Ruben A. Valdez

Ruben A. Valdez
46th Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives
In office January 7, 1975 – January 5, 1977
Preceded by	John Fuhr
Succeeded by	Ronald H. Strahle
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives
In office 1971 – January 3, 1979
Preceded by	Ben Klein
Succeeded by	Federico Peña
Constituency	2nd district (1971–1973) 5th district (1973–1979)
Personal details
Born	Ruben Adolfo Valdez (1937-01-27)January 27, 1937 Trinidad, Colorado, U.S.
Died	October 1, 2019(2019-10-01) (aged 82)
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Virginia Segura
Children	3
Education	Loretto Heights University
Signature

Ruben Adolfo Valdez (January 27, 1937 – October 1, 2019) was an American politician who served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1971 to 1979, and as its Speaker from 1975 to 1976.

Born in Trinidad, Colorado, Valdez dropped out of high school due to his family's poor financial situation and worked in a brickyard. He was a member of the United Steelworkers and served as shop steward and president for his locals. After earning a General Educational Development he studied at Red Rocks Community College and Loretto Heights University.

Valdez was elected to the state house in 1970, and served as chair of the Democratic caucus, speaker, and minority leader during his tenure. He was a delegate to the 1976 and 1984 Democratic National Conventions. After a failed campaign for lieutenant governor in 1978, he was appointed to a position in the United States Department of Transportation by President Jimmy Carter and as director of the Social Services and Labor and Employment departments by Governor Richard Lamm.

Ruben Adolfo Valdez was born in Trinidad, Colorado, on January 27, 1937, to Antonio and Delicia Valdez as the youngest of nine children.^[1][2][3] His father, a coal miner, died when Ruben was nine and his family's financial situation made him drop out of Centennial High School in the 9th grade at age 15 to work at a brick yard in Pueblo, Colorado.^[4][5] His mother died in 1961.^[4] On February 2, 1956, married Virginia Segura, with whom he had three children before her death in 1999.^[1][3]

After moving to California at age 19, he became a member of the United Steelworkers and was elected shop steward. He returned to Colorado in 1960, and became president of the Steelworkers Local 5099.^[2] From 1971 to 1978, Valdez worked for the Denver government as a community relations consultant. He received his high school diploma through General Educational Development, studied business administration and personnel management at Red Rocks Community College, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Loretto Heights University in 1975.^[2]

Ben Klein, a six-term member of the Colorado House of Representatives from the 2nd district, chose to seek election to the Colorado Senate in 1970.^[6][7] Valdez won the Democratic nomination and defeated Republican nominee James Maestas and Raza Unida nominee Brian Sanchez.^[8][9] He defeated Republican nominees Silas Valdez in 1972,^[10] Helen Montoya in 1974,^[11] and Kenny Plumb in 1976.^[12]

On November 18, 1972, Valdez was selected as caucus chair.^[13] The Democrats gained control of the state house in 1974, and he defeated Charles DeMoulin in a 29 to 10 vote on November 21, 1974, to become speaker.^[14] He was the first Hispanic to serve as speaker^[5] and another one would not serve as speaker until Crisanta Duran in 2017.^[15] The Eagleton Institute of Politics named him as one of 50 outstanding state legislators in 1974.^[16] Valdez was an uncommitted delegate to the 1976 Democratic National Convention, but came to support Jerry Brown.^[17] After the Democrats lost their majority in the 1976 election Valdez defeated Bob Leon Kirscht to become minority leader on November 13.^[18]

Governor Richard Lamm considered appointing Valdez as Colorado State Treasurer in 1977, but Valdez declined the offer.^[19][20] On November 22, 1977, he announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 1978,^[21] but lost to Nancy E. Dick,^[2][8] the only other candidate to receive enough support at the convention to appear on the ballot.^[22] Kirscht was selected to succeed Valdez as minority leader.^[23]

President Jimmy Carter appointed Valdez as secretarial representative for the United States Department of Transportation's Region VIII in December 1978.^[2] Lamm appointed him as executive director of the Colorado Department of Social Services on October 11, 1979, to replace Armando Atencio and assumed his duties on November 1.^[24][2] He was moved from director of the Department of Social Services to director of the Department of Labor and Employment on December 1, 1982,^[25] but Lamm later placed Social Services under Valdez's control on October 2, 1985.^[26]

In 1981, Lamm appointed Valdez to the commission overseeing redistricting, using his power to select 3 of its 11 members.^[27][28] He was a delegate to the 1984 Democratic National Convention, where he served on the platform committee,^[29] and supported Ross Perot during the 1992 presidential election.^[30][31] Valdez earned $134,593 as a lobbyist, making him the highest earning one, in 1995, with $19,550 coming from Philip Morris International, and $18,000 from Thornton, Colorado.^[32] Valdez died on October 1, 2019.^[1]

Valdez was critical of the Denver Election Commission instituting a $0.50 fee on copies of voter registration certificates in 1972, stating that it was a poll tax.^[33] He was critical of redistricting in 1972, stating that Chicano political power was being split.^[34] Legislation to legalize marijuana was opposed by Valdez in 1973.^[35] In Trinidad, Valdez worked as an interpreter for children who were unable to speak English^[1] and pushed for legislation to create bilingual education, which was signed into law on June 30, 1975.^[36][15]