Eddie Soto Statewide Board Member
Eddie Soto has been involved in progressive causes since his university days in Austin Texas where he worked to call attention to the Reagan administration’s inaction combating the AIDS epidemic. After graduating from college he moved to Los Angeles to work in the movie industry as a loader and an editor. In 2001 he moved to Durango, Colorado.
In 2004 Eddie was the San Luis Valley Organizer for the Colorado Victory 2004 campaign where he helped secure victories for Congressman John Salazar and Senator Ken Salazar. In 2005 he became the Executive Director for Immigrant Rights Group “Compañeros” in Durango. Compañeros helped pass the Immigrant Friendly Resolution which barred local Law enforcement from inquiring as to a person’s immigration status in 2005. In 2006 Eddie testified against SB-90 as well as to the litany of bills that were passed in the anti-immigrant special session. Eddie was also one of the original founders of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) and served as President from 2006- 2008.
In 2013 Eddie helped secure the only Republican vote to repeal SB-90 through the passage of the Colorado Trust Act. In the fall he went to work for the campaign to re-elect Mayor Annise Parker, the openly gay Mayor of Houston. Eddie ran the Paid Canvass for the campaign which helped increase voter turnout by nearly 50,000 voters and helped the Mayor secure over 37,000 more votes than in the prior Mayoral race. In 2014 Eddie worked for Planned Parenthood Texas Votes as the Dallas County and Tarrant County Data Manager on an experimental program to increase participation of Women of Color in statewide elections.
When he is not working on political and organizing campaigns Eddie enjoys spinning music and hanging out with his cat Justin. He unfortunately has tried quitting Diet dews, but has been unsuccessful in this campaign.