Alex Valdez represents Colorado’s House District 5, which encompasses the urban core of Denver. He was elected in 2018 to succeed former House Speaker Crisanta Duran. Alex Valdez was born and raised in the Denver Metro area. After the recession hit, he founded a solar business with a grassroots campaign out of a co-working space in the River North Art District (RiNo). Today, his dedication and hard work have helped that company flourish into one of Colorado’s largest solar companies.
Alex has been an environmentalist his entire life, channeling his passion for the environment into action in both his career and his work in the Colorado Legislature. Alex has seen firsthand that facilitating renewable energy development creates job opportunities and fights climate change. Alex knows that the environment is a bi-partisan issue, and through addressing climate change and building a new energy economy, Alex helps Colorado lead in driving real change for all Coloradans. Throughout his time in the State House, Alex has passed a multitude of environmental bills focused on reducing air pollution, creating an electric vehicle ready future, and facilitating clean energy adoption.
Representative Valdez serves on the LGBTQ caucus. As a proud member and leader in the LGBTQ community, Alex passed the HIV prep bill in 2020 and supported other critical pieces of legislation including banning conversion therapy for minors and allowing Colorado identification to reflect gender identity. Alex recently helped secure culturally competent healthcare for LGBTQ Coloradans. Alex firmly believes in protecting and advancing LGBTQ rights, and upholds that this work is extremely important in our changing social landscape.
When people are paid enough and paid fairly to afford their shelter, food and entertainment that’s when people feel fulfilled. Housing security and family stability rely on fair wages, and Alex believes that wages are a top priority. During the 2020 Legislative Session Alex passed Family Medical Leave, while also fighting to raise local minimum wage, advocating for PERA, and continuing to fight for unions and workers rights. As someone raised by a single mom, Alex knows just how hard parents work to ensure a good life for their children, which is why Alex prioritizes lowering the sky high costs of childcare for moms and dads throughout Colorado. Alex is particularly proud of dedicating $100 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding towards supporting and expanding childcare programs during the 2022 Legislative Session.
Alex believes in giving a voice to the voiceless. Fighting and recognizing animal cruelty is a gauge for overall mental health. Early in his life, Alex realized the connection between people who hurt animals and mental health issues. During his first year in office, Alex proudly passed Punky’s Law to prevent and reduce animal cruelty. Through animal rights advocacy, Alex is giving back and paying it forward.
One of the greatest successes of the 2020 Legislative Session included the passage of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Prevention Medications bill and in 2021 the legislature advanced this work by passing the Standardized Health Benefit Plan Colorado Option. Representative Valdez believes that we simply need to do better with preventive healthcare, rather than solely relying on treating people who are sick. Preventive measures, such as providing healthier school lunches and increasing access to healthcare, helps create a more equitable, affordable healthcare system for all.
No one should ever have to worry about the financial impacts of getting sick. Healthcare should not be treated as a commodity and providing quality healthcare is one of the basic rights that our government should advance.
As the Co-Chair of the Latino Caucus, Representative Valdez works with his colleagues on issues that matter most to his Latino constituents in HD5. Latino people have a long proud history in Colorado and in the legislature, and Alex is proud to carry this history forward by advocating for Latino people statewide.
I am ready to work for you and with you on the range of issues facing House District 5. I know that jobs are created through innovative ideas, and I have a proven track record of job creation through renewable energy on Colorado’s Front Range. I also know that affordable housing and healthcare build a stronger community and will strengthen our economy. I plan to work to update school infrastructure, allowing more resources to be directed to students and teachers.
As a Denver metro native, an HD5 resident, and a business owner, I know the challenges the district faces. As an LGBTQ person of color, I believe protecting our neighbors from hate and bigotry is non-negotiable. I know that in finding solutions to our infrastructure crisis, we must consider the impact to the community. Local government is essential to maintaining and improving our quality of life and strengthening our communities, I have first hand experience of what the vision of a few can accomplish.
Leadership means bringing the voices of the community together and making sure that they are heard. I know that elections aren’t about candidates, they’re about the constituents. My vision is a future that works for everyone, regardless of age, gender, color or economic status. I know we must fight not only to protect our rights, but also to continue to advance in the face of national adversary. I'm ready to work with you, and work for you to bring this vision to reality in the state house.
This issue is personal to me. In 1993, a teenage gunman walked into a children's pizza place near my family's home and killed 4 people. Then, in 1999, I remember being locked down in a classroom while SWAT teams swept my school’s hallways during the Columbine shooting. Acts of mass violence plague our society and have disproportionately affected Colorado. Something must change.
Coloradans understand the importance of putting measures in place to prevent mass killers from buying military-grade weapons to use on innocent people. Here are the specific policies I support:
A full assault weapons ban
Statewide ban on bump stocks
Raising the legal age to purchase a weapon from 18 to 21
“Red Flag” (extreme risk protection order) legislation, as five other states have done, which allows a judge to temporarily prohibit someone from possessing or buying firearms while they are deemed a danger to themselves or others based on the recommendation of family or law enforcement.
I will also introduce a measure that would prohibit ownership of firearms to anyone who has been convicted of domestic violence or animal cruelty, as we have seen this pattern of behavior in many shooters.
I will not allow the second amendment argument enable mass killers to buy military grade weapons.
I believe that healthcare is a basic human right, not a privilege. The healthcare system should focus on wellness, prevention, public health, and mental health.
Currently, our system is multi-layered and for-profit. This is not sustainable, because it forces doctors and patients to make health decisions based on money, rather than what’s best for the patient’s health. In order to make our current system profitable, premiums are sky-high and coverage in many cases falls short.
