The former statehouse candidate who co-chaired Jefferson County’s 2016 Trump campaign with her 12-year-old son is challenging eight-term U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, an Arvada Democrat, in Colorado’s 7th Congressional District.

Laurel Imer, who last year lost a bid to unseat state Rep. Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge, is seeking the GOP nomination to run against Perlmutter in next year’s election – and her son Weston, now 17, is managing her campaign.

“Laurel will work hard to align local and federal issues in education and school choice, immigration, infrastructure and economic growth, capitalizing on the success of President Trump’s America First Policy’s,” her campaign site says.

Imer lists border security, deregulation and election security among her top issues. A supporter of the Second Amendment, school choice, congressional term limits and the oil and gas industry, Imer says she wants to restore the Trump-era economy and cut taxes “across the board.”

Veteran Republican political consultant Patrick Davis, the Trump campaign’s Colorado coordinator in 2016, is a senior adviser and strategist on Imer’s campaign. During the Trump administration, Davis worked in the Environmental Protection Agency as an associate deputy administrator.

Weston Imer drew international attention five years ago when media outlets discovered the pre-teen was running a Trump field office in Wheat Ridge along with his mother. Earlier this year, he ended a paid congressional internship at U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s Washington, D.C., office over safety concerns following the deadly riot by Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

A spokeswoman for Perlmutter declined to comment on Imer’s candidacy.

The suburban 7th CD covers portions of northern Jefferson County and western Adams County, including Lakewood, Arvada, Westminster, Northglenn and Thornton.

After flipping the previously Republican-held seat in 2006, Perlmutter has won re-election seven times by double digits, most recently defeating Republican nominee Casper Stockham by a 22-point margin.

While district boundaries will be redrawn ahead of next year’s election, Imer’s home in unincorporated Jefferson County near Applewood is only a few miles from Perlmutter’s residence, so she’s betting the two will wind up in the same district, a spokesman said.

In December, Stockham and Imer launched a political organization dedicated to recruiting and training grassroots Republican candidates. Stockham is one of five Colorado Republicans running to chair the state GOP in a party election at the end of the month.

Imer is the first Republican to declare a candidacy in the district. She filed paperwork to run for the seat on March 3.

Imer’s congressional campaign kicks off Sunday afternoon at Hoffbrau Bar & Grill in Westminster.