Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell is joining the 2026 Colorado gubernatorial race with plans to tackle several issues.

His focuses will be on the budget shortfall, housing affordability issues, immigration policies and crime trends if elected all while emphasizing the need for local control and effective leadership.

Mikesell is one of 10 Republican candidates in the race. According to the Secretary of State’s campaign records website, Mikesell filed to run Wednesday and his campaign is active. 

VOTER GUIDE: 2025 Colorado Springs Municipal Election

“I’ve noticed in Colorado, nearly every function we expect out of our state government has been in crisis,” Mikesell said Thursday during his official announcement outside the Pioneers Museum in downtown Colorado Springs. 

Mikesell places blame on Denver’s political climate for the statewide housing crisis, saying “overreaching partisan politics” and “heavy handed” building codes are driving prices up across the state – making Colorado unaffordable for many, especially those in rural areas.

“Rural Colorado comprises 75% of our state and provides considerable economic benefit from the creation of agriculture, ranching and minerals but is virtually ignored when it comes to state resources,” Mikesell said. 

He emphasized the state budget as a growing crisis already, citing estimates that show Colorado is about $1.3 billion short for the year. 

As expected with his law enforcement background, public safety is an another area of focus for Mikesell’s campaign, asserting that Colorado has “decriminalized crime” through “progressive legislature.”

“I can assure you that we are that state that has less safer streets, regardless of the rhetoric coming from Denver,” Mikesell said. “Colorado is now the third most dangerous state.”

With immigration policies making headlines nationwide, Mikesell has advocated for Colorado legislation related to immigration enforcement in recent weeks and plans to continue working toward tackling what he calls an immigration crisis.

“It’s brought to us because of our sanctuary policies at us at both the state and urban city levels, specifically Denver,” Mikesell said. “These sanctuary policies have taken funding away from critical programs, or by definition, the rights of our tax-paying citizens and law-abiding citizens.”

As the Teller County Sheriff, Mikesell worked alongside El Paso County Sheriff Joe Roybal, Douglas County Undersheriff David Walcher, Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin and Weld County Captain Matt Turner in testifying for immigration legislation, according to a Feb. 26 news release. 

The group testified during the Senate Veteran & Military Affairs Committee to support Senate Bill 25-047, which focused on local law enforcement agency involvement in immigration enforcement. The bill failed to pass the committee on a party-line vote of 3-2.

Another bill Mikesell heavily advocated against alongside several other law enforcement agency leaders was Senate Bill 25-003 regarding semiautomatic firearms and rapid-fire devices – which also passed in a 7-4 party line vote. 

“We fought that bill as sheriffs, Democratic sheriffs, Republican sheriffs, across the board, we came together to deal with that,” Mikesell said. “Nobody talked about the fiscal impacts in Colorado. This is probably going to cost us $35 million just in Colorado Parks and Wildlife.” 

“All those CPW funds that really help your state parks and your wildlife and protect all those animals (will) be stripped in order to do gun-control mechanisms, because they can’t fund it as a state.”

Other concerns Mikesell plans to address during his campaign include clean energy alternatives, forest mitigation and mental health.

Mikesell says the mental health crisis has reached an “epidemic proportion” in Colorado. It is among the leading states for suicide and mental health challenges, with rural and ranching communities’ rates now exceeding those of the metro areas.

“We’ve never had that in Colorado before,” Mikesell said. 

Mikesell has already received endorsements from other elected officials. Teller County Commissioners Dan Williams and Erik Stone announced their support of the Teller County Sheriff on Thursday. 

“(Colorado) is in trouble. We’re not here to sugar coat that, and Mikesell is about as honest as you’ll find anybody,” Williams said. “We’re here to tell you the truth, and the truth is we need your help, and we need to reverse some of the trends that are happening.”

The 2026 Colorado gubernatorial election is scheduled Nov. 3, 2026. Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, elected to the first of his consecutive terms in 2018, is term-limited.

Colorado Springs adds ballot return tracking for April 1 City Council election