A 27-year-old recent law school graduate hopes he has what it takes to transition from a bedroom in his parents’ Carbondale home to a seat in Congress.
Alex Beinstein is targeting Republican Rep. Scott Tipton of Cortez, looking to force a primary contest in the sprawling 3rd Congressional District.
Beinstein believes he is even further right of the conservative Tipton.
“Several months ago, I was speaking to my father, and I was saying, ‘what do you think it would be like if Thomas Jefferson were alive today?’ And he instinctively said, ‘if he saw what was going on today, he would go right back in his coffin,’” Beinstein quipped. “They (the Founding Fathers) wanted a much, much more limited federal government.”
In his less than three decades on this planet, Beinstein has built an impressive resume. He generated some national attention for his University of Chicago community radio show, “Tomorrow with Alex Beinstein.”
In his second week of classes as a first-year undergraduate student in October 2006, Beinstein held his first show. He went on to interview former United Nations ambassador John Bolton, National Security Advisor Susan Rice and Supreme Court historian Jeff Shesol, to name a few.
“The show helped me better think on my feet, and it really helped inspire me to aggressively read the news,” Beinstein said.
After graduating from the University of Chicago, Beinstein attended law school at the University of Maine, where he graduated last summer before moving back to Colorado.
His father is acting as Beinstein’s “quasi campaign manager,” and helping to fund living and campaign expenses. So far, Beinstein hasn’t raised enough money to qualify for campaign-finance disclosures.
But that hasn’t stopped him from lobbing attacks at Tipton. He criticized the representative for supporting the Every Student Succeeds Act last year, which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act.
Beinstein also took issue with Tipton’s vote in 2013 for the “Ryan-Murray” federal budget, which was viewed as a spending compromise. Some House conservatives at the time opposed the deal.
A Tipton spokesman, Michael Fortney, didn’t appear too concerned with Beinstein’s run, responding: “It’s an open process. Anyone can throw their hat in the ring.”
Beinstein said he expects to go the caucus route, in which he would need 30 percent of the Republican delegate vote at the district assembly on April 8 – a day before the state assembly in Colorado Springs.
Beinstein could also collect signatures, in which he would need 1,000 valid signatures from within the district by April 4.
The primary election is June 28.
The young, politically inexperienced candidate has an uphill battle in trying to unseat Tipton, who has widespread recognition in the district, having first been elected in 2010.
The task is complicated by the vast size of the district, which includes most of the Western Slope and southern portions of the Eastern Plains. It is one of the geographically largest congressional districts in the nation.
In addition to his message on limited government, Beinstein plans to continue hitting talking points around fighting Islamic terrorism.
“Now, as we’re becoming increasingly more energy dependent, I don’t think we have to be hostage to oil ...” Beinstein said. “I would love to get the juices flowing about Saudi Arabia and really have people re-evaluate our relationship.”
In regard to his young age, Beinstein said: “People are very open to it, in fact, that’s one of the reasons I’m running. A lot of people think we need young people ... I don’t think it’s a hindrance, in fact, I think it could help quite a bit.”