John Salazar

Infobox Congressman
name= John Salazar


width=200
date of birth = birth date and age|1953|07|21
place of birth= Alamosa, Colorado
state = Colorado
district = 3rd
term_start =January 3, 2005
preceded = Scott McInnis
succeeded = Incumbent
party = Democrat
religion = Roman Catholic
spouse = Mary Lou Salazar
children = Esteban Salazar
Miguel Salazar
Jesus Salazar
alma_mater=United States Military Academy
Adams State College
occupation=rancher
residence=Manassa, Colorado
branch=United States Army
serviceyears=1973-1976

John T. Salazar (born July 21, 1953) is a Democrat from Colorado, was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2004, representing ushr|Colorado|3| ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/co03_109.gifmap] ).

Background

He was born in Alamosa, Colorado, but calls Manassa, Colorado his home. 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 has a college degree from Adams State College. Salazar also served on the Colorado Agricultural Commission from 1999 to 2002 and in the Colorado House of Representatives from 2003 until 2004.

Political positions

Salazar, who grew up on his parents' farm and ranch, is concerned with conservation,fact|date=August 2007 and water rights in particular.cite web |url= http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=8081977|title= There's electoral gold in those hills|accessdate= 2007-08-05|date= 2006-10-26|publisher= "The Economist"] 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. 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.

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.fact|date=August 2007 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. [ [http://opensecrets.org/races/summary.asp?cycle=2006&id=CO03 Financial Reporting numbers] ]

In an attempt to take this seat from Democratic incumbent John Salazar, Republican Scott Tipton [ [http://www.capitaleye.org/hotraces.asp?txtState=CO&cycle=2006#CO03 Capital Eye ] ] 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.Fact|date=August 2007

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, [ [http://www.nrapvf.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=8323 National Rifle Association | Political Victory Fund ] ] 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.fact|date=August 2007 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. [http://colorado.mediamatters.org/items/200609290004] 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. [ [http://www.gjsentinel.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/herzog/entries/2006/09/27/post_15.html Welcome to GJSentinel! ] ]

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%. [ [http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/electionresults2006G/ Official Colorado Secretary of State Results] ]

Salazar's 2006 Campaign Manager, Sal Pace, is currently a candidate for the Colorado State Legislature in Pueblo, CO [www.salpace.com] . Pace also had served as Salazar's aide at the State Legislature and his senior Colorado staffer in his Congressional office.

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

ee also

List of Hispanic Americans in the United States Congress

References

External links

* [http://www.house.gov/salazar/ U.S. Congressman John Salazar] official House site
* [http://www.salazar2008.com/ John Salazar for Congress 2008] official campaign site
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Salazar Profile] at SourceWatch Congresspedia
* [http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/electionresults2006G/ Secretary of State] 2006 Election results