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JP Lujan
JP Lujan (independent) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Colorado's 7th Congressional District. Lujan lost as a write-in in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Lujan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
JP Lujan was born in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Lujan earned an associate degree from Red Rocks Community College in 2014 and a bachelor's degree from the Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2017. His career experience includes working as a mechanic, retail service man, and gig economy contractor.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Colorado's 7th Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Colorado District 7
Brittany Pettersen defeated Erik Aadland, Ross Klopf, Critter Milton, and JP Lujan in the general election for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Brittany Pettersen (D) | 56.4 | 204,984 |
 | Erik Aadland (R)  | 41.4 | 150,510 | |
 | Ross Klopf (L) | 1.7 | 6,187 | |
 | Critter Milton (Unity Party) | 0.5 | 1,828 | |
 | JP Lujan (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 92 | |
| Total votes: 363,601 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7
Brittany Pettersen advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brittany Pettersen | 100.0 | 71,497 |
| Total votes: 71,497 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kyle Faust (D)
- Julius Mopper (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7
Erik Aadland defeated Tim Reichert and Laurel Imer in the Republican primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Erik Aadland | 47.9 | 43,469 |
| Tim Reichert | 35.9 | 32,583 | ||
 | Laurel Imer | 16.2 | 14,665 | |
| Total votes: 90,717 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Brad Dempsey (R)
- Carl Andersen (R)
Endorsements
To view Lujan's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
JP Lujan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Lujan's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Combat extremism. Vote them out and fight back. When they go low, we go lower. Together, we can be the groundswell that shakes them off of their feet.
- Restore checks and balances. Political divides in Congress have stagnated their efficacy, opening opportunities for the President to legislate from the Oval Office and the Supreme Court to do so from the bench.
- Restore the Constitution. The time to address Constitutional crises is before they happen. The framers created the amendment process for a reason. It is time for the supreme law of the land to reflect the will of the people.
Non-Fiction: Emmanuel Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason.' While there are many good arguments for the superiority of the works of post-Kantian philosophers, the 'Critique' still stands out as wholly novel. Almost all modern and postmodern thought is owed to the 'Critique,' which helped stitch together the dueling rationalist and empiricist schools in the early modern period and lay an entirely new groundwork that still permeates much of philosophical study and scientific inquiry even to this day. The Critique gave the world a framework of how to use our reason to cut through both our own potentially errant perceptions and unhelpful esoterica to discover relevant, useful truths about the world.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Lujan's campaign website stated the following:
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Human Rights Workers' rights are human rights. Women's rights are human rights. LGBT+ rights are human rights. Religious freedom is a human right. Education is a human right. Clean air and water are human rights. Food and housing are human rights. These should not be controversial statements, but they are. In the face of such controversy, we must be strong and stand firm. If elected, I will take every avenue and use every resource at my disposal to see these rights codified. We live in the richest country in the world, yet too many Americans go hungry, are unhoused, are unable to receive healthcare, are made to live in fear that they may be harmed because of how they identify, whom they love, or how they worship. The list goes on and on. If I am elected, I will not be able to singlehandedly build a path toward a more just and equitable society. The odds are overwhelmingly against us on that front. However, I can be a messenger and share that vision. I will be more than vocal. I will be feral, feverish, forceful. The voice of the People will be heard, no matter who tries silence it. I am the sole all-inclusive human rights candidate in District 7 in this election, perhaps ever. I will not be cowed by establishment interests. Our rights are too important.
The recent decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade has rapidly evoked tremendous celebration from the right, and great lamentation from anyone with a functioning brain. We are quickly learning that many states had trigger laws in place to severely restrict access to reproductive healthcare for millions of Americans. While some states scramble to expand access to their own residents and to citizens in neighboring states, others still are working just as hard to enact even harsher legislation. Worst of all, this has all been carried out under the pretext of upholding the religious liberties of a select few. The irony of this is that so many more of our liberties are now in grave danger. Same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, and integration of public schools are all in place as a result of Supreme Court decisions. Further, the application of any one faith's religious convictions to the law of the land threatens everyone's religious freedom. Secular governance is the cornerstone of protecting the free exercise of all faiths. If elected, I will do everything in my power to see to the codification of bodily autonomy enshrined in the law of the land.
