John Salazar
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| John Salazar | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Scott McInnis |
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| Born | July 21, 1953 Alamosa, Colorado |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Mary Lou Salazar |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
John T. Salazar (born July 21, 1953) is a Democrat from Colorado, was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2004, representing Colorado's 3rd congressional district (map).
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[edit] Background
He was born in Alamosa, Colorado, but calls Manassa, Colorado his home. He attended the United States Military Academy. He is married to Mary Lou Salazar and has three children: Esteban, Miguel and Jesus. His brother, Ken Salazar, was also elected in 2004 to represent Colorado in the U.S. Senate.
Salazar served in the U.S. Army from 1973 to 1976, and is a farmer and rancher, raising cattle, potatoes, wheat, barley, and hay. He also served on the Colorado Agricultural Commission from 1999 to 2002 and in the Colorado House of Representatives. from 2003 until 2004.
[edit] Political positions
Salazar, who grew up on his parents' farm and ranch, is concerned with conservation,[citation needed] and water rights in particular.[1] He has said his top priority on Capitol Hill will be ensuring that water derived from the snow melt of Colorado's Western Slope will stay in his district instead of being sent to California or Nevada.
Though a Democrat, he has conservative leanings — he opposes expanding gun control and supports permanent repeal of the inheritance tax and lower taxes.[1] He also supports allowing Americans to buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. He belongs to the Blue Dog Democrats.
As a veteran, a son of a veteran, and father of a child serving in the Colorado National Guard as of 2004, Salazar has also been vocal against cuts to veterans' benefits and has criticized the Bush administration's proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
During the 110th Congress Salazar has had a number of high profile victories relevant to his district. He co-sponsored an amendment during the appropriation process to prohibit the US Army from condemning nearly 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) of farm and ranch land in his district to expand the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site. The vote passed the House by a 383 to 34 margin. Salazar also was successful at inserting language into the Energy Independence Act of 2007 prohibiting the Bureau of Land Management from drilling for oil and gas atop the Roan Plateau in Garfield County.
[edit] 2006 Re-election campaign
Salazar was first elected in 2004. In a year when Republicans dominated, John Salazar was only one of two Democratic pick-up seats in the entire 435-member House of Representatives. The seat had been Republican for 12 prior years.
John Salazar handily won re-election in his first re-election bid in 2006.[citation needed] John Salazar raised and spent over $2 million. His Republican opponent, Scott Tipton, spent $800,000. Of that amount, $160,000 was a personal loan from the millionaire Tipton.[2]
In an attempt to take this seat from Democratic incumbent John Salazar, Republican Scott Tipton[3] aligned himself with Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, who has received national attention for his strong stance against illegal immigration. Congressman Tancredo is considered a polarizing figure in politics. In early August, Tancredo campaigned on behalf of Tipton in parts of the district, which includes the Democratic mountain resort towns of Aspen, Telluride, Crested Butte and Steamboat Springs and the heavily Republican cities of Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs. Tipton, a Native-American pottery salesman, was a longtime GOP activist with strong ties to the party elite.[citation needed]
The John Salazar campaign began 2005 as one of the DCCC’s "Front Line" targets, having only won his first election with 51% of the vote. He ran as a moderate,[4] including having the executive director of the NRA come to Colorado to stump for him.
Salazar’s campaign faced a hurdle when Congressman Tancredo issued a public letter blasting all of Islam, not just radicals.[citation needed] Salazar's Communications Director, a member of a Congressional organization of Muslim staffers, responded on behalf of the organization stating that Tancredo was maligning all Muslims as terrorists. The opposing campaign jumped on this as an opportunity to not only bring up the issue of Islamic terrorism, but to attack Salazar's staffer personally, and distract from the core messages of the campaign.[1] Salazar's spokeswoman took a less public and more strategic role for the remainder of the campaign, returning to her Congressional duties post-election. Salazar’s campaign then went on the attack on his opponent, Scott Tipton.[5]
Of the 29 rural counties in the 3rd Congressional District John Salazar won 24 of them in 2006, in a district where Republicans hold a 20,000-person registration advantage. In 2006 John Salazar won with 62% of the vote. Scott Tipton received 36%. Independent Bert Sargent received 2%.[6]
Salazar's 2006 Campaign Manager, Sal Pace, is currently a candidate for the Colorado State Legislature in Pueblo, CO[7]. Pace also had served as Salazar's aide at the State Legislature and his senior Colorado staffer in his Congressional office.
[edit] Committee Assignments
- Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
- Subcommittee on Aviation
- Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment
- Agriculture Committee
- Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research
- Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management
- Subcommittee on Specialty Crops, Rural Development and Foreign Agriculture
- Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
- Subcommittee on Health
[edit] See also
List of Hispanic Americans in the United States Congress
[edit] References
- ^ a b There's electoral gold in those hills. The Economist (2006-10-26). Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
- ^ Financial Reporting numbers
- ^ Capital Eye
- ^ National Rifle Association | Political Victory Fund
- ^ Welcome to GJSentinel!
- ^ Official Colorado Secretary of State Results
- ^ www.salpace.com
[edit] External links
- U.S. Congressman John Salazar official House site
- John Salazar for Congress 2008 official campaign site
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
- Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
- Secretary of State 2006 Election results
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Scott McInnis |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado's 3rd congressional district 2005 – present |
Incumbent |
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