Content orginally published by the Denver Post on December 6th, 2015. 

U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter didn’t arrive down a chimney and he’s way too thin be confused with the jolliest old elf, but Saturday marked the eighth year in a row the jovial politician has celebrated the holidays with his constituents.

About 140 people showed up on a sunny December Saturday afternoon for his annual open house at his district office on West Colfax Avenue in Lakewood. It’s hard to construe it as a campaign event, since it’s looking increasingly unlikely that Perlmutter will attract a quality Republican challenger next year. (Though political speculators around the statehouse won’t be surprised if he jumps in the governor’s race for 2018; Ed hasn’t said, and those close to him say he’s awfully energized about his current job.)

“This event is really about welcoming you all to our office to meet our staff and other constituents in the 7th Congressional District,” Perlmutter told the visitors, per his spokeswoman who fed me some details in my absence (there were good college football games on TV Saturday. Roll Tide, Ed). “Our office is here to help you and we look forward to serving you again in 2016.”

Perlmutter is riding a wave. This past week, a five-year, $305 billion national transportation funding bill that’s been a sharp focus of his made it to the president’s desk, with huge implications for Colorado.

Last month he was drawing attention to the movie, “My All American,” about Wheat Ridge’s favorite son, the late Freddie Steinmark, a University of Texas football star who inspired the federal government to take the war on cancer more seriously.

Perlmutter showed a video Saturday that talked about a lot of other work he’s been up to in our nation’s capital since the last holiday event in his district. He also fielded questions about trade, campaign finance reform and the highway bill that was just passed, said his spokeswoman, Ashley Verville.