Armed self-defense is a fundamental right and a cornerstone of a free society. However, there are complications that have resulted from the proliferation of small arms in the hands of the public. Gun violence is a blight on our society, but mass disarmament is not only unfeasible - it fails to address the underlying causes of interpersonal violence. The circumstances whereby person-on-person violent crime arises are complex and vary substantially from one case to the next. Access to a gun may expedite the rate at which a bad actor may carry out violence, but the inclination toward violence precedes the procurement or use of firearms to that end. Even solutions such as licenses, registries, and tax hikes serve only to limit access. Even worse, this places firearm ownership out of reach for the working poor; many of whom have been relegated to locales with elevated crime rates. If we are going to have a healthier gun culture, we must create a healthier culture overall. The best way to stop a violent criminal is to address the circumstances that give rise to violence and criminality in the first place. The basic needs of people must be met so that they do not turn to crime to make ends meet. Greater access to mental and behavioral health services is needed. Access to adequate firearm safety training is needed. In short, the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to keep good kids from becoming bad guys. Finally, the 2nd must be retooled as a positive right. Every person who is of sound mind and otherwise eligible to purchase a firearm but cannot afford one should be granted assistance and subsidized training. Law enforcement agents across the country haul in enormous quantities of confiscated weapons every year, making them the rightful property of the People. To that end, I intend to introduce the Arm the People Act, which will outline the allocation of resources, eligibility requirements, and responsibilities of the federal government and the states in bringing the act's provisions to fruition.
In the U.S., we have a volunteer system of military service. This is one among the myriad reasons our culture values service and venerates those who have served. However, much of this culture is merely lip service. Our veterans contend with health challenges at disproportionate rates to the rest of the population. These include PTSD, physical disability resulting from combat injury, substance use issues, and traumatic brain injury - to name only a few. Worst of all, veterans are nearly twice as likely to complete suicide compared to the overall population. Whatever our positions on the justifications for American intervention and the use of warfare in the course of such interventions, our veterans deserve better than what we currently offer. U.S. veterans are not political props. They are people, and they are citizens. They deserve to be members of our communities and the highest standard of care in treating any injury or lingering effects of their service and readjusting to civilian life.
Regressive authoritarian infiltrators of the conservative movement have weaponized the health and safety of children in their fight against equality. Children are citizens, not the property of the state, nor the property of their parents. While it is simple common sense to place certain restrictions on the autonomy of developing minds, the rights of our young people have fallen by the wayside in recent years. Public education standards should be designed to prepare youngsters to be well-rounded citizens with the necessary information to thrive in our diverse, multicultural society. The ongoing anti-LGBT+, anti-history (see: anti-CRT) crusades of the right are a severe impediment to this end. I will not stand for the dismantling of our public schools in favor of anti-diversity indoctrination. Looking beyond education, in the wealthiest country in the world, no child should ever go hungry. Lunch programs, including those that run through the summer, must be thoroughly evaluated. The same is true of existing supplemental programs, such as WIC. Opportunities to better serve underserved communities must be seized upon. The fact that any child is hungry in this country is evidence that we are still not doing enough. This is nothing short of disgraceful, and demands swift redress. I will no doubt require substantial assistance from more seasoned policy-makers in this endeavor, but I will meet this challenge head on.
The enormous growth of the wealth disparity between workers and executives has prompted a new wave of calls for organized labor. The wealthiest among us and the news media have launched a vicious campaign of crackdowns and propaganda in a futile attempt to defy the will of the People and divide American workers against one another. If elected, I will work closely with other lawmakers to put some teeth back in the NLRA and sharpen them to a razor's edge.
It's 2022, and we're still discussing this issue as though there are two sides to it. If you've read this far, chances are you require no further convincing. We are running out of time, and industry needs to settle up on the bill. Anything and everything that can be done must be done. Cap and trade is a good start, but just that - a start. Energy subsidies must be reallocated to fund research and development in cleaner energy solutions. If push comes to shove, I will introduce the "Guillotine Act" to supply every able American with the necessary tools to solve the problem for themselves. (Please view the Frequently Asked Questions for additional information on the Guillotine Act).
Affordable housing is at an all-time low. Too many Americans are living unhoused, in unstable housing, or under the threat of foreclosure or eviction. Many would have us believe that experiencing homelessness is a choice and that this problem cannot be solved or that it does not need solving. It is time to take a firm stance: we must end the war on the poor and begin our assault on poverty itself.
