State Rep. Brittany Pettersen released her first campaign video last week to introduce herself as a congressional candidate. Her family helps fill in the picture of a focused, responsible young woman who grew out of tough circumstances into an accomplished state legislator with a big heart.

Much respect to her mom, Stacy, who owned up to the problems she brought to the family that were shouldered by her daughter, the oldest child at home caring for two younger brothers with money she earned cleaning houses when she was 12.

“There was alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and she was exposed to all of that,” the candidate’s mother said.

Pettersen and her brothers ate free and reduced lunches and went to after-school programs.

“Access to those critical programs really helped me succeed as a kid,” she said, pivoting into the shape of her Democratic candidacy.

Pettersen, so far, is facing state Sen. Andy Kerr, another Democrat from Lakewood, in the 7th Congressional District. More legislators are said to be eyeing the vacancy left by Ed Perlmutter, who announced his plans to run for governor next year.

Kerr released his introductory video April 12 last week.

Pettersen brings a rock-solid Democratic scorecard to the race.

She chairs the House Education Committee, and she has been an advocate for programs and reforms from pre-school to higher education.

In 2015 Pettersen was tapped as a surrogate for Hillary Clinton’s college-affordability plan.

She has a bill up in committee this week to assess teacher preparation for a collection of pilot programs to find and share innovative teaching practices. It would be paid for with gifts, grants and donations. (Of course, as a Democratic congressional candidate, Pettersen will get less favorable treatment than usual if her bills go before the Republican majority in the Senate.)

Last week, however, the legislature sent a Pettersen bill to the governor allowing women to get 12 months of prescription contraceptives with one visit to the pharmacy. She said in an interview with Colorado Politics it would give women a little more control over when to start a family, by offering convenience and cutting down on unplanned pregnancies.

She’s still trying, against odds, to create a retirement savings program with payroll deductions for people who don’t have one available through their employer.

Born just outside the Millennial generation, Pettersen said many young people like her work in jobs, or a collection of jobs, that don’t offer them a convenient way to start saving for retirement, and more convenience means more participation at no real cost to taxpayers or employers,

Pettersen told a House committee that the first time she had access to a retirement savings plan was when she was joined the legislature in 2013.