Mike Coffman

Mike Coffman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado's 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2009
Preceded by	Tom Tancredo
Colorado Secretary of State
In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2009
Preceded by	Gigi Dennis
Succeeded by	Bernie Buescher
Colorado Treasurer
In office 2006–2007
Preceded by	Mark Hillman
Succeeded by	Cary Kennedy
Colorado Treasurer
In office January 3, 1999 – June 9, 2005
Preceded by	Bill Owens
Succeeded by	Mark Hillman
Member of Colorado Senate from the 27th District
In office December 12, 1994 – January 3, 1999
Preceded by	Bill Owens
Succeeded by	John Andrews
Member of Colorado House of Representatives from the 40th District
In office 1989 – December 12, 1994
Succeeded by	Gary McPherson
Personal details
Born	March 19, 1955 (1955-03-19) Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Cynthia Coffman
Residence	Aurora, Colorado
Alma mater	University of Colorado
Profession	real estate executive
Religion	Methodist
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1972-1978 (U.S. Army) 1979-1994, 2005-2006 (USMC)
Battles/wars	Persian Gulf War Iraq War

Michael "Mike" Coffman (born March 19, 1955) is the U.S. Representative for Colorado's 6th congressional district, serving since 2009, and a former Secretary of State of Colorado. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life, education, and business career

Michael Coffman was born on March 19, 1955 in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, to Harold and Dorothy Coffman, and is one of five children. His father served in the United States Army at Fort Leonard Wood, and after 1964, at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado.

In 1972, Coffman enlisted in the U.S. Army, and was assigned to a mechanized infantry battalion. The following year, he earned a high school diploma through an Army program. Leaving active duty for the U.S. Army Reserve in 1974, he entered the University of Colorado, graduating in 1979. He also studied at Vaishnav College in Chennai, India, and the University of Veracruz in Mexico for a year. Upon graduation from the University of Colorado, Coffman transferred from the Army Reserve to the United States Marine Corps in 1979, becoming an infantry officer. In 1983, he transferred from active duty to the Marine Reserves, serving until 1994. In 1983, he created an Aurora, Colorado-based property management firm, serving as senior shareholder until 2000.

State politics

Legislature

Coffman began his political career serving as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 1989 to 1995. Shortly after winning re-election in 1990, he took an unpaid leave-of-absence from the State House during his active duty service in the Persian Gulf War, during which he saw combat as a light armored infantry officer. In 1994, he retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after 20 years of combined service to the Army, Army Reserve, Marines, and Marine Reserve. When State Senator Bill Owens resigned his seat to become State Treasurer, the party's vacancy committee named Coffman the replacement in December 1994. In 1996, he was elected to a full term to the Colorado State Senate unopposed. He became the Chairman of the Finance Committee.

Statewide offices

In 1998, Coffman was elected as State Treasurer of Colorado with 51% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Jim Polsfut. In 2002, he was re-elected with 56%, defeating Democrat State Senator Terry Phillips.

He resigned from that post in 2005 in order to resume his career in the U.S. Marines, and serve in the War in Iraq, where he helped support the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, which oversaw two national elections, and helped establish interim local governments in the Western Euphrates Valley. In 2006, he completed his duty in Iraq and was re-appointed as State Treasurer. He served that position for only a few months because in November 2006, he was elected Colorado Secretary of State with 51% of the vote, defeating Democrat State Senator and Minority Leader Ken Gordon.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2008

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, 2008#District 6

Coffman announced that he would run for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Republican Tom Tancredo in 2008 in Colorado's 6th congressional district. He won the Republican primary election, and went on to defeat Democrat Hank Eng in the general election. The seat is considered to be the most Republican-dominated district of the Denver-area seats and is also one of the wealthiest in the nation. The Denver Post endorsed Coffman on October 10, 2008. Governor Bill Ritter designated State Representative Bernie Buescher, a Democrat to succeed Coffman as Secretary of State.

Groups including American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, Common Cause of Colorado, the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund accused the Secretary of State's office of improperly marking 6,400 voter registration forms as incomplete, because they failed to check a box on the form. Incomplete registrations require voters to either re-register or provide extra identification when they go to vote. Soon after the accusations were made, Common Cause filed suit against Coffman, in his official capacity as Secretary of State. The Secretary of State's office denied wrongdoing, and Coffman said he believes his office was correctly applying the law. On October 30, 2008, the court approved a preliminary injunction allowing purged voters to participate in the 2008 election. Bernie Buescher, Coffman's successor as Secretary of State, replaced Coffman as defendant in the case in January 2009. The bulk of the litigation was settled in January 2010 after changes to Colorado's election regulations, and the remaining portions were decided in January 2011.

2010

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, 2010#District 6

Coffman was challenged by Democratic Party nominee John Flerlage, Libertarian nominee Rob McNeally, and Independent Michael S. Kearns. He won convincingly with 66% of the votes. Flerlage got 31%, McNeally got 2%; results for Kearns were not recorded. Coffman's 66% of the vote represents a gain of 6 percentage points over his first House election in 2008.

Tenure

Coffman's proposals to cut military entitlements has raised controversy on the House Armed Services Committee.

Taxes

Coffman is a signer of Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Military Personnel
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
  • Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces
• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
  • Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
• Committee on Small Business
  • Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access
  • Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations (Chairman)

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Balanced Budget Amendment Caucus (Chairman)
• Congressional Bike Caucus
• Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans
• Congressional Coal Caucus
• International Conservation Caucus
• Natural Gas Caucus
• Republican Study Committee
• Sportsmen's Caucus
• Tea Party Caucus

Personal life

Coffman's wife, Cynthia Coffman, is currently Chief Deputy Attorney General in the office of Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, and was previously Chief Counsel in the office of then-Governor Bill Owens.

Coffman is a Methodist.

External links

• Congressman Mike Coffman official U.S. House website
• Mike Coffman for Congress official campaign website
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Profile at SourceWatch
• Colorado Ethics Watch Report on Mike Coffman
• Coffman in Fight over Seat with Republicans Pueblo Chieftain, August 17, 2008
• Colorado Faces Suit in Voter Purges New York Times, October 25, 2008

Political offices
Preceded by Bill Owens	State Treasurer of Colorado 1999–2005	Succeeded by Mark Hillman
Preceded by Mark Hillman	State Treasurer of Colorado 2006–2007	Succeeded by Cary Kennedy
Preceded by Gigi Dennis	Colorado Secretary of State 2007 – 2008	Succeeded by Bernie Buescher
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Tom Tancredo	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado's 6th congressional district 2009–present	Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Jason Chaffetz R-Utah	United States Representatives by seniority 303rd	Succeeded by Gerry Connolly D-Virginia