Democrat Trisha Calvarese is a first-time candidate for Congress. She defeated two other Democratic hopefuls to win the party’s nomination. She was raised in Colorado, where her parents eventually settled in Highlands Ranch. Her education and early career took her out of state.
She has worked for the AFL-CIO and the U.S. National Science Foundation, where she worked in communications and helped shape messaging around bipartisan bills like the infrastructure law and the CHIPS and Science Act. Calvarese also managed a 2018 state House race, but her candidate lost.
Calvarese returned to Colorado to provide end-of-life care for her parents, who she said were conservatives. Still, she said, her father encouraged her to run for office. She faces an uphill climb in a district that leans heavily Republican.
CPR News is part of Voter Voices, a statewide effort to ask Coloradans what issues matter most to them in this election. We used those responses to develop the questionnaire CPR sent to major party candidates.
Trisha Calvarese on the economy and cost of living
What would you do, as a member of Congress, to address the cost of housing?
Housing affordability is a significant issue, and we need real solutions. I will explore measures to ban hedge funds and other investment speculators from buying homes solely to drive up costs. Homes should be prioritized for working people and families, not for profit-driven investors.
We must also invest in developing the workforce of carpenters, plumbers, and electricians that are essential to building new housing. That’s why I support the North American Building Trades Union (NABTU) Multi-Core Craft Curriculum to deliver high-quality training that can support the good jobs we need to fill to address our housing crisis. I'll work with the Colorado Building and Construction Trades and Colorado Treasurer Dave Young to build housing that working people can afford while training a new generation of workers in the skilled building and construction trades.
We should increase federal funding for affordable housing initiatives, such as the Housing Trust Fund and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, to stimulate the construction and preservation of affordable housing units. We must also work on expanding access to rental assistance programs to help those struggling with high rents. By prioritizing these efforts, we can make significant strides in ensuring that Coloradans can live the American Dream.
What can Congress do to address inflation, particularly around the cost of food?
Costs have gotten out of control, and Coloradans feel that when they go to the grocery store
and fill up their tanks. To address inflation, we must focus on creating sustainable economic
opportunities, passing comprehensive labor law reforms, and safeguarding Medicare and Social
Security. Political gridlock and corporate price gouging have left working families unable to
afford everyday essentials like food and housing. We need to build pathways to well-paying jobs
that make the middle class attainable and sustainable once again.
Colorado's 4th District is one of the nation's leading agricultural producers, yet many families still face food insecurity. This is unacceptable. Additionally, skyrocketing housing costs and rising property taxes are squeezing young families and long-time residents alike. We need targeted policies to address these issues, such as increasing affordable housing, providing property tax relief, and supporting local agriculture to ensure that no one in our community goes hungry. By tackling these problems head-on, we can create a more equitable and prosperous future for all Coloradans.
What are your views on raising tariffs on foreign goods?
I don’t support raising taxes on middle-class families. The tariff plan supported by my opponent would raise taxes by over $1,600 on the average middle-class family. I believe that the way we invest in America’s future and American competitiveness is with smart investments that create American jobs and ensure we are building the industries of the future in our communities. Tax increases don’t help us in that effort, and that’s why I oppose tax-raising tariffs.
Context: Trump favors huge new tariffs. How do they work? (PBS)
Trisha Calvarese on democracy and good governance
What are your top three ideas for reforms to make Congress work better?
We must end dark money in our political process, ban stock trading by Members of Congress, and end gerrymandering by instituting non-partisan redistricting.
If control of the federal government remains divided between the parties after the election, how do you plan to be effective for your district?
I’m the candidate most qualified to represent the values of the 4th Congressional District because I was raised on them – I was baptized at St. Anthony's in Sterling and graduated from Highlands Ranch High School in Douglas County. My conservative parents taught me to respect veterans, elders, and the dignity of work. Those values helped me earn a full academic scholarship to college and have guided my life. I went on to work for the AFL-CIO, fighting for folks who work for a living and to restore America’s promise that if you work hard, you should be able to earn a family-supporting wage and benefits. I worked at the U.S. National Science Foundation on advancing scientific innovation and standing up to China. I worked on key legislation like the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Then, life happened. Mom was diagnosed with cancer, and with both parents facing terminal illnesses, I moved back home to provide end-of-life care. Before they passed last year, my Dad, a lifelong Republican, told me to step up and run to serve the community that raised me. I’m so glad he did, because every day, I get to fight for the very values my parents taught me. When I go to towns across the district, Democrats, Republicans and Independents all tell me they want a representative who will work hard to serve others, not themself. That’s what my parents taught me, it’s how I have lived my life, and that’s the approach I will take with me to Congress.