We all have vices. Some are fairly innocuous, like drinking too much coffee or binge-watching trashy shows on your favorite streaming platform. Others can be harmful, like hard drugs or overindulging in the musical stylings of [insert that band/artist you really hate here]. The War on Drugs has been futile and destructive. The moralistic opposition to all forms of sex work hurts workers - especially women - who voluntarily engage in currently criminal forms of sex work. The demand for illicit drugs and for adult services that fall outside of what the law permits have contributed to the proliferation of the trafficking of both drugs and human beings. Our current laws are draconian and useless. More importantly, these laws endanger the People. The trafficking of drugs, particularly those in high demand as a result of the opioid crisis, attracts more dangerous criminal elements to our borders. Those engaged in voluntary sex work are forced to ply their trade in secret, placing them in danger of being assaulted, defrauded, or otherwise victimized. Further, our current laws allow that victims of sex trafficking to be treated as criminals themselves. This cannot continue. The money wasted on the War on Drugs could have been allocated to drug treatment programs and harm reduction measures. The revenue generated by developing paths toward legitimate business in these oft-maligned industries could be used to benefit the People.
Maintaining an accurate count of border crossings and persons residing in the U.S. is essential to understanding trends in the U.S. population and how they relate to the distribution of resources and infrastructure usage. For over a decade in the early 2000's, the U.S. saw downward trends in net crossings at our southern border. More people were leaving than entering. Recently, we have seen staggering increases in arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border. Both major parties neglect to examine the nuanced causes of these increases in favor of a policy agenda of cruelty. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have demonstrated that they are no better, if not worse, than every other infamous three-letter agency of the federal government. Our tax dollars have been wasted on rampant corruption and human rights violations. Worst of all is that these atrocities are inflicted against people whose conditions are due in large part to failed U.S. interventions in Mexico and Latin America. The brutality of covert U.S. military operations conducted to serve corporate interests as long as a century ago is coming home to roost. We cannot respond to this crisis with more cruelty, lest we repeat the mistakes of history.
Increased militarization of U.S. law enforcement agencies at all levels of government, coupled with substandard training and misconduct, has produced numerous crises of legitimacy for these agencies. Further, the prison industrial complex has created a profit motive for punitive incarceration. Punishment is not true justice. In order to begin optimizing how these systems serve the interests of the People and create a better society for all Americans, substantial restructuring and redress is required. A small government includes a small executive, and among the most overpowered executive organizations are law enforcement and corrections.
At first blush, these issues may seem to be an odd mix. However, both our healthcare system and infrastructure are crumbling. It is time to fix these, and it is going to be costly. For this reason, it is necessary to ensure that the rich start paying their fair share. New progressive tax schemes are in order, and the propaganda of the uber-rich must be stamped out. As with the climate crisis, the Guillotine Act will be introduced in the House if our efforts are unsuccessful.
Let's not mince words. The GOP has lost its damn mind and has been overrun with a lunatic fringe consisting of millionaires funded by billionaires, conspiracy theorists, authoritarians, religious zealots, and even overt ethno-fascists. Enough is enough. The Democrats keep giving up ground. They are spineless cowards and are utterly incapable of taking any substantive action to prevent the GOP from advancing its regressive authoritarian agenda. Democratic "leaders" are clearly amenable to business as usual, as long as that business includes their remaining comfortable. The right are a gaggle of bullies, grifters, and all around shitty people. When it comes to dealing with them and their ilk, I'll defer to former Governor Caselló of Puerto Rico.
I know that this issue is very important to some of us. Despite all evidence to the contrary, our elections are very obviously incredibly vulnerable to fraud. As we clearly need to do something about this ongoing problem, I am prepared to make some compromises. Voter ID laws are too open to abuse and exploitation. What's to stop poll security from preventing a lawful voter from exercising their right along arbitrary lines? For that matter, not everyone who is eligible to vote has a permanent address where they could have a physical ID sent to them. As such, my proposed voter ID system is a free digital implant to be placed in the hand, or maybe even the head, that can be scanned only once at a single polling station. This system is incredibly difficult to defraud and makes sure that everyone votes only once, and cannot be turned away from the polls if their vote has not yet been cast.
