Walker Stapleton (born April 15, 1974) is an American politician who served two terms as

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

state treasurer In the state and territorial governments of the United States, 54 of the 56 states and territories have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the office of New York State Treasurer in 1926, in which the duties were transfer ...

from 2011 to 2019. Stapleton was the Republican nominee for

Governor of Colorado The governor of Colorado is the head of government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor (United States), governor is the head of the Executive (government), executive branch of Government of Colorado, Colorado's state government and is cha ...

in the 2018 election, which he lost to Democrat

Jared Polis Jared Schutz Polis ( ; ; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007, and five terms as the Unite ...

Early life and family

Stapleton's family has been active in Colorado since the early 1900s. Walker was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

, attending the private Brunswick School. He graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

in Massachusetts, and holds a graduate degree in business economics from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

and an MBA from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. Stapleton's mother, Dorothy Walker Stapleton, is a first cousin once removed of former

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

, making him a second cousin of former U.S. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and former Florida governor

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...

. He has maintained close ties to the Bush family and credits George H. W. Bush for inspiring him to enter politics. His father is diplomat Craig Roberts Stapleton. His great-grandfather, Benjamin F. Stapleton, served as mayor of

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

from 1923 to 1931 and 1935 to 1947.

Career

Stapleton began his private sector career in 1997 at Hambrecht & Quist as an investment banker. Two years later, he became Director of Business Development for Live365. He subsequently was CEO and CFO of various private and publicly traded companies, until assuming office as Colorado Treasurer in 2011. In early 2018, Stapleton, then running for governor of Colorado, was accused by fellow candidate Steve Barlock of paying off the History Colorado Center to remove mention of the family's ties with the

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

movement and the beginnings of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

in America from their exhibitions. Stapleton was a 2014

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but also has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, its original home. Its stated miss ...

Rodel Fellow. In January 2022 Governor Jared Polis appointed Stapleton to the state's Economic Development Commission.

Electoral history

References

External links

Walker Stapleton's website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, Walker 1974 births 21st-century Colorado politicians Alumni of the London School of Economics Bush family Colorado Republicans Harvard Business School alumni Living people People from Arapahoe County, Colorado State treasurers of Colorado Williams College alumni Candidates in the 2018 United States elections