DENVER — Colorado Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen is the second in the state’s delegation to call for President Biden to step aside from running for re-election.
In a statement Friday morning, Pettersen said in part, “Please pass the torch to one of our many capable Democratic leaders so we have the best chance to defeat Donald Trump.”
She is in the relatively safe 7th Congressional District, which includes Jefferson County. Petterson won her election in 2022 by 15 points.
Her statement came one day after a NATO news conference where Biden answered questions for nearly an hour. In the first answer, to a question about Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden provided an answer saying, “Vice President Trump.”
On Tuesday, Democratic Congressman Diana DeGette put out a statement defending and supporting Biden’s candidacy.
Also on Tuesday, Democratic Senator Michael Bennet became the first in the state’s delegation to speak out after Biden’s performance in the June presidential debate with former president Donald Trump.
Bennet stopped short of calling on Biden to drop out, but he said that Trump “is on track to win this election – and maybe win it by a landslide and take with him the Senate and the House.”
On Friday, 9NEWS reached out to all Democrats in the Colorado delegation.
No one from Sen. John Hickenlooper’s team responded to our email and phone call.
Pettersen’s team said they would stick with their statement.
Reps. Joe Neguse, Jason Crow and Yadira Caraveo were all unavailable when asked for interviews.
Caraveo represents the newly drawn 8th Congressional District in Adams and Weld Counties. She beat Republican Barb Kirkmeyer by 1,632 votes in 2022. She faces Republican Gabe Evans in November.
That district has 50% unaffiliated voters, 25% Democrats and 23% Republicans.
If Bennet’s concern comes true, it would be Caraveo’s seat that could be at risk of flipping given the voter makeup.