Democrat U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen has drawn a third-party progressive challenger from Boulder who is no stranger to Colorado Democrat politics, having served in the state House and Senate for numerous years.
Ron Tupa hasn’t announced his candidacy, but a news site that reports on Libertarian and third-party challengers broke the news.
After serving some 18 years as a Democrat, Tupa has filed with the FEC to run on the Unity Party ticket.
Ron Tupa, a former Democratic Colorado lawmaker and one-time State Senate Majority Caucus Chair, has filed FEC paperwork to run for Congress with the Unity Party. Tupa has yet to announce his campaign or engage on social media formally. #copoliticshttps://t.co/aec1qkvDvj
— Independent Political Report (@I_P_R) August 28, 2023
From Independent Political Report:
The Unity Party is primarily active in Colorado but maintains a presence in numerous other states. The party initially grew from a former group of supporters of General Wesley Clark’s 2004 Democratic presidential campaign. Its slogan is “Not Left, Not Right, But Forward.”
At least four candidates, including Tupa, are actively seeking federal office with the Unity Party. All of them are from Colorado.
Before he became a politician like Pettersen, Tupa put himself through school as a Teamster loading freight trucks, and then became a teacher himself.
PeakNation™ will recall that when Tupa was in the state Senate, he was a passenger in a Lexus driven by a woman that was stopped by police at 2 a.m. for going 60 mph in a 45-mph zone.
She was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, the Boulder Camera reported at the time.
Tupa was believed to be too drunk to drive, so a deputy drove him home.
The Camera also reported:
Tupa was arrested four years ago outside a Denver bar after getting into an argument with an off-duty police officer, but charges were eventually dropped.
Of course, this is old news. The driving incident happened in 2009, a year after he was divorced.
So we doubt Pettersen or her political consultant husband, Mr. Brittany Pettersen, will bring it up during their campaign.
Especially since Pettersen is so sensitive to the plight of substance abusers, and not knowing whether Tupa has acted inappropriately when consuming alcohol since these incidents.