Citing the Republican’s passion about key issues and broad experience, the American Conservative Union on Tuesday formally endorsed congressional candidate Steve House.

“Steve is very passionate about issues we at the ACU care about; healthcare reform, criminal justice reform, and expanding the American economy,” said ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp in a statement.

“His years of experience in business, public advocacy, and leadership in Colorado prove to us that he would be highly effective in the U.S. House and would be a conservative champion for the people of Colorado’s 6th Congressional District.”

House, a former chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, is the GOP nominee running against U.S. Rep. Jason Crow in the suburban battleground district.

The nation’s oldest conservative political group, ACU sponsors the premier annual gathering for the movement, the Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC.

For almost 50 years, its associated organization, the American Conservative Union Foundation, has been compiling ratings for members of Congress based on each session’s voting record.

U.S. Reps. Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn, both Republicans, received the ACUF’s Award for Conservative Excellence in this year’s ratings, which were released last week.

Buck, the state GOP chairman, achieved a perfect 100% score, with Lamborn not far behind at 96%.

Their fellow Republicans U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton scored 72% and U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner got 68%.

Three of Colorado’s House Democrats – U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse and Ed Perlmutter – mirrored Buck at the other end of the scale with 0% scores, while Crow ranked highest among the delegation’s Democrats with 7%, a point ahead of U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet’s 6%.

Buck holds the current state delegation’s crown for the highest lifetime rating from the ACUF, with 98.26%, slightly ahead of Lamborn’s 96.59%.