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Victor Mitchell

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For the American bridge player, see Victor Mitchell (bridge).
Victor Mitchell
Mitchell in March 2017
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives
from the 45th district
In office
January 10, 2007 – January 7, 2009
Preceded byJames Sullivan
Succeeded byCarole Murray
Personal details
Born (1965-12-12) December 12, 1965 (age 58)
Edison, New Jersey, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationSan Diego State University (BS)
Harvard University (MPA)

Victor Mitchell (born December 12, 1965) is an American businessman and former legislator in Colorado. Since 2008, he has been CEO of Lead Funding, a national real estate lender. Elected to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Republican in 2006, Mitchell represented House District 45, including Teller County and southern Douglas County, Colorado.[1] Mitchell served one term in office and did not stand for re-election in 2008.

In February 2017, Mitchell filed papers to be a candidate for Colorado Governor in 2018.[2] However, he lost in the primary election to fellow Republican Walker Stapleton.[3]

Early life and education

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Born in Edison, New Jersey, Mitchell attended San Diego State University, earning a bachelor's degree in finance in 1988.[4]

Business career

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Mitchell's career centered primarily in business starting from the age of 21.

In 1987, while in college, he started a transportation business, and, over the course of his career, founded and served as CEO and chairman of five companies: Advantage Advisory Service (1989–2004), Advantage Cellular (1991–1995), Advantage Wireless (1996–2004), Motion Telecom, (2002–2004), and Ricochet Networks (2003–2004). After selling Advantage Cellular to AirTouch (later part of Verizon) in 1995, Mitchell moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1996 and founded Advantage Wireless, a wireless distributor. After expanding to 114 branded locations and thousands of independent retailers across the US, Advantage Wireless was sold to a private equity consortium in 2004. Advantage Wireless, Inc. was named "Colorado Business of the Year" by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce in 2000. Mitchell has also served on advisory boards of the Denver Metro Chamber and the Denver Better Business Bureau.[5]

In 2003, Mitchell acquired control of Ricochet Networks, a data service provider that had suffered multiple bankruptcies. The following year, after turning its first annual profit under Mitchell's leadership, Ricochet was acquired by Young Design, Inc. Mitchell was named by the Denver Business Journal as one of their "top 40 under 40" for business executives of Colorado, and was a finalist for Ernst and Young's "Entrepreneur of the Year" recognition.[5] Mitchell also returned to school to earn a Master of Public Administration degree in 2005 from Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University.[4]

In June 2008, Mitchell founded Lead Funding, a private lender to real estate investors, homebuilders, and developers across the United States. He still serves as CEO of that firm.

Political career

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Politically, Mitchell chaired the Douglas County arm of the political committee opposing Colorado's 2005 Referendum C, and was a director of the Colorado Leadership Program of the Rockies.[4] In 2000, he attended the Capitol Conference in Washington, D.C., on behalf of U.S. Senator Wayne Allard.[5]

2006 election

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In 2006, Mitchell faced Democrat Linda Constantine in the overwhelmingly Republican district. Mitchell campaigned on his opposition to Referendum C,[6] and on his support for education reform, including support for charter schools.[7]

2007 legislative session

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During the 2007 legislative session, Mitchell served on the House Education Committee, the House Finance Committee, and the Legislative Audit Committee.[8] Mitchell expressed his frustration with the pace of educational reform as a minority member of the Education Committee, blaming the lack of substantial reform on teachers' unions.[7][9]

Building upon his work with Project Lifesaver, Mitchell sponsored successful legislation to encourage the project's expansion, including $380,000 in grants to counties to provide tracking bracelets for cognitively impaired people and coordination with law enforcement agencies.[10][11]

2008 presidential election

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In 2007, as a state legislator, Mitchell was named a member of the Colorado Legislative Leadership Team for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.[12] Shortly before Super Tuesday in February, he was announced as a Douglas County chair for Romney's campaign.[13] After Romney dropped out of the presidential race a few days later, Mitchell offered support for Arizona Sen. John McCain.[14]

2008 legislative session

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In the 2008 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Mitchell sat on the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee and the Legislative Audit Committee.[15]

After joining with moderate Republicans to criticize an executive order issued by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter allowing collective bargaining for state workers,[16] Mitchell unsuccessfully attempted to amend a Republican proposal for punishing striking public employees to moderate fines; both his amendment and the Republican version of the proposal failed in committee.[17] Mitchell criticized the Democratic version of the bill for not having sufficiently high penalties for striking state employees.[18]

