Joe Salazar
Joe Salazar is a Berniecrat, a term used for those democrats (generally) running for office who have expressed support of former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.[1]
Background
Supported DSA protesters
A group of protesters gathered July 6 2017 outside Senator Gardner’s office, urging the senator to vote no on the Senate healthcare bill. Following a sit-in in his office lobby, Gardner’s staff invited five protesters into his office for a call with the senator. Once the call had finished, the protesters, members of the Democratic Socialists of America, refused to leave. Carolee Strom, Merrill Carter, Chris Diehn, Jessica Westerbur and Jeremy Wilburn, were arrested and cited for trespassing.
At the time, Gardner’s office was in a private building that closes at 5 p.m.
Carolee Strom, a retired nurse, expressed relief at the outcome after Senator Gardner dropped the charges, but also stood by the decision to occupy Gardner’s office.
“I called, I emailed, I texted, I protested and his ears were closed. It had come to a point for me where civil disobedience was the only road I could take,” Strom said. “I had to stand up for people that have no voice in this travesty of legislation. I had to speak for their lives.”
Gardner did not appear in court, but protesters gathered outside the building held a cardboard cutout of the U.S. Senator. Some 30 people — among them Sen. Irene Aguilar, D-Denver, Sen. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, and Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton — gathered outside the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse Tuesday before the hearing to demand that prosecutors drop the charges. Protesters carried signs reading “Health Care For All” and “Stop Repeal.”[2]
La Plata DSA support
Attendees at the October 10 2017 Democratic Socialists of America - La Plata County meeting were expressed interest in supporting Joe Salazar's race for Colorado Attorney General.
“Central 70” protest
February 2017 a raucous meeting hosted Thursday by the Colorado Department of Transportation and hijacked by angry residents of the Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods in central Denver, the presence of three members of the Legislature made a splash.
There was state Speaker of the House Crisanta Duran in the front row mostly watching and listening to the angry residents, who are all her District 5 constituents. And there standing at the back were reliably outspoken members of the House chamber Reps. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, and Dan Pabon, D-Denver. They stood just watching, too, their lips sealed, their heads turning this way and that way as speakers made points and audience members shouted in response.
The lawmakers didn’t have to say anything. It was the fact that they came to the meeting that mattered to the protesters.
CDOT Director Shailen Bhatt hosted the event, intending to lay out next-step plans on the $1.2 billion “Central 70” interstate project, which is set to begin early next year.
“This is a state project, and they are the only ones who can help us now,” said protest organizer Candi CdeBaca, whose family has lived in the neighborhood for generations. “If they will not represent us, we will elect others who will.”
“We’re here to listen tonight. We have to figure out how to bring people together,” said Duran, when she was asked to speak. “I think it’s a shame I-70 was placed where it was. I know you’re angry, and I’m sorry.”[3]