Daniel "Dan" Schaefer (January 25, 1936 – April 16, 2006) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for

Colorado's 6th congressional district Colorado's 6th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in central Colorado, the district encompasses much of the eastern part of the Denver metropolitan area, including all of Aurora, as well as p ...

from 1983 to 1999.

Early life and education

Born in Guttenberg, Iowa, he attended public schools. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from

Niagara University Niagara University (NU) is a private Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition in Lewiston in Niagara County, New York. It is run by the Congregation of the Mission and has 3,300 undergraduate students in 50 academic programs. Appro ...

. He also attended Potsdam University from 1961 to 1964.

Career

Schaefer served in the United States Marine Corps from 1955 to 1957 and attained the rank of sergeant. He then worked as a public relations consultant. In 1976, he was elected to a two-year term in the Colorado General Assembly. Two years later, he was elected to the Colorado State Senate, where he served from 1979 to 1983. He was a delegate to Colorado State Republican conventions between 1972 and 1982. Schaefer was elected as a Republican to the

Ninety-eighth United States Congress The 98th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1983 ...

, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative-elect

Jack Swigert John Leonard Swigert Jr. (August 30, 1931 – December 27, 1982) was an American NASA astronaut, test pilot, mechanical engineer, aerospace engineer, United States Air Force pilot, and politician. In April 1970, as command module pilot of Apollo ...

, a former astronaut who died of cancer before he could take his seat in Congress. Schaefer polled 49,816 votes (63 percent) in the special election to 27,779 ballots (35 percent) for the Democrat Steve Hogan. No Democrat challenged Schaefer in 1984. In successive elections from 1986 to 1996, he polled more than 60 percent of the vote against each of his Democratic opponents. In his last race in 1996, he received 146,018 votes (62 percent) to 88,600 ballots (38 percent) for the Democrat Joan Fitz-Gerald. Schaefer did not run for re-election to the

106th United States Congress The 106th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 1 ...

in 1998. He was succeeded by Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo.

Death

Schaefer died of cancer at the age of 70.Dan Schaefer, 70; Former Congressman Represented Colorado
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References

External links

Retrieved on 2008-07-08 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schaefer, Daniel 1936 births 2006 deaths Republican Party Colorado state senators Republican Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives United States Marines Niagara University alumni People from Guttenberg, Iowa Deaths from cancer in Colorado Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Colorado 20th-century American politicians