Ken Salazar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ken Salazar
Junior Senator from Colorado
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2005 Serving with Wayne Allard
Preceded by	Ben Nighthorse Campbell
36th Attorney General of Colorado
In office January 12, 1999 – January 3, 2005
Governor	Bill Owens
Preceded by	Gale Norton
Succeeded by	John W. Suthers
Born	March 2, 1955 (1955-03-02) (age 53) Alamosa, Colorado
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Hope Salazar
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholic

Kenneth Lee Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American politician, rancher, and environmentalist from the U.S. state of Colorado. Salazar, a Democrat, served as state Attorney General before winning a U.S. Senate seat in the 2004 Senate elections. He has been the junior U.S. Senator from Colorado since January 2005. He and Mel Martinez (R-Florida) are the first Hispanic U.S. Senators since 1977. They were joined by Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) in January 2006.

[edit] Early Life and Family

Senator Ken Salazar was born in the town of Alamosa and grew up near the town of Manassa, Colorado in the San Luis Valley area of south-central Colorado to his parents, Emma M. and Henry (Enrique) S. Salazar,^[1] Americans of Mexican descent. Salazar can trace his ancestry all the way back from before his family's arrival in North America to 12th century Spain. Ken is a 5th generation Coloradan, 12th generation North American or the family roots go back in what is now classified as North America for 12 generations.

Salazar attended St. Francis Seminary and Centauri High School in Conejos County, graduating in 1973. He later attended Colorado College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1977, and received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981. Later Salazar was awarded honorary degrees (Doctor of Laws) from Colorado College (1993) and the University of Denver (1999).

After graduating Salazar had a private law practice. In 1986 he became chief legal counsel to then Governor Roy Romer; in 1990 Romer appointed him to his cabinet as Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.

[edit] U.S. Senator

In 1994, Salazar returned to private practice. In 1998, he was elected state attorney general; he was reelected to this position in 2002. In 2004, he declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Salazar considers himself a moderate and has at times taken positions that are in disagreement with the base of his party — for a number of years he opposed gay adoption. Salazar lost to Mike Miles at the State nominating convention. In spite of this loss, the national Democratic Party backed Salazar with contributions from the DSCC and promotion of Salazar as the only primary candidate. Salazar came back to defeat Miles in the Democratic primary,and he narrowly defeated beer executive Pete Coors of the Coors Brewing Company to win. His elder brother John also had an electoral victory in 2004, winning a race for the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado's third congressional district.

2004 campaign logo. Salazar's slogan was "fighting for Colorado's land, water, and people."

He took office on January 4, 2005. Salazar and his wife Esperanza "Hope" have two daughters, Melinda (20) and Andrea (19). Ken and his family are Roman Catholic.

Soon after arriving in the Senate, Salazar generated controversy within his party by introducing Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales and sitting by his side during Gonzales' confirmation hearings.

On May 23, 2005, Salazar was one of fourteen moderate senators to forge a compromise on the Democrats' use of the judicial filibuster, thus blocking the Republican leadership's attempt to implement the so-called "nuclear option". Under the agreement, the Democrats would retain the power to filibuster a Bush judicial nominee only in an "extraordinary circumstance", and the three most conservative Bush appellate court nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor) would receive a vote by the full Senate. Salazar has been feuding with Focus on the Family, a Colorado-based conservative religious group of national stature, over his stance on judicial nominees.

In August of 2006 Ken Salazar supported fellow Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman in his primary race against Ned Lamont in Connecticut. Ned Lamont, running primarily as an anti-war candidate, won the primary. Salazar's continued support of Lieberman, who successfully ran as an independent against Lamont, has rankled the anti-war wing of the Democratic party.

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Committee on Finance
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Health Care
  • Subcommittee on Taxation, IRS Oversight, and Long-term Growth
• Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
  • Subcommittee on Domestic and Foreign Marketing, Inspection, and Plant and Animal Health
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Science and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Rural Revitalization, Conservation, Forestry, and Credit
• Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on National Parks
  • Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests
  • Subcommittee on Water and Power
• Select Committee on Ethics
• Special Committee on Aging

[edit] Electoral History

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] See also

List of Hispanic Americans in the United States Congress

[edit] External links

• United States Senator Ken Salazar, U.S. Senate site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Ken Salazar profile
• Ken Salazar for U.S. Senate, Campaign site

v • d • e United States Senators from Colorado Class 2: Teller • Chilcott • Tabor • Bowen • Wolcott • Patterson • Guggenheim • Shafroth • Phipps • Costigan • Johnson • Allott • Haskell • Armstrong • Brown • Allard Class 3: Chaffee • Hill • Teller • Hughes • Thomas • Nicholson • Adams • Means • Waterman • Walker • Schuyler • Adams • Millikin • Carroll • Dominick • Hart • Wirth • Campbell • Salazar