Politics & Government
Suburban State Senate Race May Influence Opioid Legislation
In SD 22, A Democratic lawmaker and veteran Republican contender compete for this competitive state Senate seat south of Denver
LAKEWOOD, CO – By John Herrick| Susan Greene for The Colorado Independent. State Rep. Brittany Pettersen sat before an 18-member state legislative committee to present a package of bills she helped write aimed at creating more opioid addiction treatment and recovery programs.
“It is our job to direct dollars right now,” she told the committee at its Oct. 15 meeting. “You happen to be elected during the greatest public health crisis of our time.”
But it wasn’t long before the Republicans on the committee put the kibosh on her efforts. They said proposed programs would cost the state money and expand the size of government. In the end, GOP members on the committee voted down all but two of the five bills Pettersen presented.
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“That was partisan politics,” Pettersen told The Colorado Independent after the vote. Pettersen, whose mother is recovering from an addiction to opioids, has been working on the measures since the legislature adjourned in May and long expected the committee to approve them with little pushback.
But her timing was terrible. The committee’s vote happened to take place on the day that ballots were mailed to voters.
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“I’m running in one of the most competitive state senate races in Colorado and that completely changed the perspective on the bills that I was bringing this time,” she said.
Pettersen is facing off against Republican Tony Sanchez of Littleton, who lost his bid in 2014 by 2.2 percentage points to Democratic incumbent Andy Kerr. Kerr is term-limited this year, leaving the seat up for grabs.
This suburban district south of Denver stretches from Lakewood to Ken Caryl. Kerr, along with Pettersen, had campaigned to replace Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter in Colorado’s 7th Congressional District until Perlmutter ended his run for governor in 2017 and sought reelection to that seat.
READ MORE in The Colorado Independent
Images: Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen, left, and Republican Tony Sanchez. (Photos courtesy their campaigns)