Colorado New Members 2023

Rep.-elect Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.-7)

DATE OF BIRTH: December 1981
RESIDENCE: Lakewood, Colo.
OCCUPATION: nonprofit executive
EDUCATION: B.A., Metropolitan State University of Denver
FAMILY: husband, Ian Silverii; one child

• Democratic state Sen. Brittany Pettersen defeated Erik Aadland for the open seat in Colorado’s 7th District, which was vacated after Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D) retired following eight terms.

Pettersen was briefly a candidate for the same seat in 2018 when Perlmutter ran for governor, but she dropped out when Perlmutter announced he was running for reelection instead.

Pettersen has served in the Colorado legislature for a decade. She served three terms in the House before being elected to the state Senate in 2018.

Pettersen is a Colorado native and the first in her family to graduate from high school and college, so has made funding for public schools a major priority of her political career.

Pettersen has been open about helping her mother, Stacy, overcome her struggle with addiction, and has used the experience to lead the fight against opioids in Colorado.  

— Nathaniel Weixel

Rep.-elect Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.-8)

DATE OF BIRTH: Dec. 23, 1980
RESIDENCE: Denver
OCCUPATION: Colorado state representative, pediatrician
EDUCATION: B.S., Regis University; M.D., University of Colorado
FAMILY: single

• Rep.-elect Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.) will serve as the first representative for Colorado’s recently created 8th Congressional District.

She will be just the second Hispanic person and the first Latina to ever represent the state in the House of Representatives. Colorado previously sent former Rep. John Salazar (D) to the House, and his younger brother, current U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar (D) to the Senate.

Caraveo, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, beat Republican Barbara Kirkmeyer to take Colorado’s new seat.

Before graduating medical school at the University of Colorado, Caraveo was a union organizer at SEIU.

Caraveo, who will turn 42 shortly before taking office, was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 2019.

During her tenure as a state legislator, Caraveo focused her efforts on legislation around the environment, education, labor issues, pandemic relief, and lowering drug prices.

— Rafael Bernal