Rep. John Salazar (D)

The congressman from the 3rd District is John Salazar, a Democrat elected in 2004 and the older brother of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who was a U.S. senator until President Obama chose him for his Cabinet in 2009. The Salazar brothers grew up on a family ranch without running water or electricity in the San Luis Valley, east of the Front Range just north of the New Mexico border. They hail from a family of Mexican-American farmers who homesteaded in the area in the mid-1800s. His father grew alfalfa and potatoes using a horse-drawn cultivator. John and Ken Salazar shared a single room with three brothers, while their three sisters shared another. After high school, John Salazar served in the Army, including a tour of duty in a criminal investigations unit overseas. After his service, he returned to Colorado and got a business degree from Adams State College. He settled on the ranch, which has been in his family since 1850, and developed a seed-potato operation, growing millions of potatoes in huge fields. He was active in the Colorado Certified Seed Growers and on state farming boards. When a private developer in the mid-1990s tried to buy up water rights in the San Luis Valley to ship it to the Denver area, Salazar organized a citizens’ revolt. Younger brother Ken had held high state office from the 1980s and was elected attorney general in 1998; John Salazar did not run for office until 2002, when he was elected to the state House.

When Republican Rep. Scott McInnis announced his retirement in 2003, Salazar moved quickly to run. Rather than emphasizing his Hispanic heritage, he called himself a farmer. And wisely in this district, he cast himself as a pragmatic centrist and a friendly guy, not a partisan Democrat. But he proved to be a good fundraiser too, and he won endorsements from labor unions that helped him win 69% of the delegate votes in the May 2004 state party convention. Meanwhile, five candidates battled for the Republican nomination. Former state Department of Natural Resources Director Greg Walcher narrowly beat McInnis’s brother-in-law, state Rep. Matt Smith, 32%-31%.

Walcher, considered the most socially conservative of the candidates, was the only one who in 2003 supported Gov. Bill Owens’s referendum to authorize $2 billion in bonds for water storage projects, which was defeated 67%-33% statewide and 85%-15% on the Western Slope. Salazar, who was state co-chairman of the anti-referendum campaign, hammered away on the issue. Walcher accused Salazar of being a pro-tax liberal and attempted to tie him to that year’s Democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry. But the image wouldn’t stick. Though he supports abortion rights and opposes a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, the folksy, cowboy-hat wearing Salazar crafted a moderate image and kept Kerry at a distance. He embraced tax cuts for farmers and ranchers and supported repeal of the estate tax. He also sported an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association. Salazar won 51%-47%, taking 16 of the 29 counties.

In the House, Salazar had a centrist voting record and is a member of the Hispanic Caucus. Following an August 2006 trip to Iraq, he opposed a timetable for withdrawal, which his brother supported in the Senate. But he has kept his focus on district issues. In the 110th Congress (2007-08), he worked on energy issues, opposing big subsidies to oil companies and natural-gas drilling on federal land on the Western Slope’s scenic Roan Plateau. Despite the Army’s claims that it needed the Pinion Canyon maneuver site for training in the war on terrorism, he successfully opposed an expansion of the site, pointing to opposition by local farmers and ranchers. With a seat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, he got $32 million for his district in the 2005 highway bill, which was among the highest totals for a freshman.

In this ticket-splitting district, Salazar’s work for the district and his political savvy have discouraged serious opposition.