Cole Wist
Cole Wist is an attorney and former state representative from Arapahoe County, Colorado. A Republican, Wist represented Colorado House of Representatives District 37 and served as Assistant Minority Leader in the House.
Cole Wist | |
|---|---|
 Wist in 2018. | |
| Member of the Colorado House of Representatives from the 37th district | |
| In office January 12, 2016 – January 4, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Jack Tate |
| Succeeded by | Tom Sullivan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 24 December 1962 Fort Worth, Texas |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic (1996) Republican (until 2022) Unaffiliated (2022-present) |
| Spouse | Susan |
| Children | Connor Abby Halle |
| Residence | Arapahoe County, Colorado |
| Alma mater | J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 1988 B.A., University of Denver, 1985 |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Website | colewist |
Early life and family
Wist was born in Fort Worth, Texas,[1] but he was raised in Paonia, Colorado. He and his wife Susan have three daughters.[2]
Education
Wist earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Denver in 1985. He also holds a J.D. Degree from Georgetown University Law Center. He works as an attorney at Ogletree, Deakins.[3]
Political career
In 1996, Wist ran for the Colorado House of Representatives as a Democrat and lost to Kay Alexander.[4]
Wist was appointed as a Republican to the State House in January 2016 after his predecessor, Jack Tate, resigned to fill a vacant State Senate seat.[5] Wist then ran for the office in the November 2016 general election and won, beating his Democratic challenger with 54.65% of the vote.[6] With Democratic assistant majority leader Alec Garnett, Wist sponsored a red flag bill in 2018.[7] This bill failed, but a similar bill was signed into law during the following session.[8] Wist ran for reelection in 2018 but lost to Democrat Tom Sullivan.[9]
Since leaving the legislature, Wist has criticized Donald Trump and the Republican Party for their handling of the Charlottesville car attack,[10] voting rights,[4] the 2021 United States Capitol attack,[4] and COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.[4] He opposed the efforts of the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners to recall his former rival Tom Sullivan in 2019.[11] During the 2020 presidential election Wist was a steering committee member of The Lincoln Project's Republicans and Independents for Biden group.[12] In January 2022 Wist announced that he was leaving the Republican Party to become unaffiliated.[4]
References
- Vote Smart. Cole Wist's Biography. Viewed: 2017-01-13.
- Wist, Cole. Experience, Passion and Common Sense for Colorado. Viewed: 2017-01-13.
- Ogletree, Deakins. People: Cole A. Wist Archived 2017-01-16 at the Wayback Machine.
- Goodland, Marianne (January 4, 2022). "Cole Wist, former House Assistant Minority Leader, leaves GOP". Colorado Politics. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
- Bunch, Joey. Cole Wist chosen to fill District 37 seat in the Colorado House. The Denver Post Blogs: The Spot for Politics & Policy, January 10, 2016. Viewed: 2017-01-13.
- Ballotpedia. Cole Wist. Viewed: 2017-01-13.
- Birkeland, Bente (May 2, 2018). "Drama Surrounds GOP Lawmaker's Support For Colorado Gun Bill". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
- Birkeland, Bente (April 9, 2019). "Colorado's 'Red Flag' Gun Bill Is Now Law. But The Fight Over It Still Continues". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
- "Colorado election results: November 6, 2018 election". Colorado Secretary of State. 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
- Salzman, Jason (September 14, 2020). "Former CO GOP House Leader, Former Chair of CO Republican Party Back Biden". Colorado Times Recorder. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
- Wist, Cole (May 16, 2019). "Wist: I disagree with Tom Sullivan on policy, but the effort to recall him is wrong". The Colorado Sun. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
- Goodland, Marianne (October 7, 2020). "Republicans and Independents for Biden add a former House GOP leader to the board". Colorado Politics. Retrieved January 7, 2022.