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April 13, 2017 11:02 AM UTC

Pettersen Dials For Dollars As "Friendly" CD-7 Primary Heats Up

  • 22 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D).

Lots of press in the last 24 hours on the Democratic CD-7 primary to succeed gubernatorial candidate Ed Perlmutter, with news of Sen. Andy Kerr’s launch event and stories profiling Kerr’s principal opponent Rep. Brittany Pettersen–Denver7’s Blair Miller:

Kerr’s announcement comes days after state Rep. Brittany Pettersen, another Jefferson County Democrat, announced her bid for the same seat, which is currently occupied by Rep. Ed Perlmutter, who announced his bid for Colorado’s governorship on Sunday…

Pettersen was first elected to the state House in 2012 and serves currently as the House Deputy Majority Whip, while also chairing the House Education Committee and sitting on its public health care and human services committee.

She champions education and economic-related issues and proudly has declared she is the first in her family to graduate from both high school and college.

“The threat from Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress is real…I will stand up to Donald Trump and make sure regular people have a voice,” says a statement on her website.

Rep. Pettersen hasn’t held any public events since announcing her candidacy on heels of Perlmutter’s rally Sunday, but we expect them soon. In the meantime, Pettersen has reportedly been working to raise funds–an important and tricky priority for both candidates as sitting members of the Colorado General Assembly. Both of these candidates have strong bios to play in the race: Kerr as a longtime Jeffco public school teacher, Pettersen with a personal survival story that has powered her work on addiction issues.

And the Denver Post’s John Frank reminds us of something important:

Kerr and Pettersen, who recently co-hosted a town hall, represent the same territory in Jefferson County.

Unlike the nasty Democratic primary for this seat the last time it was open in 2006, we don’t expect to see the race between Kerr and Pettersen go negative. This is more like friends competing against each other than rivals, and the fact is, whichever candidate prevails will have benefited from the experience of competing hard for the nomination.

All things considered, as primaries go this could be a refreshing experience.

Comments

22 thoughts on “Pettersen Dials For Dollars As “Friendly” CD-7 Primary Heats Up

  1. Actually, Moldy One, after the backstabbing PN gave to the health care initiative, when they refused to even let La Senadora Aquilar talk to them before they joined the health care establishment's attack, I don't think Progress Never stands very well with the left any more.

      1. "fringe left wing……"  Of course, if you lived in Lakewood, you would know better.  If you want real fringe, consider Nate Marshall, a former white supremacist, who temporarily got the HD 23 Republican nomination in 2014.

        And Vger, do I recall correctly that you yourself were strongly opposed to the health care initiative?  

        1. I was opposed to the initiative.  But I don't claim to be the second coming of Eugene v. Debs, as PN does.  It is a simple matter of courtesy.  La Senadora worked her heart out and PN refused to even give her a hearing.  That rudeness cost them a lot of friends.

          1. With all due respect v-ger, I know an ulterior motive when I see one. Amendment 69 was unworkable, you admit that. I don't care who the Dem opponents talked to, they were right to oppose it. And I don't think you care either way, you just have some kind of axe to grind.

            That's fine too, ProgressNow can defend themselves without my help. But when it comes to Amendment 69 you're beating a dead horse. I'm proud of Dems who did the unpopular but right thing and opposed it. 

            1. With all due disrespect, bullshit, you are living up to your name, in the apparent belief that the left can do no wrong.  I never supprted the amendment but listened to mj and others before running it through my own tax return and learning it would cost me at least $2,000 while giving nothing in return.   Sellouts Now, in contrast, met only with opponents before taking the lead against it __ even though la Senadora begged them for a hearing.  A supposed "progressive" organization could at least have pretended to hear supporters of a progressive cause before backstabbing it. As to your attack on my integrity, the facts speak for themselves even if you are too stupid to understand them.

              1. Uhhm, I think the people who think "the left can do no wrong" supported Amendment 69.

                I don't know what your deal is but I don't really GAF either.

                1. Actually, you don't know a f either.  Your tiny little brain can't separate process from outcome, so you are incapable of understanding how PN's oafish behaviour alienated people whose support it could have used on other issues.  That's okay –Trump don't do nuance either and it didn't seem to hurt him.