There is an initiative on Colorado’s ballot to do away with party primaries and institute ranked choice voting. How will you vote on it and why?
I’m still listening to Coloradans on this issue. My priority is to ensure that our elections stay secure and accessible for every Coloradan. Colorado’s election system is the gold standard because we’ve deliberately lowered barriers to accessibility to the ballot, and that’s what I’ll continue to support.
Do you trust the current electoral system in Colorado? What about the rest of the country?
As I said, Colorado’s election system is the gold standard because we’ve deliberately lowered barriers to accessibility to the ballot. I believe strongly in upholding these accessibility measures, such as mail-in voting, early voting, and automatic voter registration. Across the country, however, voting access remains extremely variable, depending on where you live. I was at the AFL-CIO championing the John Lewis Freedom to Vote Act when it passed the House in 2021. But Congress has tried and failed to restore the protections that were stripped away when parts of the Voting Rights Act were struck down in 2013 by the Supreme Court.
Since those rollbacks, states have, in turn, rolled back voter protections by purging voter rolls,
implementing onerous registration restrictions, gerrymandering districts, and limiting polling
places, registration periods, and early voting. These rollbacks have caused direct and disparate
impacts on Black voters, voters of color, student voters, working voters, and older voters, to
name a few. In Congress, I’ll work to restore the Voting Rights Act and block any limitations to
voter access. We are best represented at all levels of government when all of us who can vote,
can do so without barriers.
Trisha Calvarese on immigration
How should the U.S. Congress address current and future waves of people crossing at the border?
I start from a worker perspective. When people can be exploited because of their documentation
status, it creates a race to the bottom, hurts all workers, and defiles American values. The
current system is broken, we need to fix it - enforce our laws, secure the border, and stop
playing games. We had an opportunity to pass a broadly popular, bipartisan border bill this year.
It would have sent over 1,500 new agents to secure the border and invested in critical
technology to stop fentanyl from entering our country. But Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and
other extreme politicians stopped it. They put politics before the country, headlines over
solutions.
Context: Lauren Boebert Says Cartels 'Salivating' Over Border Bill (Newsweek)
Name one aspect of the current legal immigration system the U.S. Congress should reform or abolish, and why?
I will work hard to support immigration policies that secure our border, protect our economic
interests, and provide legal pathways for migrants to citizenship and continue contributing to our
communities. And let’s make no mistake, migrants are a critical part of our economy, in our
district, especially for farmers and care providers. And frankly, we are in a global competition for
STEM talent. We want to remain the brightest beacon for the world’s talent. We need to collaborate with employers and allied nations to ensure that immigrants, from farm workers to
STEM professionals, can stay, work, and contribute to our communities. By creating legal and
efficient pathways to citizenship, we can continue to keep America competitive.
What should the U.S. do about people who have lived in the country for a long time without documentation, including so-called Dreamers?
I believe in a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and other migrants who contribute to our
communities and who have known no other home than the United States of America.
Trisha Calvarese on climate and natural resources
What is the most pressing environmental or natural resource issue facing Colorado?
Colorado needs to increase its resilience to worsening extreme storms and wildfires and ensure that our farmers and ranchers don’t just survive, but thrive in the coming challenging decade.
What are the most urgent steps the country should take to address climate change, if any?
We need a clean energy strategy that works for Colorado. Through my roles working for the
largest federation of unions in the country and the National Science Foundation, I was able to
shape and help pass an anticipated $13 billion to make Colorado a world leader in renewable
energy transmission through the landmark bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act. Colorado is among
the top ten states in the country for energy production, and our share of renewable electricity
production is growing. We can make Colorado a world leader in this area and bring high-paying,
stable jobs to CD4.
But we can’t leave people behind. As we transition, we need to ensure that we are creating
good-paying union jobs to build the equitable, clean energy future we need and deserve. There
should be investments in every coal or oil community that lost or will lose jobs and new
pathways to prosperity.
Context: The Biden White House estimated the IRA would lead to $13.2 billion in investments in renewable energy energy generation in Colorado by 2030.
Should the federal government take steps to limit new oil and gas production on public lands?
Protecting our public lands is a top priority for me, while also ensuring that Colorado is
energy-independent and that we are building energy infrastructure that lowers costs for
Colorado residents. A blanket ban on oil and gas production is not the right approach. We need
to protect our air and water, and implement a 'best of the above' energy strategy that not only
capitalizes on Colorado’s abundant natural gas, but also brings more renewable energy online
with wind and solar, modernizes our electrical grid, and adds a lot of battery storage for the
in-between times.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described Calvarese as working for the National Space Foundation. She worked for the National Science Foundation.
