Mike Colona (born 1969) is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

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 St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. Colona also served as the House

minority whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips ...

for the 96th General Assembly.

Early life and education

Mike Colona was born in

in 1969. He is a 1987 graduate of Fox High School in

Arnold, Missouri Arnold is a city in northeastern Jefferson County, Missouri, situated near the confluence of the Meramec and Mississippi rivers. A suburb of St. Louis, the city lies within the Greater St. Louis metropolitan statistical area. The population wa ...

. Colona earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree from

Truman State University Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a Public university, public Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Kirksville, Missouri, United States. It had 3,664 enrolled students in the fall of 2024 pursuing degrees in 55 undergraduate ...

and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from St. Louis University.

Career

A lawyer in private practice, he specializes in personal injury, worker's compensation and some

first amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

cases. Colona was also an adjunct professor of criminal justice at the

University of Missouri–St. Louis The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a Public university, public research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Established in 1963, it is the newest of the four universities in the University of Missouri System. Located ...

. He was one of three openly-

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

legislators in Jefferson City, alongside Jolie Justus (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 t ...

) 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 The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservatism in the United States, conservative state legislature (United States), state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share Model act, ...

(ALEC), resigning in 2012. Doing so, he said " LECis 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 LGBTQ+ Victory Fund (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and LGBTQ Victory Fund), commonly shortened to Victory Fund, is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of out LGBTQ+ public officials in the United ...

References

External links

Campaign website
1969 births American gay politicians LGBTQ 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 21st-century members of the Missouri General Assembly {{Missouri-MORepresentative-stub