Ed Perlmutter

Ed Perlmutter, a Democrat, has represented the Seventh Congressional District of Colorado in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2007.

Environmental record
For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Biography
Perlmutter was born in 1953 in Denver, CO. He graduated from Jefferson High School in Edgewater, Colorado and went on to study political science, history and economics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, graduating in 1975. He received his Juris Doctorate from CU in 1978, where he was twice elected president of his class while working part-time as a laborer on construction projects. Perlmutter and his wife Deana have three children: Alexis, Abby, and Zoey.

Perlmuter is a director of the law firm of Berenbaum, Weinshienk and Eason, and has specialized in business reorganizations and commercial litigation. He served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Colorado Bar Association and served on the Board of Trustees and Judicial Performance Commission for the First Judicial District. He is a Trustee for the Midwest Research Institute (primary operator of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory), and a Board Member for the National Jewish Medical & Research Center.

Perlmutter was elected to two four-year terms to represent central Jefferson County as a state senator from 1995 to 2003, the first Democrat elected in the district in 30 years.

In 2000, he helped lead a team which succeeded in a Democratic takeover of the Colorado State Senate for the first time since John F. Kennedy was President. He has assisted numerous campaigns and most recently was co-chair of the 2004 John Kerry Campaign in Colorado.

In the Colorado Senate, he served on numerous committees including: Water, Finance, Judiciary, Child Welfare, Telecommunication, Transportation, Legal Services, and Oil and Gas. He was Chair of the Public Policy and Planning Committee, Chair of the Bi-Partisan Renewable Energy Caucus, and President Pro Tem of the Senate during the 2001 and 2002 session.

Among the awards he received while in the Senate were the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry “Business Legislator of the Year”; Legal Aid Award for Equal Justice Under the Law; American Institute of Architecture award for “Colorado Legislator of the Year”; DARE Man of the Year; Jeffco Education Association Friend of Education; United Veterans Committee “Legislator of the Year”; Colorado Humane Society Distinguished Service Award;The AARP Outstanding Legislative Service Award; and the University of Colorado School of Law “Distinguished Alumnus Award”.

2006 congressional elections
Perlmutter sought and won the Democratic Party nomination for Congress in Colorado's Seventh Congressional District, where Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-Colo.) was the retiring incumbent. He defeated former State Representative Peggy Lamm and college professor Herb Rubenstein, with 53% of the vote in the primary. State education chairman Rick O'Donnell ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.

In late September, O'Donnell was put on the defensive when ads appeared noting that he had previously supported abolishing Social Security. A Survey USA poll soon after that showed Perlmutter with a 54 to 37 percent lead, although GOP consultants guessed that the support was "soft". . He ultimately won the election 55% to 42%. 

Money in politics
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Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

 * House Committee on Financial Services
 * Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises
 * Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit


 * House Committee on Homeland Security
 * Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment
 * Subcommittee on Management, Investigations, and Oversight
 * Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection

Resources

 * Perlmutter for Colorado, official campaign site.

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * Colorado Pols: Politics, News, and Inside Information
 * They Get Letters