Ron Tupa
Ron Tupa (Unity Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Colorado's 7th Congressional District. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Tupa completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Ron Tupa was born in Michigan. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas, Austin in 1989, graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1994, and earned a graduate degree from Regis University in 2016.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Colorado's 7th Congressional District election, 2024
Colorado's 7th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 25 Democratic primary)
Colorado's 7th Congressional District election, 2024 (June 25 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Colorado District 7
Incumbent Brittany Pettersen defeated Sergei Matveyuk, Patrick Bohan, Ron Tupa, and Patrick Flaherty in the general election for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Brittany Pettersen (D) | 55.3 | 235,688 |
 | Sergei Matveyuk (R)  | 41.1 | 175,273 | |
 | Patrick Bohan (L) | 2.3 | 9,697 | |
 | Ron Tupa (Unity Party) | 1.2 | 5,271 | |
| Patrick Flaherty (Unaffiliated) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 37 | ||
| Total votes: 425,966 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Morgan Law (Unaffiliated)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7
Incumbent Brittany Pettersen advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on June 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brittany Pettersen | 100.0 | 71,052 |
| Total votes: 71,052 | |||
| = 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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Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7
Sergei Matveyuk advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on June 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sergei Matveyuk | 100.0 | 46,154 |
| Total votes: 46,154 | |||
| = 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
- James Hemenway (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Tupa in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ron Tupa completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Tupa's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Outside of the Legislature I’m a single dad with 2 teenagers about to graduate from high school. I’ve also been a public-school teacher, small-business owner, political consultant, and I’ve worked as a Director for political and education reform nonprofits.
I am running as an INDEPENDENT voice in Colorado’s 7th Congressional District for the 49% of unaffiliated voters who feel neither Party represents them well in Washington. My candidacy as an INDEPENDENT gives voters more choices on the ballot to better represent their values, not those of a particular political party.
- I will introduce Political reform measures to allow more citizen input while fixing Congressional corruption, partisanship, and dysfunction.
- I will Focus on Education, Environment, Healthcare, Housing, Immigration, Job Training & Technology, Transportation
- I am concerned about Debt and support Deficit Reduction to reduce inflation – I will vote vs. a budget that doesn’t balance over time
while in office as a state legislator in CO I introduced 200 bills and passed 100 into law, a 50% passage rate.... I Chaired or Vice-Chaired several committees including the Education Committee, the State Affairs Committee, and the Legislative Audit Committee....1/2 of the current Congress were also members of their state legislature, just like me...so I have the skills and experience to do the job beginning on day one.
Work with other members of Congress in a cordial, professional, sdImutually respectful way....be as proactive and service-oriented as possible; try to solve problems before they occur; be responsive to constituents as soon as possible and as often as necessary; become an expert in priority issue areas so that constituents don't have to be; work hard; sleep little; drink coffee.
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
Tupa’s campaign website stated the following:
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Cost of living The price of housing is triple inflation because high interest rates discouraged sales and regulations made previously affordable options like condos too expensive to build. I support down payment assistance and low-interest 30, 40, and 50-year mortgages backed by the government for first-time homebuyers (which also helps renters). I also support increasing the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to incentivize building more affordable units. I would also vote to increase the Child Tax Credit back to pandemic levels of $3600 to help with the cost of childcare and raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour to increase workers’ purchasing power. Finally, I support penalizing companies guilty of price-gouging. Education With state budgets increasingly under pressure to rein in K-12 spending and inflation now at double-digits, it’s no wonder fewer applicants are entering the teaching profession here in Colorado and across the country. When you factor in the lingering effects of COVID absences, the distractions and dangers of social media, and the emergence of artificial intelligence, its not hard to understand the burnout of veteran teachers and the hesitance of others to join the profession. For these reasons and many others, I am a strong supporter of more funding for education along with school choice. Public charter schools have been a wonderful option for many families, and they’ve served particularly well in areas where students are at a socioeconomic disadvantage.As a first-generation college student, I experienced the magic of equal educational opportunity coupled with a wide slate of higher-ed offerings. Some students thrive in a college setting, while others reach their potential through vocational and technical training. In a complex global economy, individuals should have as many options available to them as possible. The Environment Here in America, we must do more to address the climate crisis by taking action now. Renewable energy sources should continue to receive additional funding and development incentives to ensure continued private sector investment. I support increasing the fuel economy standard for cars and income-based subsidies for hybrid and electric vehicles and vehicle charging stations. I also support many aspects of the Green