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Mike McLachlan

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Mike McLachlan
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives
from the 59th district
In office
January 9, 2013 – January 7, 2015
Preceded byJ. Paul Brown
Succeeded byJ. Paul Brown
Solicitor General of Colorado
In office
1999–2000
Personal details
Born
Michael Edward McLachlan

(1946-04-18)April 18, 1946
Dover, Delaware, U.S.
DiedJune 23, 2021(2021-06-23) (aged 75)
Durango, Colorado, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
  • Dixie Self
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1968; div. 1971)​
  • Deborah Elaine Cowan
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1975; div. 1981)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1984; died 2021)​
Children2
EducationColorado State University Pueblo (BA)
University of Arizona (JD)
AwardsVietnam Service Medal
Military service
Branch/service United States Marine Corps
Years of service1965–1967
RankCorporal
Battles/warsVietnam War

Michael Edward McLachlan (April 18, 1946 – June 23, 2021) was an American attorney and politician who served in the Colorado House of Representatives from the 59th district as a member of the Democratic Party from 2013 to 2015.

McLachlan, the son of an United States Air Force colonel, lived in multiple states and countries during his early life. He graduated from high school in Nebraska and enrolled in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, but withdrew to join the United States Marine Corps. He graduated from Southern Colorado State College and the University of Arizona, where he was an associate editor of the Arizona Law Review.

McLachlan worked as a clerk for a Colorado Supreme Court justice and as an assistant district attorney. He worked at a law firm until 1995, and then opened his own firm. He was appointed as solicitor general for Colorado in 1998, and defended Colorado's shield law before the Supreme Court of the United States in Hill v. Colorado. He served one term in the state house.

Early life and education

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Michael Edward McLachlan was born at the Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, on April 18, 1946, to Audrey and Joseph J. McLachlan. His father was a colonel in the United States Air Force.[1][2][3]

The McLachlan family moved to Munich, West Germany, when Mike was six months old. They lived in San Antonio, Dayton, and Pittsburgh during he first five years of his life. They also lived in Arlington and Tampa. In 1959, they moved to Zaragoza, Spain, where McLachlan attended 8th to 11th grade. They moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1963, and he graduated from Pius X High School.[3]

McLachlan attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1965, but joined the United States Marine Corps that year and arrived in Vietnam on April 14, 1966.[4][5] He survived a plane crash and was sent back to the United States on April 10, 1967.[3] He was honorably discharged later that year.[4][5] He was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal and Vietnam Service Medal.[3]

McLachlan moved to Colorado with a friend from Zaragoza to attend Southern Colorado State College. He graduated cum laude with a degree in history in 1970. He graduated with a Juris Doctor from the University of Arizona in 1973.[3] He was an associate editor of the Arizona Law Review from 1972 to 1973.[6][7]

Career

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Law

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McLachlan was admitted to the bar in Colorado in 1973, and worked as a law clerk for Justice Edward C. Day of the Colorado Supreme Court from 1973 to 1974.[8][7] He worked as an assistant district attorney in the 6th judicial district under Jim Childress from 1974 to May 1976. He joined the Hamilton & Shand law firm and worked there for nineteen years before leaving in 1995, when the firm was known as Hamilton Shand & McLachlan. McLachlan operated his own law firm in Durango, Colorado, for twenty years.[3][7]

In 1987, McLachlan was one of 149 delegates who participated in a mock constitutional convention organized by the University of Colorado Denver and The Denver Post to examine and discuss changes to the Constitution of Colorado.[9]

On November 13, 1998, Attorney General Ken Salazar appointed McLachlan to serve as Colorado's Solicitor General.[10] In 1993, a shield law for abortion clinics was established and stated that protesters could not come within eight feet of patients within 100 feet of a healthcare facility. McLachlan defended the constitutionality of the law in Hill v. Colorado.[1]

