John Tony Salazar (born July 21, 1953) is an American politician who served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for from 2005 until 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed Commissioner of the

Colorado Department of Agriculture The Colorado Department of Agriculture is the principal department of the Colorado state government that manages agriculture, food safety, agriculture-related consumer protection, and conservation districts. Kate Greenberg was appointed as Commi ...

in the Cabinet of Governor

John Hickenlooper John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. (; born February 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Colorado since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 42nd governor of Colorado from 2011 to 20 ...

in 2011, following his electoral defeat in 2010. Salazar announced his retirement as Agriculture Commissioner in November 2014.

Early life, education and career

Salazar was born in Alamosa, Colorado, the son of Emma M. (Montoya) and Henry (Enrique) S. Salazar. His younger brother is former Senator Ken Salazar. Salazar served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

from 1973 to 1976, and is a farmer and rancher. His formal education includes a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in business administration from Adams State College in 1981. Salazar was the owner of an internet company, Spudseed.com, which marketed potatoes, as well as serving as a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of Monte Vista Production Credit Union and Agro Engineering, Inc. Salazar served on several Colorado public bodies including the Governor's Economic Development Advisory Board, the Rio Grande Water Conservation District and the Colorado Agricultural Leadership Forum. He also served on the Colorado Agricultural Commission from 1999 to 2002 before being elected to the Colorado House of Representatives from 2003 until 2004.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

Committee on Appropriations The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Commi ...

** Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development ** Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies *

Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis was a select committee established in the 116th United States Congress in 2019 when Democrats regained the majority of the United States House of Representatives. The chair is Congresswoman Kath ...

Political positions

Salazar was concerned with

water rights Water right in water law refers to the right of a user to use water from a water source, e.g., a river, stream, pond or source of groundwater. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentiou ...

in particular. He said his top priority on Capitol Hill was to ensure that water derived from the snow melt of Colorado's Western Slope would stay in his district instead of being sent to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. Though a Democrat, he exhibited

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

leanings. He opposed expanding gun control and supported permanent repeal of the inheritance tax and lower taxes. He also supports allowing Americans to buy cheaper prescription drugs from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He was a member of the conservative

Blue Dog Democrats The Blue Dog Coalition (commonly known as the Blue Dogs or Blue Dog Democrats) is a caucus in the United States House of Representatives comprising centrist members from the Democratic Party. The caucus was founded as a group of conservative ...

, leading him to oppose Democratic priority measures such as the

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, often called the "bank bailout of 2008", was proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, passed by the 110th United States Congress, and signed into law by President George W. Bush. It became ...

and the American Clean Energy and Security Act in 2009. During consideration of the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

, he voted in favor of the Stupak Amendment restricting federal funding of elective abortions. However, he also voted for the Senate version of the health care bill lacking the Stupak Amendment language. As a veteran, a son of a veteran, and father of a child serving in the Colorado National Guard as of 2004, Salazar was also vocal against cuts to veterans' benefits. Salazar introduced the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, designed to protect the integrity of medals, to the House of Representatives, which he has cited as his best achievement in politics. Salazar was considered for the post of Secretary of Agriculture by

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

but

Tom Vilsack Thomas James Vilsack (; born December 13, 1950) is an American politician serving as the 32nd United States Secretary of Agriculture in the Biden administration. He previously served in the role from 2009 to 2017 during the Obama administration. ...

was chosen instead.

Political campaigns

2004

Salazar was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2004. His election to succeed retiring

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Scott McInnis Stephen Scott Emory McInnis McInnis is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and is an honorary adviser for the National Student Leadership Conference. Political career Colorado House of Representatives From 1983 to 19 ...

was one of the most contested House elections of the year. Salazar defeated Greg Walcher who had attacked Salazar as being soft on illegal immigration, while Salazar criticised Walcher for his previous support of a failed 2003 referendum which he said would have diverted water from the district, an important issue in western Colorado. In a year when Republicans made gains, John Salazar was only one of three Democratic pick-up seats in the House of Representatives.

2006

John Salazar was re-elected in 2006 after his first term in Congress defeating Republican Scott Tipton. John Salazar raised almost three times as much money as Tipton and won over 60% of the vote, including more Republican areas of the district. Salazar had campaigned as a moderate, middle of the road candidate, with the

opinion poll An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinion ...

s having shown him ahead in the election.

2008

Salazar won in 2008 with a similar margin as 2006 defeating rancher and county commissioner Wayne Wolf. Salazar had a massive fundraising advantage over Wolf who only had about $16,000 for the campaign.

2010

Salazar was defeated for re-election by Republican Scott Tipton. Tipton had unsuccessfully challenged Salazar in 2006. Libertarian Gregory Gilman and Independent Jake Segrest were also on the ballot; Independents John W. Hargis, Sr. and James Fritz qualified as write-in candidates.

Electoral history

Personal life

Salazar is married to Mary Lou Salazar and has three children: Esteban, Miguel and Jesus. They live in

Manassa, Colorado The Town of Manassa is the Statutory Town that is the most populous municipality in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 991 at the 2010 United States Census. History Today, approximately half of Manassa's residen ...

. Salazar's younger brother, Ken Salazar, is a former

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from Colorado and the former Secretary of the Interior appointed by President Barack Obama.

Popular Culture

John Salazar is briefly mentioned at the very beginning of the video game

Outlast ''Outlast'' is a 2013 first-person survival horror video game developed and published by Red Barrels. The game revolves around a freelance investigative journalist, Miles Upshur, who decides to investigate a remote psychiatric hospital named M ...

, on the radio of the protagonist's vehicle.

References

External links

*
Profile
at

SourceWatch The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes ExposedbyCMD.org, SourceWatch.org, and ALECexposed.org. History CMD was founded in 1993 by prog ...

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Salazar, John 1953 births 21st-century American politicians Adams State University alumni American people of Basque descent American politicians of Mexican descent Farmers from Colorado Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Colorado Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress Living people Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives Military personnel from Colorado People from Alamosa, Colorado People from Manassa, Colorado Ranchers from Colorado State cabinet secretaries of Colorado United States Army soldiers