    1. The health care initiative was a poorly written piece of shit. If La Senadora Aguilar had spent any time and energy at all looping in the women's groups — are you counting them among the "health care establishment"? — maybe it would have earned more than the paltry % of the vote it got. 

      1. V-ger's got some kind of weird hard-on for bashing ProgressNow. If Amendment 69 had gotten more than 21% of the vote he'd have a point. They're not the reason Colorado Care tanked and it's silly for V-ger to suggest they did something wrong.

        1. So, it would have killed them to have given the backers a hearing before opposing it? If you're going to act like Koch Brothers clowns, don't be surprised if the people you shaft without even hearing their arguments treat you like Koch Bros clowns.  

          1. NARAL and PPRM both offered to have La Senadora Aguilar come speak with them while crafting the amendment. 

            Perhaps she should have taken those "health care establishment" folks up on that offer instead of driving forward with a flawed initiative that failed miserably and painted the whole idea of healthcare for all in a light that will make it harder to pass in the future.

            Or maybe they shouldn't have hired David Sabados to corner and try to intimidate women into voting for it. 

        2.  PNC's shameful backstabbing of Senator Aguilar on Coloradocare is indisputable, and it is one of the  things I agree with Vger on.

          I'd also like PNC to acknowledge and disclose the Pettersen relationship.

          The health care conversation is not over in Colorado (or anywhere).  Mike Coffman could not get through 5 minutes without someone asking pointed questions about health care policy.

          Medicare for All is gaining nationwide support. Coloradocare was flawed, but it had some great components that could contribute to "fixing" Obamacare and expanding Medicare.  
           

          1. "Coloradocare was flawed……."   That is a serious understatement. My state taxes would have tripled and no benefit at all to me. 

            "Medicare for All is gaining……"  Well, Charles Krauthammer is talking about it and not in totally negative terms either. But government provided health care??  Medicare seems to work well. VA health care not so well.

            1. CHB, the difference between Medicare (which I'll be eligible for in another 6 months) and the VA is that Medicare is still served by private doctors, hospitals and insurance companies, while VA services are not.

              So calling them both Government Health Care is quite misleading (as is calling Obamacare “government heath care”)

              Medicare's low overhead, built-in cost-controls (with the exception of GOP-mandated "Do not negotiate better drug prices") and choice of providers makes for pretty efficient and effective health care.  Why wouldn't a sensible nation want more of that instead of the current mess forced upon us by an uncaring and unresponsive Congress and President?

          2. If I google their names, I can readily find news reports about how the head of PNC and Rep. Pettersen are engaged. Are you saying they need to "disclose" something that's public knowledge? I'm just making sure I'm not missing something. 

            1. Yes.

              PNC is closely partnered with Pols.  Most people know or have figured that one out. As Petterson  runs in a primary to be the D nominee for CD7, PNC should disclose the relationship in any articles or publicity done on her behalf. It's fairly common knowledge, as you pointed out, and the GOP will have a heyday "exposing" the connection unless PNC and Pettersen acknowledge it first.

              An old gripe:  I found that Pettersen accepted honoraria from Colorado Health Institute, which was the first group to attack the financial basis of Coloradocare. Pettersen was one of the group of legislators who called an anti – Coloradocare presser, using some dubious arithmetic and debunked claims.  They also, as Vger said, sprung this on Senator Aguilar as a complete surprise. Not their finest hour.

              However, unlike you guys who seem to need to justify your anti-Coloradocare stance, I'd prefer to look to the future. Coloradocare is the proverbial dead horse. We should learn from it what we can – at the least, to be respectful and debate within our own community, bring everyone to the table for input, and make sure all our facts are verified – before activating that circular firing squad.

              By the way, Senator Aguilar also seemingly wants to move on – to fighting opioid abuse and the many other issues facing her constituents. I’d ask you all to honor that request.

              1. You know what? It's troll behavior smear a bunch of people baselessly and then say it's time to move on because some higher authority said so. Whatthefuckever.

                This is why I fucking hate Democratic primaries. Makes good people complete fucking idiots.

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