Mike Colona

Colona was a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), resigning in 2012. Doing so, he said "[ALEC] is not the innocuous, bipartisan organization it purports to be. Their agenda is radical and wrong for Missouri."

In August 2008, Colona defeated four other Democratic challengers in the primary to replace term-limited Representative Mike Daus. Colona won with nearly 43 percent of the vote. No Republican ran for the seat, so Colona was unopposed in the November 2008 general election. In the 2010 general election, Colona handily defeated Republican challenger Curtis Farber with 82-percent of the vote to win a second term.

Mike Colona was born in St. Louis in 1969. He is a 1987 graduate of Fox High School in Arnold, Missouri. Colona earned a Bachelor of Science from Truman State University and a J.D. from St. Louis University. A lawyer in private practice, he specializes in personal injury, worker's compensation and some first amendment cases. Colona has also served as an adjunct professor of criminal justice for the University of Missouri – St. Louis. Colona is openly gay and both his 2008 and 2010 campaigns won the support of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. He was one of three openly LGBT legislators in Jefferson City, alongside Sen. Jolie Justus (D–Kansas City) and Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford (D–St. Louis).

Mike Colona is a Democratic former member of the Missouri House of Representatives. Before redistricting, Colona represented the 67th district. Colona more recently represented the 80th district, which is centered on the Tower Grove South area within the city of St. Louis. Colona also served as the House Minority Whip for the 96th General Assembly.