In a corner of the dining room at Amanda Sandoval’s house is a rocking chair with a worn wooden frame and golden upholstery. It was her father’s chair. Paul Sandoval was a Latino community champion, and as a state lawmaker, he helped pass Colorado's first bilingual education bill.
He was also a smoker. The chair still carries that unmistakable cigarette smell.
“He shows up sometimes. I get whiffs of tamales and cigarettes, which is a distinct smell, and it's my dad,” said Sandoval.
He was a prominent political consultant, known as a “kingmaker,” who described himself as a tamale maker who brokered agreements in smoky backrooms.
Sandoval is the president of the Denver City Council. Earlier this year, she voted in favor of Denver’s nicotine flavor ban, which is now being challenged on the November ballot. Before voting for the law, she told a packed audience about her father and the generational impact of tobacco.
“My dad died of pancreatic cancer in 2012. Did anyone tell me at the time that it could have been because he smoked cigarettes from the time he was 13 years old?” the Denver City Council president asked.
