Republicans Tim Reichert, Erik Aadland launch TV ads ahead of ballot drop in 7th CD primary

Two of the Republicans running in Colorado's competitive 7th Congressional District are launching TV ads on Monday, a week before primary ballots go in the mail.

Golden economist Tim Reichert and Erik Aadland, a former oil and gas executive who lives in Pine, are seeking the nomination in the Jefferson County-based district currently represented by eight-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, who announced his retirement earlier this year.

Both candidates' campaigns are scheduled to begin airing 30-second biographical ads on Fox News Channel next week in five-figure buys. Reichert's campaign also plans to go up at the same time on satellite TVs in the district and stay on the air through the June 28 primary with what his campaign described as a "serious" buy, though a spokeswoman declined to release details about the size of the buy.

Former legislative candidate Laurel Imer, an avid supporter of former President Donald Trump, is also on the GOP primary ballot but has no plans to go on TV before the election, a campaign spokesman told Colorado Politics.

State Sen. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, is the presumptive Democratic nominee for the seat.

Noting that he grew up during a period of high inflation in the 1970s, Reichert says in the ad that his intellectual curiosity at a young age is one reason he became an economist.

"I want to go to Congress with a bill in my hand called the American Middle Class Restoration Act that embodies a set of polices to restore the middle class in this country," he says.

In his ad, Aadland, a West Point graduate and Army combat veteran, compares the oath he took to defend the U.S. Constitution with the same oath taken by members of Congress.

"Are they doing everything they can to honor that oath in defense of freedom?" he asks. "I honored that oath in the turret of a tank in Iraq and on the Pakistani border in Afghanistan, and I will work tirelessly every day to bring us together — stronger, one nation, under God."

Reichert is spending $6,350 to run his ad on Fox News Channel from Monday through June 6, a day longer than Aadland's $4,840 ad reservation on the same channel from Monday through June 5.

County clerks start mailing ballots to voters on Monday. They're due back to clerks by 7 p.m. June 28.