Thomas Exum Sr. (born June 16, 1952) is an American politician who is a Democratic member of the

Colorado Senate The Colorado State 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 abou ...

. He represents

District 11 District 11 can refer to: *District 11 (Ho Chi Minh city), Vietnam *District 11 (Zürich), Switzerland * District 11, an electoral district of Malta *Colorado Springs School District 11, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States *District 11 (H ...

, which includes all or parts of

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

, Cimarron Hills and Stratmoor in El Paso County. Previously, Exum served in the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distri ...

, representing the 17th district from 2013 to 2015 and again from 2017 to 2023.

Early life and education

Thomas Exum Sr. was born in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, on June 16, 1952. He graduated from the

University of Southern Colorado Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) is a public university in Pueblo, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Colorado State University System and a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). History 1933 to 1959 The idea for starting ...

with 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 in 1994. He worked as a firefighter for thirty-five years and served as a

battalion chief A battalion chief is the rank and title of a subordinate fire chief or commanding officer in the firefighting command structure. The title of battalion chief is usually synonymous with firefighting in the United States and Canada.Occupational Ou ...

Colorado House of Representatives

Elections

Exum received the Democratic nomination to run for a seat in the

from the 17th district in the 2012 election. He defeated Republican nominee Mark H. Barker,

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

nominee Susan Quilleash, and

American Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constitut ...

nominee Barry Forest Pace in the election. Republican nominee Catherine Roupe defeated Exum in the 2014 election. During the 2016 election he was endorsed by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and defeated Roupe and Quilleash in the general election. He won reelection in the 2018 election against Roupe. He defeated Republican nominee Rob Blancken and Libertarian nominee Quilleash in the 2020 election. During the 2022 election Exum won the Democratic nomination for a seat in the

against Yolanda Avila. In the general election, Exum defeated Republican Sen. Dennis Hisey.

Tenure

During Exum's tenure in the state house he served as chair of the Government committee and served on the Education, and Transportation and Local committees.

Electoral history

References

External links

Official page
at the

Colorado General Assembly The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Exum, Tony 21st-century members of the Colorado General Assembly Democratic Party Colorado state senators African-American state legislators in Colorado 21st-century American firefighters Living people Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives Politicians from Colorado Springs, Colorado 1952 births 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians