Cynthia Honssinger Coffman (born August 26, 1961) is an American attorney and politician from the state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. A Republican, she was the elected

Attorney General of Colorado The Attorney General of the State of Colorado is the chief legal officer for the U.S. state of Colorado and the head of the Colorado Department of Law, a principal department of the Colorado state government. It is an elected position with a four ...

in 2014, serving a single term from 2015 to 2019. Coffman unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for

governor of Colorado The governor of Colorado is the head of government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws. The governor has the power to either app ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Early life and career

Coffman graduated from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

and received her J.D. degree from the Georgia State University College of Law. She began working in the office of the Georgia Attorney General in 1993. In 1996, she became a lawyer for the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, held in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. Following the

Centennial Olympic Park bombing The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a domestic terrorist pipe bombing attack on Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 27, 1996, during the Summer Olympics. The blast directly killed one person and injured 111 others; another ...

, Coffman served as a liaison to the families of the victims. Coffman moved to

in 1997, and worked for the legislative council of the

Colorado Legislature The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in the ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.). The sess ...

. She served as legal

counsel A counsel or a counsellor at law is a person who gives advice and deals with various issues, particularly in legal matters. It is a title often used interchangeably with the title of ''lawyer''. The word ''counsel'' can also mean advice given ...

for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment from 1999 through 2004. She then served as legal counsel for Bill Owens, the

Governor of Colorado The governor of Colorado is the head of government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws. The governor has the power to either app ...

, from 2004 to 2005, and as chief deputy attorney general under John Suthers, the

from 2004 through 2014. In 2012, ''

Law Week Colorado ''Law Week Colorado'' is Colorado's weekly online news source for lawyers and an information source on legal issues in the state and around the nation. It is available to the public and circulates widely to lawyers in private practice and public s ...

'' named Coffman their Best Public Sector Lawyer.

Attorney General of Colorado

In 2014, Coffman ran in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

for

. She faced Mark Waller for the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

nomination. She received Suthers' endorsement. After receiving the majority of support of Colorado delegates, Waller withdrew from the race. She received financial backing from the Republican Attorneys General Association Colorado PAC. Coffman defeated Democratic nominee Don Quick 54%-40% in the general election. As attorney general, Coffman signed Colorado onto a lawsuit which sought to roll back the Clean Power Plan. Coffman also led the state's lawsuit against

Boulder County Boulder County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado of the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 330,758. The most populous municipality in the county and the county seat is Boulder. Boulder County comprises t ...

over that county's drilling moratorium. In 2018, instead of seeking reelection as Attorney General, Coffman chose to run for governor of Colorado. She failed to win the Republican nomination, and was succeeded as attorney general by Democrat

Phil Weiser Philip Jacob Weiser is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 39th Colorado Attorney General, since 2019. He is the Hatfield Professor of Law and Telecommunications, Executive Director and Founder of the Silicon Flatirons Center ...

who defeated Republican George Brauchler for the post. Coffman's term ended on January 9, 2019.

Personal life

In 2005, she had her second marriage to

Mike Coffman 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 ...

, who represented in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

. The couple divorced in June 2017.

Electoral history

References

External links