Mike Coffman

Michael Harold Coffman (born March 19, 1955) is an American politician, businessman, and veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps serving as Mayor of Aurora, Colorado since 2019.

A Republican, Coffman served as the U.S. representative for CO's 6th congressional district for five terms, as well as Secretary of State of Colorado and Colorado State Treasurer.

The son of a soldier, Coffman was born in Missouri and moved to Aurora when he was nine years old.

He enlisted in the army himself at age 17, serving two years before leaving for the reserves to attend college.

Coffman received his B.A. from the University of Colorado Boulder, while also attending special programs at Harvard University and the University of Veracruz.

Michael Coffman was born on March 19, 1955, at 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.

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, under the G.I. Bill graduating in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in political science.

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.

After transferring to the Marine Corps Reserve, Coffman founded a property management company in Aurora in 1983.

As a soldier, Coffman served in both the Gulf War and the Iraq War.

In 1983, he transferred from active duty to the Marine Reserves, serving until 1994.

In 1983, he created an Aurora-based property management firm, serving as senior shareholder until 2000.

Coffman was first elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1988, being reelected in 1990 prior to his appointment to the State Senate in December 1994.

Coffman began his political career serving as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 1989 to 1994.

Shortly after winning re-election in 1990, he took an unpaid leave of absence from the statehouse during his active duty service in the Persian Gulf War, during which time he saw combat as a light armored infantry officer.

He was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon after his first deployment.

In 1994, he attended the Senior Executive Program at the Harvard Kennedy School.

and the University of Veracruz in Mexico.

In 1994, he retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after 20 years of combined service in 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 as the replacement in December 1994.

In 1996, he was elected unopposed to a full term to the Colorado State Senate.

He became the chairman of the Finance Committee.

He was then elected as Colorado State Treasurer in 1998 and as Colorado Secretary of State in 2006.

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 Democratic 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, Coffman returned to active duty in the Marines where he deployed to Iraq for combat service.

Upon return from his deployment, he retired from the Marine Corps once again after a total of 22 years of military service.

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 Democratic State Senator and Minority Leader Ken Gordon.

During the general election of 2008, when Coffman was Secretary of State of Colorado, several groups 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, required by legislation sponsored by then Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon in 2006.

Coffman's office responded that 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.

He resigned as Secretary of State when he was elected to the United States Congress, where he served until his defeat for reelection by Jason Crow in 2018.

In 2019, he was elected to his current post as Mayor of Aurora, and was re-elected to a second term in the 2023 election.