Mike Coffman

About

Mike Coffman’s career has been dedicated to defending our country and making a difference for Aurora. He grew up here and attended Aurora Public Schools before enlisting in the U.S. Army shortly after his junior year of high school. He finished high school through an Army program and attended the University of Colorado under the G.I. Bill. While at the University, he continued his military career by serving in the U.S. Army Reserve.

After he graduated from the University of Colorado in 1979, Mike transferred from the U.S. Army Reserve to the Marine Corps where he served on active duty for three years as an infantry officer. In 1982, Mike left active duty and returned to Aurora where he started an Aurora-based property management firm in 1983. Mike remained a partner in the property management firm until 2000. During this time, he also continued his military career in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

In addition to running his property management firm and serving in the Marine Corps Reserve, Mike was involved in volunteer activities in Aurora. In 1983, he was appointed by the Aurora City Council to serve on the Human Relations Commission and, later, to the Citizens Advisory Budget Committee. He served on both until he was elected to the Colorado State House of Representatives in 1988.

In 1990, Mike took an unpaid leave of absence from the Colorado State House of Representatives and volunteered to deploy with the Marines for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. He was assigned as the Executive Officer for a Light Armored Infantry unit that conducted a reconnaissance-by-fire operation, inside of Iraqi-occupied Kuwait, for three consecutive days prior to the main ground attack on February 24th, 1991.

In 1994, Mike retired as a Major from a combined 20 years of military service between the U.S. Army, the Army Reserve, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the Marine Corps Reserve.

In the Colorado State House of Representatives, Mike’s key focus was on health care reform where he passed legislation that prohibited the denial of coverage based on preexisting conditions and prohibited gender discrimination by health insurance companies. For his efforts, he was recognized by the Women’s Lobby of Colorado as the “Outstanding Legislator of the Year” for accomplishments in improving the lives of women in our state.

Mike began serving in the Colorado State Senate in 1995, after winning a vacancy election, where he became the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. In 1997, Mike led the successful effort to implement welfare reform in Colorado. His Colorado Works program required work, training, or education in exchange for receiving benefits.

In 1998, Mike was elected to the office of Colorado State Treasurer and reelected to the office in 2002. One of Mike’s most notable actions was in taking financial control of the St. Vrain Valley School District in 2002, and then in 2003, the Elizabeth School District. In both cases the school districts were on the verge of insolvency due to gross financial mismanagement. Mike stabilized their finances by forcing the districts to cut their administrative budgets while protecting the teachers in the classroom.

Mike resigned from the Office of State Treasurer in 2005 and returned to the U.S. Marine Corps for an assignment in Iraq. During the first half of his deployment, Mike was the Officer-in-Charge of the Election Coordination Cell for Multi-National Forces West.

After helping with Iraq’s Constitutional Referendum and its first National Election, Mike volunteered for an assignment in the Western Euphrates River Valley where he helped establish transitional local governments. Mike returned from Iraq in 2006 and was appointed by then-Governor Bill Owens to serve out the remainder of his term as the State Treasurer.

In 2006, Mike was elected as Colorado’s Secretary of State where his main focus was on ensuring fair elections. Prior to the 2008 election, Mike successfully established a statewide interactive database of registered voters, in compliance with the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA), to help prevent voter fraud.

In 2008, Mike was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the 6th Congressional District of Colorado. He was ranked the 12th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives by the Lugar Center’s Bipartisan Index in 2018.

On January 31st, 2019, Mike Coffman announced his candidacy for the office of Mayor of the City of Aurora. He won the election later that year and faithfully served the residents of our community. Now, he’s running for re-election as Mayor to continue helping our city thrive and prosper.

Mike has lived in the Meadow Hills neighborhood since 1992 and attends Faith Presbyterian Church in Aurora.