Colorado House of Representatives

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Dickey Lee Hullinghorst convinced McLachlan to run for the Democratic nomination in the Colorado House of Representatives' 59th district.[1] He launched his campaign on February 9, 2012.[11] He won the Democratic nomination without opposition after Patrick Swonger was disqualified.[12][13] He defeated incumbent Republican J. Paul Brown.[14] McLachlan raised over $133,000 compared to Brown's $113,000[15] and around $1.2 million was spent during the campaign.[16] Brown stated that he lost due to the success of Amendment 64 and Barack Obama's victory in the state in the concurrent presidential election.[17]

There was an unsuccessful attempt to issue a recall election against McLachlan in 2013, but only around 8,500 signatures, less than the 10,587 needed, were gathered.[18] During his tenure in the state house he served on the Judiciary and Agriculture, Livestock, & Natural Resources committees.[19][20]

Brown defeated McLachlan by 170 votes in the 2014 election.[21] McLachlan conceded the election almost two weeks later on November 20.[22] Around $1,180,000 was spent during the campaign, around $570,000 by Republicans and over $600,000 by the Democrats.[23] McLachlan's wife Barbara McLachlan defeated Brown in 2016.[24]

Personal life

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McLachlan married Dixie Self in 1968, and divorced her in 1971. He married Deborah Elaine Cowan on January 25, 1975, and divorced in 1981.[8][25][3] He married Barbara Hall, with whom he had two children, in November 1984.[1] McLachlan died on June 23, 2021,[1] in Durango.[20]

Political positions

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McLachlan voted in favor of legislation to limit magazines to 15 rounds, prohibit conceal-carry on campuses, and universal background checks.[26] The American Civil Liberties Union gave him a rating of 71% in 2013,[27] and 100% in 2014.[28]

Electoral history

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2012 Colorado House of Representatives 59th district election[29]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mike McLachlan 3,106 100.00%
Total votes 3,106 100.00%
General election
Democratic Mike McLachlan 21,632 51.08%
Republican J. Paul Brown (incumbent) 20,715 48.92%
Total votes 42,347 100.00%
2014 Colorado House of Representatives 59th district election[30]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mike McLachlan (incumbent) 3,313 100.00%
Total votes 3,313 100.00%
General election
Republican J. Paul Brown 17,280 50.25%
Democratic Mike McLachlan (incumbent) 17,110 49.75%
Total votes 34,390 100.00%

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Goodland 2021.
  2. ^ Father 1965.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Obituary 2021.
  4. ^ a b McLachlan 2014.
  5. ^ a b House Memorial 2023.
  6. ^ Law Review 1972.
  7. ^ a b c McLachlan 2016.
  8. ^ a b Deborah Cowan 1974.
  9. ^ Gallegos 1987.
  10. ^ Salazar 1998.
  11. ^ Telluride 2012.
  12. ^ Olivarius-Mcallister 2013.
  13. ^ Election 2012, p. 78.
  14. ^ Election 2012, p. 122.
  15. ^ Ashby 2012.
  16. ^ Money tussle 2014.
  17. ^ Marcus 2014.
  18. ^ Armijo 2018.
  19. ^ Hanel 2014.
  20. ^ a b Legislative Biography.
  21. ^ Election 2014, p. 122.
  22. ^ Concede 2014.
  23. ^ Money Drives 2014.
  24. ^ Election 2016, p. 177.
  25. ^ Marriage 1975.
  26. ^ Ashby 2013.
  27. ^ ACLU 2013, p. 4.
  28. ^ ACLU 2014, p. 6.
  29. ^ Election 2012, pp. 78, 122.
  30. ^ Election 2014, pp. 82, 122.

Works cited

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Election data

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  • "2012 Abstract of Votes Cast" (PDF). Secretary of State of Colorado.
  • "2014 Abstract of Votes Cast" (PDF). Secretary of State of Colorado.
  • "2016 Abstract of Votes Cast" (PDF). Secretary of State of Colorado.

News

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Websites

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