Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, reconfigured for 2023, will get a new representative in Washington, D.C., as incumbent Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter retires after 16 years in federal office.
Democratic state Sen. Brittany Pettersen, of Lakewood, and Republican Army veteran Erik Aadland, a first-time candidate from Pine, are vying to succeed Perlmutter.
The 7th District, whose contours were changed during last year’s once-a-decade redistricting process, is anchored in Jefferson County and stretches into Broomfield and several mountain counties to the west and south. It leans in Democrats’ favor, according to past election results. Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper won the district by 10 percentage points in 2020.
Here’s what you need to know about Aadland and Pettersen.
The candidates’ background
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Pettersen, 40, grew up in Jefferson County and received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Metropolitan State University. Before running successfully for the state House in 2012, she worked for New Era Colorado, a liberal group that aims to get young people more involved in politics. After three terms in the House, she ran successfully for state Senate in 2018.
Aadland, 41, is the son of a retired Air Force major general, and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served in the Army from 2002 through 2011. He received two Bronze Stars for his efforts during tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He then worked in the oil and gas industry for Noble Energy, which has since been purchased by Chevron, and received a master’s degree in depth psychology from Pacifica Masters Institute in California.
The candidates’ top priority in Congress
Pettersen said her No. 1 priority is democratic reform, including protecting voter rights and ensuring that state officials can’t overturn the will of voters in a presidential election.
“We saw in 2020 how fragile our democracy truly is,” she said.
Pettersen said tax fairness to address income inequality is also high on her list.
Aadland said “addressing the polarization and division in our society, which I think is toxic” is his top priority in Congress. He said he’d focus on constituent services in the 7th District as part of that.
“Policywise, my chief concern right now is the economy,” he said.
Inflation & recession
We asked the candidates how they, as one of 535 members of the U.S. House and Senate, could help relieve inflation and potentially prevent a recession.
Aadland said he’d focus on curbing government spending, referring to a platform from Republican House leaders that calls for making the U.S. energy independent by boosting oil and gas production and strengthening the domestic supply chain.
Pettersen said investing in ports to improve the movement of cargo would help with supply chain issues and drive down consumer costs. She also believes loan forgiveness programs for people who enter fields with workforce shortages, such as education or health care, could aid the economy.
Abortion
Pettersen said she’d vote for federal legislation to protect the right to an abortion across the U.S., noting her support earlier this year for a new Colorado law guaranteeing access to abortions and contraception.
“This is the most personal decision that you can make in your life and nobody should make that for you,” she said. “This is between individuals who are pregnant, their family, their doctors.”
Aadland said he believes abortion is an issue that should be decided by individual states. He also said he opposes the law approved by Colorado’s…
Read More: Where Brittany Pettersen and Erik Aadland stand on the issues