Michael Edward McLachlan (April 18, 1946 – June 23, 2021) was an American attorney and politician who served as a member of 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 distr ...

from district 59 from 2013 to 2015.

Early life and education

In 1965, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and served in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

before being honorably discharged in 1967. He attended Southern Colorado State College (now

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

) before enrolling in the University of Arizona's law school in 1973.

Career

Attorney General

Ken Salazar Kenneth Lee Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Mexico. He previously served as the 50th United States Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Ba ...

appointed Rep. McLachlan to serve as Colorado's Solicitor General in 1999. He successfully defended Colorado's women's health clinic shield law in front of the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. He was a former president of the Durango Rotary Club and served on the Southern Ute Tribe-State of Colorado Environmental Control Commission. He has also served as the chairman of the Judicial Performance Commission for the Sixth Judicial District and as the chair of the Supreme Court Grievance Committee. McLachlan represented House District 59 in southwestern Colorado for two years. He was elected in the 2012 election, and subsequently lost his bid for re-election during the 2014 election cycle. He was a sponsor of a bill that created a tax break for farmers who donate extra produce to food banks. He was also a sponsor of legislation allowing charter schools to hire armed security officers. In the November 4, 2014 mid-term elections, McLachlan was defeated for re-election by Republican J. Paul Brown. Brown won by a narrow margin of 168 votes. Due to the close nature of the election, McLachlan chose to not concede the race to Brown until November 20, 2014. He died on June 23, 2021, at age 75.

References

External links

Mike McLachlan's campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLachlan, Mike 1946 births 2021 deaths United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War People from Dover, Delaware Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives United States Marines People from Durango, Colorado University of Nebraska alumni Military personnel from Colorado Colorado State University Pueblo alumni James E. Rogers College of Law alumni Colorado lawyers