Biography:

Tom Tancredo was born in Denver and lives in Golden, Colo. He received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Northern Colorado, with a minor in business. Tancredo also did graduate work in guidance and counseling at the University of Colorado.

He taught briefly in the Jefferson County (Colo.) school system and was a real estate developer.

Tancredo was elected to the Colorado Legislature in 1976, where he served two terms.

After his service in the legislature, he was appointed by President Reagan as a regional assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Education, where he served nearly 12 years. He also worked as director of the Independence Institute, a privately funded conservative think tank based in Golden, Colo.

He was first elected to the U.S. House in 1998.

Tancredo and his wife, Jackie, have two grown children.

Past Campaigns:

The 1998 run for the 6th District U.S. House seat was Tom Tancredo's first campaign for Congress. He defeated Democrat Henry Strauss with 55 percent of the vote.

He defeated Dem. Ken Toltz in the 2000 election with 54 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2002 with 67 percent of the vote.

In 2004, he announced that he would no longer honor a pledge he made when he was first elected to observe term limits, and would run for a fourth term. He ran unopposed in the 2004 GOP primary and faced Democrat Joanna Conti in the general election.

Tancredo served two terms in the Colorado Legislature from 1976 to 1980.

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