DENVER (AP) – Former congressman John Salazar has been appointed to be the new Colorado agriculture commissioner.
Gov.-elect John Hickenlooper also appointed Dr. Chris Urbina, director of Denver Public Health at Denver Health, to head the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and announced that Mike King will remain as head of the Department of Natural Resources.
Hickenlooper said Wednesday that Salazar’s experience representing Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District and being a former member of the state Legislature’s House Agriculture Committee made him uniquely qualified for the job.
Salazar lost to Republican Scott Tipton in November’s election after serving three terms in Congress representing western and southern Colorado.
