Mike Colona is a Democratic member of the Missouri House of Representatives. Before redistricting, Colona represented the 67th district. Colona currently represents the 80th district, which is centered on the Tower Grove South area within the city of St. Louis. Colona also serves as the House Minority Whip for the 96th General Assembly.
Video Mike Colona
Personal history
Mike Colona was born in St. Louis in 1969. He is a 1987 graduate of Fox High School in Arnold, Missouri. Colona earned a Bachelor of Science from Truman State University and a J.D. from St. Louis University. A lawyer in private practice, he specializes in personal injury, worker's compensation and some first amendment cases. Colona has also served as an adjunct professor of criminal justice for the University of Missouri - St. Louis. Colona is openly gay and both his 2008 and 2010 campaigns won the support of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. He is one of three openly LGBT legislators in Jefferson City, alongside Sen. Jolie Justus (D-Kansas City) and Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford (D-St. Louis).
Maps Mike Colona
Political history
In August 2008 Colona defeated four other Democratic challengers in the primary to replace term-limited Representative Mike Daus. Colona won with nearly 43 percent of the vote. No Republican ran for the seat so Colona was unopposed in the November 2008 general election. In the 2010 general election Colona handily defeated Republican challenger Curtis Farber with 82-percent of the vote to win a second term.
Organizations
- Board member, St. Louis Effort for AIDS.
- Ex officio board member Grand Oak Hills Neighborhood Association.
- Past President, Truman State University Alumni Association.
- Member, Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys.
Colona was a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), resigning in 2012. Doing so, he said "[ALEC] is not the innocuous, bipartisan organization it purports to be. Their agenda is radical and wrong for Missouri."
References
External links
- Campaign website
- Legislative homepage
Source of article : Wikipedia