Democrat Brittany Pettersen became the latest candidate to hit the airwaves on Monday as the race for the open seat in Colorado’s 7th Congressional District shifts into high gear.

Initially backed by a six-figure weekly ad buy, the 30-second spot highlights the Lakewood state lawmaker’s personal and political trajectory, from an uncertain childhood when “too many family and friends died young” to what she describes as “a family, a home and a job” she loves.

Featuring a glimpse of her husband, Democratic political consultant Ian Silverii, and their 2-year-old son Davis in a co-starring role, Pettersen tells how she overcame obstacles growing up in Jefferson County with the help of the county’s schools, which she says “saved [her] life,” spurring her work at the state Capitol to help pass legislation to expand access to kindergarten and preschool and address health care costs.

“I approved this message because, in Congress, I can do so much more,” Pettersen says.

Pettersen is facing Republican nominee Erik Aadland, a decorated Army veteran and former project manager in the oil and gas industry, in the Democratic-leaning district. The seat has been represented since 2007 by U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, the Arvada Democrat who announced in January that he isn’t seeking another term.

Pettersen’s ad, produced by Democratic ad whiz Mark Putnam of Washington, D.C.-based Putnam Partners, is set to air on broadcast and cable in the Denver market and on digital and streaming platforms, a campaign spokesman told Colorado Politics. Spending for the first week of the campaign’s ad buy tops $250,000.

“Serving the people of Colorado over the last decade has been the honor of my life,” Pettersen said in a statement. “I’m proud of what I have been able to accomplish to make people’s lives better by helping pass universal preschool, free full day kindergarten, reducing the cost of insurance premiums, and standing up to drug companies by capping the cost of insulin and bringing accountability and transparency to the cost of prescription drugs.”

Added Pettersen: “I know I can bring that same record of bipartisan, pragmatic leadership and do so much more for Colorado families in Congress.”

Pettersen was elected to a Lakewood-based state Senate district in 2018 after serving three terms in the state House. Throughout her political career, she has been open about helping her mother, Stacy, struggle with a decades-long opioid addiction and stay on the road to sobriety, including in national news stories and an award-winning documentary released in 2020.

Aadland, who emerged in June from a three-way primary, spent in the low five figures to run his first general election ad on cable channels earlier this month, ad tracking services showed. His campaign didn’t respond to multiple inquires from Colorado Politics about the ad and the ad buy.

Pettersen finished June with nearly 20 times as much cash on hand as Aadland, according to quarterly campaign finance reports. On June 30, Pettersen, who was unopposed for her party’s nomination, had $964,000 in the bank after raising $1.3 million since launching her campaign, while Aadland had $48,500 after raising almost $535,000 for the cycle, including funds raised last year when he was pursuing the GOP nomination for Colorado’s U.S. Senate seat.

Mail ballots start going out to most Colorado voters in three weeks. They’re due back to county clerks by Nov. 8.