Scott R. Tipton

Scott Randall Tipton (born November 9, 1956) is an American politician and businessman who served as the U.S. Representative for Colorado’s 3rd congressional district from January 3, 2011, to January 3, 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he served five terms in Congress and was previously a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 2009 to 2011. Over the course of a decade in the U.S. House of Representatives, he participated in the legislative process during a significant period in American history and represented the interests of his largely rural and Western Slope constituents.

Tipton was born in Española, New Mexico, and raised in Cortez, Colorado. He was the first in his family to graduate from college, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. His early exposure to the political and economic issues of the Four Corners region, combined with his academic training in political science, helped shape his later interest in public service and Republican Party politics.

After completing his education, Tipton entered the private sector and co-founded Mesa Verde Indian Pottery with his brother, establishing the company in Cortez. The firm produced Native American-style pottery and became a notable local business in the region. The Tiptons operated the company for several decades before selling it to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in 2014. Alongside his business career, Tipton became active in civic and community affairs, serving on the board of Mesa Verde National Park, the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, and the advisory board of Pueblo Community College, reflecting a longstanding engagement with cultural preservation, education, and regional development.

A lifelong Republican, Tipton became involved in party politics at a relatively young age. He worked on Ronald Reagan’s unsuccessful 1976 presidential campaign and served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention that year. He later assisted with Reagan’s successful presidential campaigns in 1980 and 1984 across Montezuma County and Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. Tipton also served as Republican chairman of the 3rd Congressional District for eight years, building party organization and supporting GOP candidates throughout western and southern Colorado. His early political involvement laid the groundwork for his own candidacies for state and federal office.

Tipton first sought federal office in 2006, when he ran as the Republican challenger to first-term Democratic U.S. Representative John Salazar in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. In that race, he was defeated, receiving 38 percent of the vote to Salazar’s 62 percent. Undeterred, Tipton turned to state-level office. On February 5, 2008, he announced his candidacy for the Colorado House of Representatives seat in District 58, following the retirement announcement of incumbent Republican Ray Rose. Running unopposed in the Republican primary, he faced Democratic candidate Noelle Hagan in the November 2008 general election. Despite Hagan’s endorsements from the Denver Post and the Montrose Daily Press, Tipton won the seat with 59 percent of the vote.

During his tenure in the Colorado House of Representatives from 2009 to 2011, Tipton focused on issues related to criminal justice, the judiciary, and water rights. Along with Representatives Laura Bradford and Frank McNulty, he planned to reintroduce a version of “Jessica’s Law” to establish mandatory minimum sentences for child sex offenders, though that effort ultimately died in committee. He also sponsored legislation to create a full-time judgeship in Montrose and to simplify water rights filing procedures, reflecting the importance of judicial capacity and water management in his largely rural district. For the 2009 legislative session, he was appointed to the House Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources Committee and the House Local Government Committee, where he worked on matters central to Colorado’s agricultural and local governance concerns. He chose not to seek reelection to the state House in order to pursue a second bid for Congress in 2010.

In the 2010 election cycle, Tipton again sought the U.S. House seat in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. He first won the Republican primary, defeating Bob McConnell with 56 percent of the vote to McConnell’s 44 percent. In the general election, he faced incumbent Democrat John Salazar, as well as Libertarian Gregory Gilman and independent candidate Jake Segrest, with independents John W. Hargis Sr. and James Fritz qualifying as write-in candidates. Tipton defeated Salazar with 50.1 percent of the vote to Salazar’s 45.8 percent, securing his first term in Congress. He took office on January 3, 2011, and would be re-elected four more times, serving a total of five terms until January 3, 2021.

As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Tipton represented Colorado’s expansive 3rd Congressional District, which includes much of the Western Slope, the San Luis Valley, and parts of southern Colorado. Serving during a period marked by debates over federal spending, energy development, public lands, and health care, he participated in the democratic process on issues of particular importance to his district, such as natural resources, water, agriculture, and rural economic development. His congressional career was not without controversy. In 2011, it was reported that his office spent over $7,000 on vendors that did business with his nephew’s company. In 2012, he was found to have violated House rules when his office used taxpayer resources to promote a campaign event. Additionally, a super PAC funded by oil and gas driller SG Interests, which sought to drill in the Thompson Divide area, was registered at the address of Tipton’s campaign attorney and run by a law clerk in that attorney’s office; Tipton’s attorney stated that “Chinese walls” had been established to separate the super PAC’s activities from the Tipton campaign.

Tipton’s subsequent re-election campaigns reflected the competitive nature of his district. In 2012, he faced Democratic state representative Sal Pace of Pueblo. His re-election effort was bolstered by approximately $1.3 million in advertising against Pace funded by Americans for Tax Reform, led by Grover Norquist, and by SG Interests, which opposed Pace’s stance on drilling in the Thompson Divide. Tipton won the race with 53.3 percent of the vote against Pace and two third-party challengers. In 2014, he was challenged by Democrat Abel Tapia, Libertarian Travis Mero, and unaffiliated candidate Tisha Casida, winning re-election with 56.1 percent of the vote. In 2016, he defeated Democratic state senator Gail Schwartz and Libertarian Gaylon Kent, receiving 54.6 percent of the vote. His closest contest came in 2018, when he faced Democratic former state representative Diane Mitsch Bush, Independent Mary Malarsie, and Libertarian Gaylon Kent; Tipton prevailed with 51.2 percent of the vote, the narrowest margin since his initial election.

Tipton’s decade in Congress concluded following the 2020 election cycle. Seeking a sixth term, he ran for re-nomination in the Republican primary for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District but was defeated by challenger Lauren Boebert in what was widely regarded as a major upset. Boebert’s victory ended Tipton’s congressional service on January 3, 2021. After leaving office, Tipton returned to private life, drawing on his long experience in business, state government, and national politics, and remained a notable figure in Colorado Republican circles and in the history of representation of the state’s 3rd Congressional District.