Maida Coleman (born July 1, 1954) is a Democratic politician from Missouri. Coleman was first elected to public office in 2000, when she was elected to 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 the 63rd district. In 2002, Coleman won a special election to the

Missouri Senate The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 174,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two yea ...

, representing the 5th district. Coleman represented the 5th district in the Missouri Senate until 2009, and from 2004 to 2008 she served as the minority leader. She was the first African American woman to serve as Senate Minority Leader in the Missouri Senate. Coleman has served on the Missouri Public Service Commission since she was appointed to the commission in 2015. While in the Missouri Senate, Coleman served on the following committees: *Administration *Agriculture, Conservation, Parks and Natural Resources *Financial and Governmental Organizations and Elections *Gubernatorial Appointments *Ways and Means Coleman is a graduate of

Lincoln University of Missouri Lincoln University (Lincoln U) is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Jefferson City, Missouri. Founded in 1866 by African-American veterans of the American Civil War, it is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fun ...

with a degree in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

. She has three children: John, Alaina and James. She currently resides in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. Coleman announced that she was running for Mayor of the City of St. Louis in 2008 against fellow Democratic Party member

Francis Slay Francis Gerard Slay (born March 18, 1955) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 45th Mayor of St. Louis, Missouri from 2001 to 2017. The first mayor of the city of St. Louis to be elected to the office four consecutive times, Sl ...

, but decided not to run on the last day to enter race, because another candidate with the same last name entered the race the very same day. Coleman believed that she was being "targeted" and claimed "conspiracy"

She announced she would run for mayor as an Independent.

References

*''Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2005-2006''. Jefferson City, MO:Secretary of State.

External links

Missouri Senate - Maida Coleman
official government website
Project Vote Smart - Maida Coleman (MO)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Maida Coleman
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campaign contributions 1954 births Living people People from Sikeston, Missouri Lincoln University (Missouri) alumni Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Democratic Party Missouri state senators Politicians from St. Louis Women state legislators in Missouri 21st-century American women {{Missouri-politician-stub