Though the legislature's role in foreign policy is limited largely to budgeting for aid and defense, officials are afforded a special platform for voicing their positions on foreign affairs. I will never vote to fund needless interventions nor render or deny aid to another nation based solely on emotion or religious conviction. Only the most dire threats merit interventional defense spending. However, I do support rendering aid, support, and reparations to vulnerable nations that are in crisis as a result of prior failed U.S. interventions.
Both chambers of Congress have failed miserably to accomplish anything of substance for decades now. This has given rise to overpowered executive and judiciary bodies. It is time to restore the People's voice to the halls of Congress. We can no longer permit the courts to legislate from the bench, nor the executive to do so from the Oval Office. The legislature is bogged down in politics and greed. The halls of Congress are disgraced by a legion of - mostly out of touch geriatric losers - servants to industry and politics clinging desperately to political and financial capital rather than working together to enact policies that serve the interests of the People. The constant display of greed and cowardice by elected officials requires drastic action. No sitting member of the House or Senate should be permitted to hold assets that present a conflict of interest. Further, it is long overdue to implement term limits and age caps in Congress.
In our current political climate, we are constantly inundated with the notion that some voices are being unfairly silenced and civil liberties are being abused. The brute fact of the matter is that some ideas are just plain bad, even morally evil. Likewise, extending and protecting the liberties of historically marginalized groups does not infringe on the liberties of anyone else. I am all too aware of how unlikely it is to pass any new amendments to the Constitution and how certain it is that if any of the following measures I outline will be struck down in the courts. However, my position must be made clear: hate speech is not free speech. Disinformation is not free speech. Many European nations have, in various ways, outlawed the dissemination of such ideas as Holocaust denial or banned the open and earnest display of Nazi imagery. Nonetheless, these same sovereign nations enjoy robust protections of speech and press. In the so-called "marketplace of ideas," these antiquated and abhorrent views are falling in demand. Their proponents, however, are prepared to act violently to keep their space on the proverbial market shelf. Enough is enough. While it may be nearly impossible to impose any real penalties on hate speech, I encourage every American to exercise their own freedom to call it what it is and to stand by their convictions. Your own freedom of speech entitles you to openly and proudly drown out the hateful cries of these antagonistic forces with your own voice. Our media landscape has likewise become a source of dangerous misinformation. It's not news. It is commentary. It is time that media companies and personalities are taken to task for their role in disseminating outright lies. We have truth in advertising. Why not demand truth in reporting? I am not opposed to simple disclaimers preceding the syndication of commentary programs. This is the bare minimum. Something must be done to make clear that what is being aired is not necessarily factual and that we will not tolerate being lied to.
Despite whatever shortcomings history has uncovered regarding his own life and career, we will always remember the words of William Gladstone: "The American Constitution is, so far as I can see, the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man." What makes this document wonderful is the foresight of its framers. As the supreme law of the land, the Constitution has been neglected. The courts have taken liberties with the interpretation of the Constitution and its amendments that undermine the freedoms of the People. The legislature has failed to amend the Constitution in ways that better reflect our modern understandings of human rights. Individual states have taken actions that serve to harm their citizens citing the 10th Amendment as grounds to take actions that would spark tremendous controversy if such actions were undertaken by the federal government. The very process whereby amendments are passed has not changed in almost two-and-a-half centuries. Many of the issues we have explored so far are best managed through changes to Constitutional Law. Like so many changes that would serve the People, amending the Constitution is long overdue. We cannot allow this most sacred piece of our law to continue to gather dust and fall by the wayside.
If you've read through my positions so far, chances are that you realize how out of reach many of these aims are. You must be wondering how I intend to make anything happen. The truth is, I have no idea. I have no expectation of victory, let alone actually having a productive term if by some miracle I win. We've marched in the streets. We've written letters. We've scrawled messages on buildings and streets. The establishment refuses to listen. If just one independent progressive with more resources than I have can be prompted to run by this campaign - to run and win - they will have to listen. The call will be coming from inside the House. If by some absolute miracle this campaign takes off and I end up in D.C., all I can promise is to make a shitload of noise and do my damnedest to advance policies that actually serve the people, not the aristocracy. I will repeat one final time, also, that there's always the Guillotine Act to fall back on.[2] |
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| —JP Lujan's campaign website (2022)[3] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 4, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ JP Lujan for U.S. House of Representatives Colorado District 7, “On the Issues,” accessed August 11, 2022
