regent primary race

With less than two weeks remaining before the Democratic primary for the University of Colorado Board of Regents, the race for the District 2 seat has drawn attention after an anonymous online attack targeted one of the candidates. 

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A Reddit post written by a user claiming to be the mother of an incoming CU student criticized candidate Kubs Lalchandani’s legal work defending doctors in medical malpractice lawsuits in Florida, questioned his ties to Boulder and suggested links to the cryptocurrency industry. 

The user wrote that Lalchandani’s background left her “shocked” and “uncomfortable” as a parent preparing to send a child to the University of Colorado. 

Boulder Reporting Lab obtained screenshots that show the poster was not a CU parent.  Instead, the screenshots link the Reddit account to the campaign manager for Lalchandani’s opponent, former state Rep. Edie Hooton. 

The account used the username “Sweaterstar.” In a message to colleagues reviewed by Boulder Reporting Lab, Hooton’s campaign manager, Anna Wert, wrote: “My username is sweaterstar.” 

The post and Reddit account were deleted within hours on June 16, but not before the post circulated widely in Boulder political circles and became a flashpoint in the closely watched CU Regent primary. 

Wert, a 2024 graduate of CU Boulder, has worked on numerous local Democratic campaigns,  including District Attorney Michael Dougherty’s current campaign for attorney general.

Dougherty confirmed that Wert left the campaign on June 17 after the Reddit post came to light. 

“I view it as unethical conduct on behalf of the other campaign,” he told Boulder Reporting Lab. “Although it has no connection to my campaign, integrity matters.”

Dougherty described Wert as creative, hardworking and intelligent, but added: “Clearly setting up a fake profile for another campaign crosses a line.”

Wert did not respond to requests for comment. 

Hooton said she was unaware of the Reddit post and suggested Lalchandani was attempting to shift attention away from the issues in the race. Lalchandani did not contact Boulder Reporting Lab about the post.

“Rather than running on his record as a long-time Florida resident with an extensive Google footprint defending medical malpractice and crypto bros, Mr. Lalchandani is instead trying to make this race about a now-deleted social media post that Edie knew nothing about,” Hooton wrote in a statement. 

“Coloradans won’t be fooled by this last-ditch effort to distract voters from the important issues that define this race.”

The Reddit post was not the first attack in the race. Campaign finance records show that Colorado Within Reach, an independent expenditure committee formed May 13 that has focused exclusively on the CU Regents race, has spent more than $6,500 on negative ads targeting Lalchandani and more than $25,000 on mailers supporting Hooton.

The post also echoed an anonymous text message sent to delegates in the 2nd Congressional District Democratic caucus on the day they were voting on which CU Regent candidates to place on the primary ballot.

“Kubs Lalchandani may not be exactly who you think he is,” the text began, before criticizing his legal work representing plastic surgery clinics and blockchain companies. 

Hooton told Boulder Reporting Lab she didn’t know who sent that message. Chris Nicholson, her campaign manager at the time, said he also did not know its source. 

When asked about the Reddit post, Lalchandani told Boulder Reporting Lab, “Look, I’ve put my heart into this campaign and I want to be a regent with integrity, and I am so focused on the challenges facing CU and higher education,” he said.

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He said he intentionally chose not to run a negative campaign. 

“How do you become a good example for students if you’re attacking people for trying to be in public office?” he said.

“I came to caucus and assembly with ideas [about] what the challenges CU is facing are, and my solutions for them,” Lalchandani said. “And I just presumed, maybe naively, that should be the entirety of the campaign.”

Hooton campaign’s criticisms

The Reddit post made three claims about Lalchandani’s background and candidacy. The first concerned his legal work representing cosmetic surgery businesses in Florida. Hooton raised similar criticisms in her statement to Boulder Reporting Lab. 

It referenced a 2018 Miami Herald article published during Lalchandani’s campaign for Florida’s 113th House District. Lalchandani, a corporate attorney, represented cosmetic surgery businesses that were the subject of reporting by the Herald, including Coral Gables Cosmetic Center and Spectrum Aesthetics Center for Cosmetic Surgery. The news outlet reported that some patients at those clinics and others had been “maimed and killed as a result of botched cosmetic procedures.” 

Hooton has also criticized Lalchandani for representing blockchain companies. In her statement to Boulder Reporting Lab, she attacked Lalchandani for providing legal counsel to Foris Dax, the parent company of Crypto.com, noting that Crypto.com donated millions of dollars to Trump.

Lalchandani said he represents hundreds of companies across the healthcare and technology sectors as a corporate attorney, and that those clients account for only a small portion of his practice. 

In both cases, he said criticizing a lawyer for the actions of his clients “lacks understanding of the legal industry.”

“Lawyers are part of the system,” he said. “They are not their clients. They represent clients in different scenarios, and as long as they do it with integrity and honesty, that’s what we should be asking of lawyers.”

The Reddit post also claimed to have “found reporting placing him in Miami as recently as 2024,” questioning his ties to Boulder. 

Voting records show that Lalchandani was registered to vote in Boulder in 2021, and he said he and his partner bought a house in Boulder in 2019.

“I grew up here. Since 2008, when my dad had a heart attack, I don’t think I’ve gone two months without being here,” he said, noting that he went to Fairview High School and that his family has remained in Boulder throughout that time. 

The post’s final criticism suggested Lalchandani’s campaign is funded in part by people connected to the cryptocurrency industry. 

Campaign disclosures reviewed by Boulder Reporting Lab do not identify any contributors whose listed occupation is cryptocurrency trader. Lalchandani said he doesn’t have corporate backers.

Negative campaign tactics in Boulder

District 2’s CU Regent seat represents Boulder and a large swath of northwestern Colorado stretching to Steamboat Springs. All three candidates in the race live in Boulder. 

Recent Boulder elections have featured their share of hardball tactics. 

In 2021, Boulder Progressives co-founder Eric Budd created a Twitter account using the name of former city council candidate Steve Rosenblum, leading to a defamation lawsuit that was settled in 2025. In 2023, the Working Families Party sent a mailer depicting then-mayoral candidate Bob Yates alongside images from the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, which Yates called “abhorrent.” 

 Lalchandani has faced criticism from some Hooton supporters for comments highlighting her age. They argue the remarks are unfair and shift attention away from her qualifications. Hooton is 68; Lalchandani is 48. Murray Smith, the third candidate in the race, is 33.

“I think Edie is wonderful and has served. I wish she would take a role of mentoring younger people,” Lalchandani told Boulder Reporting Lab in March.

Nicholson, Hooton’s former campaign manager, said he believes voters in Boulder tend to reject overtly negative campaign tactics. 

“Boulder likes clean campaigns in a massive way,” he said. “I’ve never seen a negative attack succeed in Boulder proper.”

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