Local Attorney and Community Leader Announces
Candidacy for Colorado State Senate District 3
BY DEBORAH MARTINEZ MARTINEZ
The March Pueblo Caucuses will see Aaron Gutierrez, a local business owner with deep roots in Pueblo, running for a seat in the Colorado State Senate District 3. He is running against others at the County caucus in March.
In an interview with Gutierrez for La Cucaracha News, he said,”For me, it’s about serving my community and bettering the lives of everyday people. My campaign slogan is ‘Rooted in Pueblo, Leading with Purpose,’ reflecting my deep connection to the community and the clear vision for its future.”
Gutierrez’s family has been in Pueblo for four generations. His great grandfather came from Chihuahua, Mexico, to work the fields and then the family found other jobs. More recently, his mother Gloria Gutierrez worked at USC for eight presidents while his father Ray Gutierrez worked for School District 60’s print shop for 28 years.
“My mother got her degree while I was in middle school,” reported Gutierrez. “We did homework together. I met important community leaders through events like the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation and learned different styles of leadership and that affected my upbringing.”
After a student at Colorado College, he developed eight, grape-sized tumors in the brain. He kept at his studies, and doctors said he should have failed, but he passed the classes due to “sheer will” as described by his doctor. His cancer journey demonstrated a determination to move forward.
During college, he spent a semester in Santiago, Chile, and time at the language school in Merida, Mex.
Gutierrez holds a Juris Doctor (Cum Laude) from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in International Political Economy and Spanish from The Colorado College. After that, he worked in Washington, D.C, for the congressional office of John Salazar and the Congressional Hispanic Institute.
But, he says, it was his time with the Colorado State Office of the Public Defender that gave him a full spectrum understanding and opened his eyes about the judicial system.
Gutierrez has served the Pueblo community directly through the legal system for years. He worked as a legal representative for vets charged with a crime at the Veterans Treatment Court working with District Judge William Alexander. He said, he has witnessed first hand the struggles many families face and is driven to create policies that address systemic issues and offer genuine support.
Gutierrez feels that he knows Pueblo because of his time on many boards and with many diverse organizations. He was on the board of the Boys & Girls Clubs where he learned from a finely oiled machine in fundraising as well as on the Rosemont Museum, Central High School Foundation, and the Pueblo African American Concerns Organization. He was a vice-president of Homes for Senior Citizens, Inc. when they were building apartments for seniors.
He says he has gained the ability to work effectively across different levels of government. “My top priority is to tackle critical issues like crime, homelessness, and the economy with both expertise and empathy to ensure that District 3 has a powerful and effective voice in Denver. I’m ready to work for the people of Pueblo.”
Gutierrez can be contacted at aaron@aaronforpueblo.com.