Sal Pace (born December 14, 1976) is an American politician and marijuana advocate who served as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives, where he represented House District 46, which includes western

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most populo ...

from 2008 to 2012. During his time at the state house, Pace served as the Colorado House minority leader. In 2012, he ran against incumbent congressman

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 Tipton in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, although Tipton was ultimately re-elected. He then served as a County Commissioner of

Pueblo County, Colorado Pueblo County ( or ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 168,162. The county seat is Pueblo. The county was named for the historic city of Pueblo which took its name from the Spanish lan ...

until 2019.

Early life and education

Pace, the youngest of nine children, moved to Colorado when he was 18. He attended

Fort Lewis College Fort Lewis College is a Public university, public Liberal arts education, liberal arts college in Durango, Colorado. Because of its unique origins as a military fort turned Indian boarding school turned state public school, FLC follows a 1911 ma ...

, where he majored in political science and was appointed by the State Board of Agriculture to serve on a search committee for a Fort Lewis College president. He then attended

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

, earning a master's degree in American political theory.http://salpace.com/

Career

Pace taught

American government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

Pueblo Community College Pueblo Community College (PCC) is a public community college in Pueblo, Colorado. History ''Pueblo Community College'' (PCC) traces its history to the founding of Southern Colorado Junior College (SCJC) in 1933. In 1937 SCJC became part of the ...

and

Colorado State University–Pueblo Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) is a public university in Pueblo, Colorado. It is a member of the Colorado State University System (CSU System) and a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). History 1933 to 1959 The idea for startin ...

. Pace served as a legislative aide to

John Salazar John Tony Salazar (born July 21, 1953) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2005 until 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed Commissioner of the Colorado Department of Agriculture in the C ...

in the Colorado House of Representatives, where he worked on water and health care legislation. When Salazar was elected to the

U.S. House of Representatives 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 ...

, Pace continued to work for him as a District Director, Congressional staffer, and as the manager of Salazar's 2006 re-election campaign. Pace was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 2008, and served until 2012. During his time in the house, Pace advocated for statewide marijuana legalization. In 2012, recreational marijuana use was legalized through

Colorado Amendment 64 Colorado Amendment 64 was a successful popular initiative ballot measure to amend the Constitution of the State of Colorado, outlining a statewide drug policy for cannabis. The measure passed on November 6, 2012, and along with a similar meas ...

. Pace has drafted and sponsored several bills related to marijuana policy, and has been credited with transforming

into the "Napa Valley of cannabis." Since leaving the State House, Pace continued to specialize in marijuana policy on the county level. Pace serves on the national board of the

Marijuana Policy Project The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the largest organization working solely on marijuana policy reform in the United States in terms of its budget, number of members, and staff. Its stated aims are to: (1) increase public support for non-pu ...

, which advocates for liberalizing marijuana laws within states. He also sits on the national advisory board at HeadCount's Cannabis Voter Project. In Colorado, Pace is a Governor-appointed board member on the Institute of Cannabis Research. After the

2018 Colorado gubernatorial election The 2018 Colorado gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next and the 43rd Governor of Colorado. Incumbent Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper was term-limited and could not seek reelection to a third consecu ...

, Pace was selected to serve as a co-chair on Governor-elect

Jared Polis Jared Schutz Polis (; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician, entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist, serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since January 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 20 ...

' transition team. Pace currently consults in government affairs and cannabis policy.

2012 Congressional election

Pace's race was touted as a primary example by Time Magazine of the role that so-called SuperPacs can play in winning an election. Having gotten close in the polls near October 1, the GOP money machine targeted the seat. Without Democrats matching, Pace ultimately lost. In the 2012 General Election, Pace faced Republican Congressman Scott Tipton. Tipton won by a margin of 53% to 41%, with the remainder of the vote going to third-party candidates.

Pueblo County Commission

From 2013 until 2019, Pace served as a County Commissioner of

. As one of three commissioners, each elected county-wide, he represented the 165,000 residents of Pueblo County. Pace has been an advocate for passenger rail in Colorado; and chaired the

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagsta ...

Passenger Rail Commission while serving as a County Commissioner. In 2016 Pace received the highest national recognition from

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

, the President's Safety and Service Award.

Personal life

Pace is divorced and has three children.

References

External links

Legislative profile
at the Colorado General Assembly
Sal Pace for U.S. Congress
campaign website *
Campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets.org OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pace, Sal Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives Living people 1975 births County commissioners in Colorado People from New London, Connecticut People from Pueblo County, Colorado Fort Lewis College alumni Louisiana State University alumni