I will work to make healthcare affordable, and put the decisions regarding healthcare in the hands of doctors and patients. In addition, any healthcare solution must cover all healthcare including women’s reproductive health, hormones and gender affirming healthcare for transgender people.
I support a repeal of Colorado’s 3rd amendment and a secondary funding source, so that women who are utilizing the Health First Colorado program (Medicaid) can have access to all healthcare services they choose.
Infrastructure & Transportation
Denver needs bold and innovative ideas to solve our traffic problems. Public transportation needs to be more accessible and affordable. We need to consider the impacts to the environment and our neighborhoods when we make decisions about transportation. Adding lanes to our highways is not always as effective as a long-term solution that includes public transportation, transit-oriented development, and right-of-way improvements for bikes, skateboards, and yes, even rollerblades.
Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure must be expanded this will mean mean cleaner air and savings to consumers. I will introduce legislation that will make the advantages of EV’s more accessible, by reducing fees for EV registration, and rewarding businesses that build the infrastructure we need to make clean transportation an accessible reality.
While ride-sharing services are convenient and necessary, they also disproportionately contribute to our traffic congestion. To mitigate this externality, I will propose a small fee to those services, the funds raised by which will be allocated for accessible, affordable, and efficient transportation options.
Colorado ranks below average in per pupil education funding. This is unacceptable. Our children deserve better. We must increase per pupil funding to our schools dramatically. Teacher pay needs to be increased in both rural and urban areas. We need to attract more professionals to teach in math and science. Arts and sports are being eliminated from our schools in order to satisfy preparing for standardized testing. Class sizes are often so big that teachers struggle with the number of students, finding it difficult to give students, and in particular those who have special needs the services they deserve.
By reducing the operating costs of our schools, we can divert dollars currently spend on overhead to our students and teachers. Reducing or eliminating costs for power, lighting, water, and fuel, means more of our education dollars can be spent in the classroom. In addition to cost savings, we will use this opportunity to upgrade school internet and technology infrastructure so our kids are prepared for the jobs of tomorrow. Kids are our future, and they deserve every dollar we can save to be invested where it truly benefits them.. Imagine students riding to school on an electric bus, powered by a district-owned renewable power plant!
I will fight to protect Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) to ensure our public servants, including teachers, can retire knowing that the secure retirement they earned will be there for them.
I also strongly believe in early childhood education. It gives our children a strong start while simultaneously relieving their families of the burden of childcare costs.
Higher education should be accessible and affordable for anyone who wants to pursue that path. Many students, particularly students of color, need financial assistance to stay in school due to the high cost. We must ensure every student has a fair opportunity for higher education. We must also increase access to apprenticeship programs to fill our state’s need for highly paid tradespeople.
No person living in Colorado should be afraid to access resources such as law enforcement, public schools, and hospitals for fear of deportation and having their family separated. As a nation of immigrants, we must ensure basic human rights for every person regardless of citizenship. We must protect DACA, and ensure there is a road to citizenship.
I will fight against attempts by the current presidential administration to apprehend or detain Coloradans. I will stand in the way of any effort to create fear in our community.
Women’s health and equal pay are issues that I consider to be non-negotiable. Colorado is a progressive state which has valued women’s rights since its inception, and we will continue to do so. I will fight shoulder to shoulder with my women colleagues and constituents to ensure that no anti-choice measures are ever passed in Colorado. Everyone has the absolute right to agency over their own body - that is the core of our freedom and the core of our Colorado values.
Women’s voices have been silenced for too long. I was raised by a single mom who worked with domestic violence victims in the court system advocating for justice for them. Like her I am a champion for women, and you can count on me to advocate for what matters to you. I will stand and fight with and for women on issues significant to women, and I will fight for equality and to ensure women’s voices are heard.
As an LGBTQ person of color, my success has been possible only because of community activists who fought for justice and equal protection under the law. But the LGBTQ community, women, and minorities still face challenges and inequality. I will fight to strengthen hate crime legislation, and to ensure fair and equitable treatment for all by the criminal justice system.
Currently Colorado’s transgender community faces a disproportionate level of homelessness and criminal convictions, which leads to underemployment. I will fight for “Ban the Box” legislation in Colorado, which will ensure everyone has a fair chance at employment.
Home affordability and accessibility are in crisis in House District 5. We will focus on stabilizing the housing market, keeping families in their homes, and making sure that more Coloradans are benefiting from the building boom.
I will fight to ensure CHFA (Colorado Housing and Finance Authority) is strong and well funded, providing affordable home ownership in our community.
I will fight to pass a tenant’s rights bill that ensures people who rent have rights in our state. Furthermore, I support a repeal of state laws that prohibit cities from making affordable housing a reality.
TABOR has had negative unintended consequences limiting our ability to make progress on issues that citizens support. It’s time to get rid of this provision in our constitution so that we can make the necessary investments in our collective future. I believe that given the facts, the people of Colorado will come together to repeal TABOR.
As a legislator, I support mobilizing key stakeholders to come to the table to talk about how everyone benefits when Colorado is properly funded. If we don’t work to repeal TABOR, our state will continue to fall short on everything we value. TABOR stands in the way of a robust, well funded education system. It denies funding to services for the disabled. It is the reason you constantly hit potholes and sit in traffic.
The computing and internet revolutions continue to transform every aspect of our lives. Unfortunately access to and the benefits from these innovations are not available to everyone equally. I believe that our ability to access information is a right, and I will fight to enact state-level net neutrality to preserve the right of people to access information freely. I will also fight to ensure that internet access become accessible to everyone in our community.