Joseph A. Salazar (born 1971/72) is a former Democratic member of the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distr ...

, serving from 2013 to early 2019. Salazar previously worked as an attorney with Smith, Shelton, Ragona and Salazar, LLC. He focused on employment law, civil rights, and constitutional law. Currently, he is the director of Colorado Rising, an anti-fracking

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the develop ...

. Salazar ran for Colorado Attorney General in the 2018 election but lost in the primary to fellow Democrat

Phil Weiser Philip Jacob Weiser is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 39th Colorado Attorney General, since 2019. He is the Hatfield Professor of Law and Telecommunications, Executive Director and Founder of the Silicon Flatirons Center ...

. In January 2021, Salazar expressed interest in challenging incumbent Democratic senator

Michael Bennet Michael Farrand Bennet (born November 28, 1964) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Colorado, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed t ...

in the Democratic primary for the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Colorado.

State Senate candidacy

In November 2021, Salazar filed papers to run for

Colorado's 24th Senate district Colorado's 24th Senate district is one of 35 districts in the Colorado Senate. It has been represented by Democratic Party (United States), Democrat Kyle Mullica since 2023. Prior to redistricting the district was represented by Democrat Faith Win ...

. At the time of Salazar's announcement, the district was represented by

Faith Winter Faith Winter (born May 7, 1980) is a Colorado Democratic Party, Democratic Party legislator in the U.S. State of Colorado. She represents Colorado's 25th Senate district, District 25 in the Colorado State Senate. Her district covers portions of ...

, but her residence will be in Senate District 25 due to redistricting, leaving the new district open. The district will include Thornton and Federal Heights and parts of unincorporated Adams County to the northeast of these two municipalities. Salazar did not appear on the

Democratic primary This is a list of Democratic Party presidential primaries. 1912 This was the first time that candidates were chosen through primaries. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of Speaker of the Unit ...

ballot.

References

External links

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Legislative website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salazar, Joe Living people Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives Native American state legislators People from Thornton, Colorado 21st-century American politicians Year of birth missing (living people)