Biography

Michael Harold Coffman (born March 19, 1955) is an American politician, businessman, and veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps serving as Mayor of Aurora, Colorado since 2019. A Republican, Coffman served as the U.S. representative for Colorado's 6th congressional district for five terms, as well as Secretary of State of Colorado and Colorado State Treasurer. The son of a soldier, Coffman was born in Missouri and moved to Aurora when he was 9 years old. He enlisted in the army himself at age 17, serving two years before leaving for the reserves to attend college. Coffman received his B.A. from the University of Colorado Boulder, while also attending special programs at Harvard University and the University of Veracruz. After transferring to the Marine Corps Reserve, Coffman founded a property management company in Aurora in 1983. As a soldier, Coffman served in both the Gulf War and the Iraq War. Coffman was first elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1988, being reelected in 1990 prior to his appointment to the State Senate in December 1994. He was then elected as Colorado State Treasurer in 1998 and as Colorado Secretary of State in 2006. He resigned as Secretary of State when he was elected to the United States Congress, where he served until his defeat for reelection by Jason Crow in 2018. In 2019, he was elected to his current post as Mayor of Aurora, and is running for reelection in the 2023 election.