# Alex Valdez

Alex Valdez is an American politician who is the member of the Colorado House of Representatives from the 5th district in the City and County of Denver.

## Background

Valdez grew up in Aurora, Colorado and attended Rangeview High School. After graduating Rangeview in 1999, Valdez attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. Valdez then transferred to the University of Colorado Boulder and graduated with a History degree in 2004.
Prior to serving in the Colorado Legislature, Valdez founded his own company, EcoMark Solar. Valdez started EcoMark when the 2008 recession hit and grew EcoMark into one of Colorado's largest solar companies. Ecomark Solar unfortunately went out of business in Oct 2022 after struggling to adjust to the changes of the solar industry during the Covid-19 pandemic. Ecomark's closure also lead to a large amount of complaints from customers who paid for systems that were never installed and employees who were never paid for outstanding commissions owed.

## Political career

Valdez was elected in the general election on November 6, 2018, winning 79 percent of the vote over 19 percent of Republican candidate Katherine Whitney.
Valdez was the first ever first-year legislator appointed to a leadership in the Colorado House of Representatives and soon after was named the Chair of the Energy and Environment Committee, Chair of the LGBTQ Caucus, and Chair of the Latino Caucus. Valdez also services on the State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee and recently founded the General Aviation Caucus.
Valdez is well known for his environmental work, including the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, Air Toxics, Air Quality Improvements, and Building Energy Codes. Valdez's environmental priorities include accelerating vehicle electrification, increasing renewable energy, and reducing air pollution.
Alex Valdez has spearheaded substantial economic investments in the state through spearheading bills like HB24-1325: Tax Credits for Quantum Industry Support and HB23-1260: Advanced Industry and Semiconductor Manufacturing Incentives. These bills lead to Colorado being awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in federal and private funding. Colorado was named a "Quantum Technology Hub” as part of the funding for the quantum computing industry the state received as a result of Alex Valdez’s leadership at the state capital. https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb24-1325 https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1260
As the Chair of the Colorado House of Representatives Energy and Environment Committee (2021-2022 and 2025), Alex has led the state's recent energy and environmental policy. In an effort to improve Colorado’s plastic pollution he passed, HB23-1285: Store Use Of Carryout Bags And Sustainable Products, which limited the number of plastic bags used in stores. He has steadily passed laws that made Colorado one of the best states in the country to drive an electric vehicle, he has done this through passing laws like, HB23-1233: Electric Vehicle Charging And Parking Requirements, which expands electric vehicle charging infrastructure. He also established Colorado’s first building codes through HB21-1286: Energy Performance For Buildings, which created energy efficiency standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through increased electrification of buildings. Alex passed these and many other laws to improve Colorado’s environment, combat climate change, and increase energy efficiency. https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1285 https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1233 https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb21-1286
As a Colorado native Alex knows how important pets are to the people of the state. He passed laws to help make life a little easier. To that end he passed laws to make life easier for pet owners, such as HB23-1068 Pet Animal Ownership In Housing, which set price limits for how much landlords can charge their tenants for their pets. https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1068
As a Latino and member of the LGBTQ community, Alex Valdez has used his position of leadership to advocate for anti-discrimination efforts in the state of Colorado. One of Alex’s biggest accomplishments in this area was passing SCR24-003: Protecting the Freedom to Marry, which stripped the definition in Colorado’s constitution of Marriage being only between one man and one woman.
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/scr24-003
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Valdez has championed LGBTQ+ legislation including HIV Prep and cultural competency healthcare bills. Valdez is also recognized for his animal advocacy, specifically Punky's Law.
He is openly pansexual.
Valdez had a short run for Mayor of Denver which lasted from November 2022 to Jan of 2023.