CAÑON CITY – The long, narrow swath of central Colorado that makes up the 7th Congressional District represented by Brittany Pettersen gets increasingly red on the southern half, which is also far less populous.
But that has not kept Pettersen, a Lakewood Democrat, away. In fact, during her first term in Congress, she opened her second state office in Cañon City, the Fremont County seat. Fremont County favored President Trump by 38 points in November, making it the reddest county among the 11 she represents.
“No matter how red this county is I’m going to show up,” she said at a June 17 town hall meeting in Cañon City attended by about 100 people. “There are some things where we can get bipartisan support.”
At that town hall she shared the stage with a nonprofit health system executive and two local officials, including Fremont County Commissioner Kevin Grantham. Grantham, a Republican, served in the state senate from 2011 to 2019 and was senate president in 2017-18.
Pettersen’s tenure in the Colorado Legislature as a representative (2013-18) and senator (2019-2023) overlapped with Grantham’s.
While they both acknowledged that they disagree on many things, they said they’ve found common ground in both the state House and on federal issues.
“When I was the state senate president, she was one of two Democrats who would come into my office and talk to us,” Grantham said. The other was current Senate President James Coleman.
Discussing potential Medicaid cuts at the town hall, they shared concerns about how much of a hit rural hospitals would take and how new administrative requirements might impact local governments.
“It will affect us,” Grantham said, noting that about 14,000 Fremont County residents, or 28%, rely on Medicaid. “Our hospital anticipates a hit. Luckily, St. Thomas More has the CommonSpirit brand to be able to absorb some of those things on a brand-wide basis, so I would doubt our hospital is in jeopardy, but they are closely examining this.”
“Voice of Reason”
Pettersen thanked him for being “a voice of reason” on the issue as she continued to emphasize how devastating the cuts could be.
“There’s a lot of fear and anxiety as the ‘Big Bill’ moves forward,” she said, gesturing with air quotes. “There is already a lot of economic instability, and the big bill would make it worse.”
Joseph (JC) Carrica III, vice president and chief healthcare innovation & strategy officer for Valley-Wide Health Systems, said that his organization does not have a big corporation to shield it from Medicaid cuts. Valley-Wide serves 30,000 patients in 13 rural counties in southern Colorado with clinics in the San Luis Valley, the Arkansas Valley and Cañon City. About 40% of its revenue comes from Medicaid, Carrica said.
“The only way farmers and ranchers can continue to feed us is to get help with their health care,” he said, singling out a large constituency served by his clinics.
Veterans’ health care was another area that brought agreement between Grantham and Pettersen, and in particular, the ongoing and slowed effort to bring a regional VA clinic to Fremont County.
While they want to make services more accessible, the administration is gutting the VA and cutting those who help veterans qualify for services and understand what their eligibility is, Pettersen said.
“I look forward to a time when we can talk about the community we want to build instead of what we’re trying to save,” she said as she thanked the participants for showing up.
In answer to an audience question, Pettersen and the panel also spoke about political violence and their concerns about extremism.
“It’s unnerving to think of how toxic our politics are,” Pettersen said. “I have two little boys, and I worry that I’m putting my kids in danger.”
Grantham said the worst threats are those you don’t see coming, such as the recent arson fire at the Archuleta County building.
“I feel this is at all levels of government now,” said Cañon City Councilwoman Emily Tracy. “We must try to tone it down so that we can come together and govern. We’ve got to keep a dialog going.”
They all agree that compromise is always necessary, and Grantham said: “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.”
Throughout her two terms, Pettersen has reached out regularly to the rural counties, overcoming some early concerns that when the district was reconfigured, the less populous counties would get left in the dust. More than 80% of the population of the district is centered in Jefferson and Broomfield counties.
In Custer County, she helped a bill through the House to restore the zip code for Silver Cliff, although it stalled in the Senate. She has reintroduced the bill in the current legislative session.
Along with that issue, she has taken up the cause of rural mail delivery throughout portions of her district, where complaints about poor service are high.
And in Teller County, she assured commissioners that she will oppose cuts to the VA and Medicaid that would adversely affect communities there. At a March Zoom meeting with representatives of Pettersen’s office, officials said they were concerned about services for the needy unraveling, according to an article in the Pikes Peak Courier.
“I thank you for continuing to engage with us to seek bipartisan solutions,” Erik Stone, vice chair of the Teller County Commissioners, said. “We appreciate you working with us to find common ground. It’s important to stay connected.”
Pettersen is trying to find common ground in Washington, D.C., too, where she is one of three Colorado House members who are part of the Problem Solvers Caucus. The other two are Republicans, Gabe Evans and Jeff Hurd.
The mission of the caucus is to get members to talk to each other and advance common-sense solutions to issues facing the country. It has 41 members.
Fremont, Custer, and Teller counties are among the solidly red areas of the state and along with “pink” Park County, make up the southern portion of Colorado’s U.S. House District 7, represented by Pettersen, a Democrat.
