CO-07: Brittany Pettersen (D)

REPLACING:

Ed Perlmutter (D)[i]

WORK HISTORY:

Colorado State Senate (State Senator, District 22); Colorado House of Representatives (State Representative, District 28); New Era Colorado (Field Director)[ii] [iii] [iv]

EDUCATION:

BA, Metropolitan State University of Denver[v]

CAMPAIGNED ON:

Economic Recovery; Energy Independence; Health Care; Supporting Our Seniors; Education; Protecting Our Democracy

ON THE ISSUES

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS:

Pettersen is pro-choice and helped pass legislation to codify Roe v. Wade into Colorado law.[vi] She has worked to increase access to contraception and has pledged to vote to protect reproductive health rights in Congress.[vii]

ECONOMY, JOBS & TAXES:

As a legislator, Pettersen helped pass the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act and will advocate for a similar measure at the federal level.[viii] [ix] She also voted to cut costs to start a business, reduce the gas tax, and close offshore tax havens for corporations.[x] In Congress, she will continue to fight for tax fairness by repealing the 2017 Trump tax cuts and work to increase access to capital for small businesses, expand broadband access, and increase investments in research, technology, and infrastructure.[xi] She also supports investing in ports to help with supply chain issues and drive down consumer costs.[xii]

HEALTHCARE & SOCIAL SAFETY NET:

Pettersen will fight to protect Medicare and strengthen Social Security.[xiii] In Colorado, she voted to cap the cost of insulin, reduce the price of prescription drugs, and protect people from surprise medical billing.[xiv] In Congress, Pettersen will fight to allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and improve transparency in medical billing, while working to protect the ACA and ensure every American can afford quality healthcare.[xv] She also supported expanding Medicaid to cover addiction treatment.[xvi]

IMMIGRATION & BORDER SECURITY:

Pettersen believes DREAMers should have a pathway to citizenship and supports the DACA program.[xvii] She opposes the idea of a border wall and argues that we can improve security by investing in various technologies.[xviii] Pettersen has also advocated for expanding the guest worker program, which she says could help solve labor shortage issues.[xix]

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY:

Pettersen supports updating police training and investing in alternative responses, including sending trained healthcare professionals or social workers to some low-level 911 calls.[xx] Pettersen, whose mother was a heroin addict, has made the opioid epidemic a focus of her campaign.[xxi] In 2019, she voted for a bill that would reduce criminal penalties in Colorado for the possession of small amounts of drugs, including fentanyl, but later worked to add penalties back to fentanyl possession after the legislation was widely criticized.[xxii] She has also been attacked for her support of a taxpayer-funded heroin-injection pilot site in Denver.[xxiii]

GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS & ELECTION SECURITY:

Pettersen believes “dangerous conspiracy theories” are threatening every fabric of our democracy.[xxiv] As a legislator, she helped pass a law that made Colorado’s elections more secure and accessible. In Congress, she will fight to protect the right to vote and increase access to the ballot.[xxv] Pettersen has called for electing the president by national popular vote.[xxvi] She would also support reforming the Electoral Count Act to avoid future conflicts over the outcomes of presidential elections and banning stock trading by members of Congress.[xxvii]

EDUCATION:

Pettersen believes everyone should be able to go to college without being “saddled by a mountain of debt.” She says state colleges should be affordable and that the federal government should not make a profit on student loans. She also supports student loan forgiveness programs that dedicate support for students who pursue careers in critical areas of need and expanding apprenticeship programs.[xxviii] In Colorado, she helped build the coalition that raised teacher pay, modernized school buildings, and secured funding for full-day kindergarten.[xxix] She has advocated for “major” changes at the federal level to handle what she calls the “childcare crisis.”[xxx]

CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT:

Pettersen believes the climate crisis is “devastating” Colorado communities.[xxxi] She supports a “rapid” transition to renewable energy sources like wind, solar, geothermal, and other emerging clean technologies, but advocates for a “balanced and responsible approach” to meeting the country’s energy needs.[xxxii] She also supports expanding natural gas use as an alternative to oil and coal.[xxxiii] One of Pettersen’s legislative priorities has been protecting Colorado’s public lands and open spaces and expanding state parks.[xxxiv]

BIG TECH & DATA PRIVACY:

In 2018, Pettersen cosponsored a bill that would strengthen protections for consumer data privacy.[xxxv]

GUN SAFETY:

Pettersen has advocated for common-sense gun safety legislation, such as closing loopholes in the background check system.[xxxvi] She also helped pass Colorado’s red flag law.[xxxvii] She received an ”F” rating from the NRA and has been endorsed by Giffords PAC.[xxxviii] [xxxix]

FOREIGN POLICY:

Pettersen condemned Vladimir Putin’s “unprovoked act of aggression” against Ukraine and called for the US to “recommit to our own democracy by standing up to authoritarians here at home.”[xl]