April 13, 2017 11:02 AM UTC

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

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• by: Colorado Pols

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.