Meet the Pueblo political newcomer running for Congress as a Democrat

Adam Frisch waited just a few months after narrowly losing to U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Republican from Silt, to announce his second campaign for Congress.

Frisch has already raised millions of dollars, but a few other Democrats have already filed to run in the primary, including a political newcomer from Pueblo.

Puebloan Adam Withrow is the latest candidate to file to run for Colorado’s 3^rd Congressional District, which includes Pueblo and the Western Slope.

Withrow, 40, said he has lived up and down the Front Range but has mostly spent time within the district’s boundaries.

He said he's worked a variety of jobs, including as a contractor, and is currently home-schooling his three — soon to be four — children. He currently lives in the middle of Pueblo but is about to buy his first house in Walsenburg.

Withrow comes from a conservative background, was recently Libertarian

Boebert often discusses how she was raised in a Democratic household but later became a conservative. Withrow, on the other hand, said as he was growing up, his father was an avid listener of conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh.

Withrow said his values shifted as he became a working adult. He said that he just switched his party affiliation from Libertarian to Democrat on July 10.

He said he was registered as a Libertarian for a while because he wanted to be able to tell anybody conducting an exit poll that he had likely voted for a Democratic candidate.

Withrow did not graduate from college but continued to “study without guardrails” throughout his life. He is an avid reader of philosophy.

Here's why Withrow is running for Congress

This is Withrow’s first foray into politics, but he said that people in his life have long been telling him he should run for office.

He was inspired to file paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission after Boebert and Donald Trump Jr. visited Pueblo.

Withrow said Frisch was not visible enough when campaigning for Congress in 2022. He said he would travel around the district and do electronic outreach to build momentum for his campaign.

Although Frisch has already raised millions of dollars for the race, Withrow said he's not intimidated by Frisch’s fundraising because he’s competing with a person, not cash.

“(Frisch) can put on a cowboy hat, but he hasn’t bucked bales,” Withrow said.

Withrow said he doesn’t agree with some Democratic gun control policies, such as bans on assault-style weapons, but does support universal background checks. He doesn’t own a gun himself, but respects that other people like to have them for self-defense.

He said government should address the conditions of desperation and poverty instead of going after guns.

“When it comes to overprivileged people that go on a rampage, you're not going to stop them — that is not going to happen. But if we can address the desperation in our society that leads people to a life of crime and violence, then we're going to see that go down,” Withrow said.

The Democratic primary will be held in June 2024. Withrow said he’s “playing to win” but acknowledged that he’s a “fair sport — I can lose with some dignity and some grace.”

“I feel like having a healthy primary, instead of treating the last candidate as an incumbent, is going to do wonders for drawing attention to the entire thing,” Withrow said.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo political newcomer running for Congress as a Democrat