Mitchell has also proposed legislation to require students to pass a high school proficiency exam before graduating,[19] and to enhance the ability of the state to inspect public school buildings by giving the Division of Oil and Public Safety the power to delegate building inspections to other parties, a measure which passed the state house.[20]

Retiring from legislature

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Citing business responsibilities and frustration with advancing legislation while a member of the minority party in the legislature, Mitchell announced in January 2008 that he did not intend to seek re-election to a second term.[21] Carole Murray succeeded him in the District 45 House seat.[22]

2011 Election

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Mitchell formed and self-funded a campaign committee–Save Colorado Jobs–to oppose Democratic State Senator Rollie Heath's Prop 103 that would have raised both the state sales and income taxes to help fund education. It would have been the largest tax increase in Colorado history at that time.[23] Prop 103 was defeated by a wide margin, 64% NO to 36% YES.[24]

2018 Election

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Mitchell unsuccessful ran for Governor of Colorado in the 2018 Colorado gubernatorial election. During the primaries, he attempted to sell himself as a "serial entrepreneur".[25][26] He was defeated by a large margin in the Republican primaries by Walker Stapleton, with 151,585 votes to 239,861.[27]

Personal life

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Currently a resident of Longboat Key, Florida, Mitchell has three children, Lauren a New York City educator, David a United States Army Lieutenant, and Emily, a college student.

References

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  1. ^ "State House District 45". COMaps. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  2. ^ Bunch, Joey. Republican Victor Mitchell is officially in the race for Colorado governor. ColoradoPolitics.com, February 14, 2017. Retrieved: 2017-02-14.
  3. ^ Bunch, Joey; Luning, Ernest (2018-06-28). "PRIMARY 2018: Polis, Stapleton to face off in November for Colo. governor". Colorado Politics. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
  4. ^ a b c "Representative Mitchell". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2008-01-26.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ a b c "About Victor Mitchell". Victor Mitchell - Republican House District 45. Archived from the original on 2006-07-11. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  6. ^ Correll, Deedee (September 23, 2006). "District 45 — clash of the businesspeople". Colorado Springs Gazette. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  7. ^ a b Staff Reports (May 7, 2007). "Area lawmakers win and lose". Colorado Springs Gazette. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2008.
  8. ^ "House Committees of Reference". Colorado General Assembly. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  9. ^ Sealover, Ed (April 28, 2007). "Education reform is slow-going". Colorado Springs Gazette. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2008.
  10. ^ Simpson, Kevin (April 1, 2007). "Bracelets help wanderers return home". Denver Post. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  11. ^ Sealover, Ed (May 31, 2007). "Ritter signs bills for aging, disabled". Colorado Springs Gazette. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  12. ^ "Governor Mitt Romney Announces Colorado Legislative Leadership Team" (Press release). Romney for President. November 15, 2007. Archived from the original on February 15, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
  13. ^ "Romney For President Announces Colorado County Chairs" (Press release). Romney for President. 2 February 2008. Archived from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
  14. ^ Plunkett, Chuck; Anna C. Mulkern (8 February 2008). "Colo.'s GOP elite shift to McCain". Denver Post. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
  15. ^ "House Committees of Reference". Colorado General Assembly. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  16. ^ Staff Reports (November 8, 2007). "Briefs: GOP lawmakers say Ritter "badly betrayed" them". Denver Post. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  17. ^ Mook, Bob (January 25, 2008). "'Anti-strike' bill limps out of committee". Denver Business Journal. Retrieved 2008-01-26. [dead link]
  18. ^ Sealover, Ed (January 25, 2008). "Colorado House panel rejects ban on strikes by public workers". Colorado Springs Gazette. Archived from the original on October 8, 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
  19. ^ McElhany, Andy (January 9, 2008). "Opening day speeches". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  20. ^ Staff Reports (6 April 2008). "Lawmakers Try To Give Local Governments Power To Inspect Schools". TheDenverChannel.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  21. ^ Sealover, Ed; Michael Davidson (January 16, 2008). "Tuesday in review". Colorado Springs Gazette. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  22. ^ Ballotpedia. Carole Murray. Retrieved: 2017-02-14.
  23. ^ Colorado Statesman per Bell Policy Center. [1] Archived 2017-03-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved: 2017-03-16.
  24. ^ Colorado Public Radio. [2] Archived 2018-06-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved: 2017-03-16.
  25. ^ Hutchins, Corey (2018-06-18). "VICTOR MITCHELL | A serial entrepreneur who built six companies. Can he build a successful nomination?". The Colorado Independent. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  26. ^ "Vic Mitchell". New York Angels. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  27. ^ "Victor Mitchell". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
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