About Teddy — Teddy for Denver

Raised with Purpose

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Teddy McCullough is an enrolled citizen of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, born in Northern California. His mom raised him largely on her own, sometimes working three jobs, moving the family across California and New Mexico before settling in the Pacific Northwest. She showed him what it looks like to hold a family together through hard years and still carry yourself with dignity.

His First Civics Lesson

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His grandma served as a city clerk in a small California town, close enough to local government to know exactly how it worked and who it left behind. She brought Teddy along to meetings and hearings, treating civic participation as a family obligation. Watching her, he learned that who leads matters just as much as who shows up.

From the Classroom to the Capitol

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Teddy studied political science at American University in Washington, D.C., because he wanted to understand the systems his community had been navigating from the outside his whole life. He later earned his MBA in Finance from Tulane University, because advocacy without understanding how resources flow only goes so far.

A Career in Service

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Through his work at the White House, Teddy helped ensure Native communities had a voice in national policy decisions that shaped their lives. He went on to spend several years at the Center for Native American Youth, advocating for Native kids at a national level and connecting them to leadership opportunities and resources. He built a career in finance and community banking, and in the middle of all of it, became a parent through adoption.

Fighting for Colorado

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Back in Colorado, Teddy co-founded the Colorado Intertribal Policy Alliance, building a statewide organization focused on Native advocacy at the state legislature. He has helped draft and fight for legislation expanding healthcare access and park accessibility for Native people. He has seen firsthand what happens when Native people are at the table: the decisions start to look like the communities they were always supposed to serve.

Why He’s Running

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Teddy has spent his career making sure the people the government tends to overlook have someone fighting for them. He moved to Montbello because he wanted to be part of a community with the same spirit, and he has watched this neighborhood and this district get shortchanged for too long. He is running because he knows what it feels like when the people making decisions have never had to live with the consequences, and because District 8 deserves better than that.

Proud to Call Denver Home

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Teddy lives in Denver's Montbello neighborhood with his husband, Eric, their three dogs and a cat, and his parents, Della and Chad, who roam Colorado in their RV but keep a furnished bedroom at the house they call their home base.

From Lived Experience to Public Leadership