James Smallwood, Jr. (born c. 1971) is an American business consultant and politician first elected to the

Colorado Senate The Colorado Senate is the upper house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Colorado. It is composed of 35 members elected from single-member districts, with each district having a population of about 123,0 ...

in 2016. He represents State Senate District 2, which includes the communities of

Castle Rock Castle Rock may refer to: Geography Islands * Castle Rock (Alaskan Island), an island off the coast of the U.S. state of Alaska * Castle Rock, Hong Kong (螺洲白排), an island of Hong Kong, part of the Po Toi Islands * Castle Rock (Massachusett ...

Parker Parker may refer to: Persons * Parker (given name) * Parker (surname) Places Place names in the United States *Parker, Arizona *Parker, Colorado *Parker, Florida *Parker, Idaho *Parker, Kansas *Parker, Missouri *Parker, North Carolina *Parker, Pe ...

, The Pinery, Stonegate, and Grand View Estates in Douglas County. Prior to the 2020 reapportionment process that was implemented in 2023, Smallwood represented the former State Senate District 4 in Douglas County which encompassed the communities of

, Larkspur,

, Franktown, and

Castle Pines The City of Castle Pines is a home rule municipality located in Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 11,036 at the 2020 United States Census. Castle Pines is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan ...

Biography

Born in

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landma ...

, Oklahoma, Smallwood spent his formative years in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

after his father’s 22 years of service in the U.S. Army landed the family in

Fort Riley Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in G ...

. He attended Fort Hays State University where he obtained his B.B.A. in Finance and met his wife of more than twenty years. Shortly after college, Smallwood moved to Colorado and started a small insurance brokerage firm. He later grew this firm, expanding his knowledge base and services to include financial advising and employee benefit consulting. He is now president of Employee Benefits for Moody Insurance Agency, where he oversees a department which manages corporate clients and consults on employee benefits and cafeteria plan administration.

Public service and associations

Smallwood was appointed to the Colorado Advisory Council for Persons with Disabilities by

John Hickenlooper John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. (; born February 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Colorado since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 42nd governor of Colorado from 2011 to 20 ...

, and has also served on councils assembled by national and statewide insurers and trade associations.

Legislative career

Smallwood never held public office prior to his election in 2016 to the Colorado State Senate. During the Senate District 4

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, Smallwood defeated his Democratic opponent, Christina Riegel, with 69.39% of the votes cast. Given his history in health insurance and small business, Smallwood was designated Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and appointed to serve on the Senate Business, Labor, and Technology Committee. Smallwood made medical care a focus in the 2018 Legislative Session. House Bill 1431 concerns managed care and aligns statutory provisions to reflect the current statewide managed care system, including the elimination of certain obsolete verbiage. House Bill 1211, is designed to control Medicaid Fraud; Senate Bill 27 enacted the Nurse Licensure Compact; Senate Bill 146 adds a layer of transparency for the consumer seeking treatment at free-standing emergency departments and Senate Bill 132 allows insurance companies to offer catastrophic health insurance plans to customers residing in Colorado. All of these bills were signed into law by the Governor.

References

External links

Campaign websiteColorado General Assembly profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smallwood, Jim Republican Party Colorado state senators People from Fort Sill, Oklahoma 1971 births Living people Fort Hays State University alumni 21st-century American politicians