Barbara McLachlan is an American politician, educator, and former journalist serving 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 ...

. She represents District 59, which covers

Archuleta ''Archuleta'' is a unique family name with origins in Spain. The surname ranked 2,762 out of 88,799 in the United States. Origin The name ''Archuleta'' is a Castillian derivation of Basque ''Arechuleta'', which ultimately comes from the place na ...

, Gunnison, Hinsdale,

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...

, Ouray, and

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

counties.

Early life and education

Hall McLachlan was born in

Lakewood, Colorado The City of Lakewood is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 155,984 at the 2020 U.S. Census making Lakewood the fifth most populous city in Col ...

. She received a bachelor's degree in journalism from

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

, a bachelor's degree in English from

Fort Lewis College Fort Lewis College is a public liberal arts college in Durango, Colorado. Because of its unique origins as a military fort turned Indian boarding school turned state public school, FLC follows a 1911 mandate to give qualified Native Americans a ...

, a master's degree in learning and teaching from

Regis University Regis University is a private Jesuit university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1877 by the Society of Jesus, the university offers more than 120 degrees through 5 colleges in a variety of subjects, including education, liberal arts, business, nu ...

, and a certificate in college counseling from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Career

Prior to entering politics, McLachlan worked as a Durango High School and as an independent college consultant. She had previously worked as a journalist for the ''

Durango Herald ''The Durango Herald'' is a newspaper in Durango, Colorado. The first edition of the ''Herald'' came out June 30, 1881. Two years later, the ''Herald'' merged with the ''Record'', which had started publishing in 1880, seven months before the ''H ...

''. McLachlan was elected to the

in 2016, winning with 50.73% of the vote over incumbent Republican J. Paul Brown. McLachlan serves on the House Education Committee and the House Transportation & Energy Committee. She is the chair of the House Education Committee.

Personal life

Her husband,

Mike McLachlan 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 from district 59 from 2013 to 2015. Early life and education In 1965, he enlisted ...

, had previously served in the

. She lives in

Durango, Colorado Durango is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States Census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis Coll ...

and has two children.Barbara McLachlan's Biography
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References

External links

Official campaign website
21st-century American politicians Living people Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives Women state legislators in Colorado Colorado State University alumni People from Durango, Colorado Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women politicians {{Colorado-politician-stub