Mike Colona (born 1969) is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the
Missouri House of Representatives from 2009 to 2017. Before redistricting, Colona represented the 67th district. Colona more recently represented the 80th district, which is centered on the
Tower Grove South area within the city of
St. Louis.
[ ] Colona also served as the House
minority whip for the 96th General Assembly.
Early life and education
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 degree from
Truman State University and a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from
St. Louis University
Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...
.
Career
A lawyer in private practice, he specializes in personal injury, worker's compensation and some
first amendment cases. Colona was also an adjunct professor of criminal justice at the
University of Missouri–St. Louis.
He was one of three openly-
LGBT legislators in Jefferson City, alongside
Jolie Justus
Jolie L. Justus (born February 24, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician from Missouri. A Democrat, she was a member of the Missouri State Senate representing the 10th Senatorial District in Kansas City, serving as the Missouri Senate Minor ...
(D–
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
) and
Jeanette Mott Oxford (D–St. Louis).
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. 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.
Colona was a member of the
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), resigning in 2012. Doing so, he said "
LEC
Lec or LEC may refer to:
Organisations
* Lake Erie College, a college in Painesville, Ohio
* Lancaster Environment Centre, an interdisciplinary centre at Lancaster University, England
* Lao Evangelical Church, a religious body in Laos
* Laredo En ...
is not the innocuous, bipartisan organization it purports to be. Their agenda is radical and wrong for Missouri."
Personal life
Colona is openly gay and both his 2008 and 2010 campaigns won the support of the
Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.
References
External links
Campaign website
1969 births
21st-century American politicians
Gay politicians
LGBT state legislators in Missouri
Living people
Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives
Politicians from St. Louis
Saint Louis University alumni
Truman State University alumni
{{Missouri-politician-stub