Friend,
After days of watching John sprint across this district, I wanted to reach out and share why this fight means so much to us.
Amber Padora here. I wanted to write to you directly because John has barely stopped moving this entire week. He’s been all over the district – from our wide-open plains to our growing towns to our suburban neighborhoods – meeting people where they are, listening to their struggles, and showing up with the same honesty and fire he’s had since the day I met him.
It doesn’t surprise me that rural voters and working families connect with him so easily. John grew up farming with his grandfather, working long days, and living the same blue-collar life so many people feel forgotten in. He never had the privilege of being insulated from hard times – he lived them. And that’s exactly why he understands what’s happening in Colorado and across the country right now.
Families are getting squeezed from every direction.
Housing costs have exploded.
Groceries are overwhelming.
Insurance premiums make no sense.
And people are losing their jobs while everything keeps getting more expensive.
Through all of this, John is the only working-class candidate in this race. He works full time, raises our kids, runs this campaign with everything he has, and somehow still finds time to check in with me, help with homework, cook dinner, or just sit for a moment and be human. Sometimes I joke that he must have some kind of magic energy source hidden somewhere – but the truth is, he just cares deeply. And he doesn’t know how to quit when people are counting on him.
John and I met in seventh grade. I knew right away he was a little different. There was something about him – this mix of empathy, stubbornness, and a kind of restlessness that came from wanting to make the world better, even before he had the words for it. Over the last 16 years, I’ve watched that spark turn into real work.
I watched him push for criminal justice reform and treatment-based diversion programs.
I watched him advocate for medical marijuana access for children with epilepsy and for people like his father, who lived with chronic pain and multiple sclerosis.
I watched him show up at state capitols and in Washington to fight for policies that help working families breathe just a little easier.
I’ve seen him sacrifice, push, and keep going because he refuses to accept a world where people suffer needlessly.
Today, he asked me to write this email because, truthfully, he simply doesn’t have a moment to spare. As I write this, we’re about to head out the door for another town hall in Larkspur. He’s been on the phone with supporters, donors, and organizations who believe in what he’s building. He’s earned the support of groups like Progressive Democrats of America – and he’s proud to be one of just seven non-incumbent U.S. House candidates chosen for the midterms. These are the same folks who have backed leaders like AOC, Greg Casar, Maxwell Frost, Zohran Mamdani, Summer Lee, and others who fight with their whole hearts.
John and I often talk about how the word “progressive” has been turned into something negative by the political establishment and the people who want the Democratic Party to keep drifting right. But John has never been someone who runs away from his values. He runs straight toward them. He believes what President Theodore Roosevelt said – “A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy.”
And right now, with extremism rising and our democracy under threat, we need progress more than ever. We need courage more than ever. We need candidates who don’t posture with guns in Christmas cards or turn politics into a spectacle – we need people who believe in peace, fairness, dignity, and opportunity for every child in this country.
As Thanksgiving approaches, I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude. I’m grateful for everyone who has stood with John from the very beginning – every volunteer, every donor, every person who’s opened their home or hosted an event or encouraged him to keep going. Your support is the reason he can travel this district, speak his truth, and build something real.
And I’m grateful to know that when our kids and grandkids ask us where we stood during this moment in history, we’ll be able to look them in the eye and say we fought for universal healthcare, for affordable housing, for good schools, for safety, for fairness, and for a future that belongs to them – not to the wealthy few.
John has the grit, the heart, and the determination to defeat Lauren Boebert and bring working people back into the center of our democracy. But we can’t do it alone. We’re up against enormous money pipelines from people who think they can buy this seat. They’re wrong – but only if we continue building a movement strong enough to match the moment we’re in.
If you believe, like I do, that it’s time to send a real fighter to Congress – someone who works hard, loves this district, and never forgets who he’s fighting for – then I’m asking you from the bottom of my heart to chip in today.
Thank you for standing with us,
- Amber Padora
Working families deserve leaders who fight for them — not cave when it counts. If you’re ready to stand with those who never back down, chip in now and help us build a movement that actually delivers.
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Together, we can build a government that finally works for us — not the billionaires, not the lobbyists, and not the cowards who cave under pressure.
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