New Deal and the Build Green Infrastructure and Jobs Act, including offering job opportunities and retraining for displaced coal and oil and gas workers. Finally, as we transition away from fossil fuels to a greener future that halts global warming and provides the energy we need, members of Congress must work together on a diverse, yet reliable, energy portfolio. To that end, the potential for clean, plentiful nuclear power has been largely missing from the energy conversation. With safeguards, I support nuclear power as a part of our comprehensive energy portfolio. Foreign Policy I support an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza as the best and fastest route to peace and security in the region. Congresswoman Pettersen has taken $114,000 from pro-Israel lobbies[1] and refuses to call for a ceasefire or condition aid to Israel on a lasting peace plan. As part of a comprehensive immigration reform package, the Cold War initiated trade embargo should be lifted from Cuba, opening up that nation of 11 million people to US products and the mutual cultural, economic, and societal benefits of renewed trade. Guns Healthcare I support drug importation from Canada to lower the cost of pharmaceuticals. I would introduce legislation to allow the FDA to regulate the price of drugs, similar to how Medicare and Medicaid costs are regulated. Since drug prices are anywhere from 15-20% of the total cost of healthcare in America, it makes NO SENSE that we are the only industrialized country that does not have a pricing formulary on what the government will pay for ALL prescription drugs, not just a handful. By now, we are realizing that Republicans and Democrats are all in the pocket of Big Pharma and Big Insurance. Your costs go up, while access and quality of care suffer. The Health insurance industry has donated heavily to Congresswoman Pettersen, and in return, she continues to back privatized, for-profit insurance that leads to billions in profit[2] and increases the massive administrative-cost burdens within our system. Congress must work together for the sake of our growing elderly population to address healthcare costs and provide as many options as possible for dignity in aging and quality of life. Americans need to know that the government will do what’s best - within the legislature, as well as with the private sector and other countries - to provide a system of healthcare excellence. Universal health care, along with drug reforms, would go a long way toward disrupting the status quo. Immigration That means more border patrol agents and asylum officers to expedite claims of asylum, cutting down the current 7-year window for processing cases (that both parties seem to be OK with). But it also means working with governments of native countries to improve their own economies and reduce the demand to emigrate to America in the first place. Congress should work with the US Chamber of Commerce and all 50 state Chambers on a ‘needs assessment’ to establish how many immigrants are needed in each state and in what professions, with a pathway and incentive for citizenship for those arriving legally. Political Reform I support a lifetime ban on former members lobbying their Congressional colleagues, and a ban on lobbyists’ gifts to members of Congress. Former members of Congress trading their influence for private gain on behalf of a private entity is contrary to the public good. Money plays far too great a role in what happens in D.C. Both Democrats and Republicans refuse to ban insider trading. Politicians get richer, while the working class struggles to stay afloat. Whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge, the debt skyrockets, health care costs spiral out of control, and the middle class pays the price for all of it. I agree with Republicans’ calls for advance notice of 24-48 hours before voting on bills. Legislators need time to review and thoroughly understand the consequences of the bills they vote on. Social Security For example, it’s fiscally irresponsible that billionaires such as Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk only contribute as much as your neighbor making $168,000. This change alone would add billions to the trust fund annually. Doing this not only keeps the Social Security Trust Fund solvent, but it also increases benefits to seniors while addressing the regressive nature of the payroll tax. Finally, I would work to increase cost of living adjustments (COLA) to be AT LEAST 1% above inflation to ensure seniors are not simply treading water with inflation, but doing slightly better every year. Not surprisingly, I would oppose any cuts to social security or attempts to raise the age of retirement. Taxes I support extending the tax cuts for income earners who make less than $400,000, but rates should return to pre-Trump tax cuts for corporations and high-income earners (returning from 37% back up to 39.6%). I also favor a few of the Democratic plans to increase taxes on BILLIONAIRES and closing tax loopholes for Wall Street. To reduce our annual deficits in the future, I support and have advocated for a Balanced Budget Amendment to the US Constitution to force Congress to live within its means and stop passing debt along to our children and grandchildren. Women’s Health I wholeheartedly disagree with the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade with the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. It was simply a terrible decision for women’s rights. To counter the conservative SCOTUS decision and other conservative state court rulings across the country, I would not only cosponsor a federal law codifying Roe v. Wade such as the Women's Health Protection Act of 2023, but also support a Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing a woman’s right to an abortion in the US Constitution. Falling short of passing a Constitutional Amendment, I would continue to support federal protections against harassment and discrimination to ensure women had access to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and over the counter abortion drugs such as mifepristone and misoprostol.[2] |
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| —Ron Tupa’s campaign website (2024)[3] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House Colorado District 7 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on January 17, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ron Tupa’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed October 22, 2024
