Joe Miklosi

Joe Miklosi
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives
from the 9th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 7, 2009[1]
Preceded by Alice Borodkin
Succeeded by Paul Rosenthal
Personal details
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Jennifer Miklosi
Residence Denver, Colorado
Alma mater University of Colorado at Denver
Hope College
Occupation Business Developer
Religion Methodist

Joe Miklosi is an American politician. He served as legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. Elected to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2008, Miklosi represented House District 9, which encompasses portions of southeastern Denver, Colorado.[2]

Early life, education, and business career

Originally from New Boston, Michigan, Miklosi attended Hope College in Michigan, earning a bachelor's degree in 1992, in political science and religion. He later earned a master's degree in public administration with a concentration in nonprofit executive management from the University of Colorado at Denver in 2004. His master's thesis focused on increasing civic engagement among youth.[3]

Miklosi worked in the private sector for six years, for Cyveillance as business development manager, as a software consultant for Computer Associates and Veritas Software, and as a consultant for Aristotle Industries, a campaign software company.[3]

Early political career

As a worker on the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton in South Dakota, Miklosi helped organize a 10,000-person rally and get out the vote efforts. He later interned in the White House Office of Public Liaison. Staying in Washington D.C., Miklosi worked as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio, on environmental, interior, and health care issues.[3]

In 2002, Miklosi took the post of Director of Operations for Colorado State Representatives Dan Grossman and Jennifer Veiga. The following year, he served Veiga's Chief of Staff when she became House Minority Leader. In both of these positions, he worked with Democratic legislative candidates as the Democratic Party gained seats in the 2002 and 2004 elections.[3]

Following the 2004 elections, in which Democrats gained a majority in the state house, Miklosi worked under Speaker Andrew Romanoff as Director of the Democratic State House Caucus. He then joined Progressive Majority as their Colorado state director, helping elect progressive candidates to local and legislative races statewide. While at Progressive Majority, he also helped launch the annual Color Colorado Conference, designed to foster engagement and participation in the political process among racial and ethnic minorities.

Miklosi then joined Project C.U.R.E., a nonprofit collector and distributor of donated medical supplies, where he worked as Director of Major Gifts, until being elected to the state house. Currently, he lives with his wife, Jennifer, in Denver, Colorado.[3]

Legislative career in the General Assembly

2008 election

Joe Miklosi defeated Paul Rosenthal in a contested and bitter Democratic primary in August, taking 58 percent of votes cast.[4]

Miklosi faced Republican James Landauer in the November 2008 general election. Miklosi's candidacy was endorsed by the Denver Post, [5] and he won the race with 67 percent of the popular vote.[6]

2009 legislative session

For the 2009 legislative session, Miklosi was named to seats on the House Judiciary Committee, the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee, and the Legislative Audit Committee.[7]

2010 Election

Representative Miklosi defeated Republican challenger Bob Lane by a margin of 61% to 39%.[8]

2012 legislative session

Representative Miklosi announced he would not stand for re-election in House District 9 and would challenge incumbent Republican congressman Mike Coffman. Miklosi was succeeded by onetime opponent Paul Rosenthal.

2012 congressional election

Miklosi is running for the newly redrawn Colorado's 6th congressional district, currently represented by conservative Republican Mike Coffman. Coffman's old district was won by McCain with 53%. The new district was won by Barack Obama with 54% of the vote (in line with the statewide average). The 6th Congressional district is now considered a swing district.

He got the endorsement from every Democrat currently serving in the Colorado State House of Representatives and former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff.[9] He was also endorsed by former U.S. Congressman John Salazar, Planned Parenthood, and Colorado AFL-CIO.[10] Miklosi received the endorsement of Democracy for America, and was selected as one of their Dean Dozen.

Doran Kaye, a Miklosi campaign staff member, was forced to resign from the campaign after a conservative website revealed his history of arrests for drug-related offences. Kaye's record included arrests for drug-related felonies in 2006 and 2007. Kaye also failed to appear in court on more than one occasion. In a statement the Miklosi campaign said, "This is another attempt to distract from the extreme Coffman-Ryan plan to end Medicare as we know it that is on everyone's mind. This election should be about the issues that affect people's lives and not about cheap personal attacks."

Endorsements and ratings

Miklosi was endorsed by Democracy For America in December 2011. The group then adopted Miklosi into their "Dean Dozen," a listing of their 12 highest-priority candidates, in August 2012. He was also endorsed by the group's founder, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, at that time. The group has raised Miklosi over $40,000 as of October 2012.

MoveOn.org's Colardo members endorsed Miklosi in July of 2012.

The Colorado branch of the AFL-CIO labor union endorsed Miklosi in November of 2011.[11]

2012 Congressional election

In the 2012 General Election, Representative Miklosi faced incumbent Republican Coffman. Coffman was reelected by a margin of 48% to 46% with neither candidate receiving a majority.[12][13]

References

  1. ↑ "House Journal - January 7, 2009" (pdf). Colorado General Assembly. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  2. ↑ "State House District 9". COMaps. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "About Joe". Joe Miklosi for State House. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
  4. ↑ "Colorado Statewide Cumulative Report - 2008 Primary Election". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  5. ↑ Norris, Wendy; Bob Spencer (3 November 2008). "State candidate endorsement watch". Colorado Independent. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
  6. ↑ "Colorado Statewide Cumulative Report - 2008 General Election". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  7. ↑ "House Democrats Unveil 2009 Committee Chairs & Assignments" (Press release). Colorado House Democrats. 18 November 2008.
  8. ↑ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=659358
  9. ↑ http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/12/08/competition-in-the-new-6th-cd/
  10. ↑ http://www.joemiklosi.com/index.php?id=7
  11. ↑ "Stay Away!". National Journal's House Race Hotline. 21 November 2012.
  12. ↑ "CO - Election Results - Colorado Secretary of State".
  13. ↑ "U.S. House results: Colorado - CNN Election Center".

External links