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Tony Exum

American politician (born 1952)

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Thomas Exum Sr. (born June 16, 1952) is an American politician who is a Democratic member of the Colorado Senate. He represents District 11, which includes all or parts of Colorado Springs, Cimarron Hills and Stratmoor in El Paso County. Previously, Exum served in the Colorado House of Representatives, representing the 17th district from 2013 to 2015 and again from 2017 to 2023.

01Early life and education

Thomas Exum Sr. was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, on June 16, 1952. He graduated from the University of Southern Colorado with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1994. He worked as a firefighter for thirty-five years and served as a battalion chief.

02Colorado House of Representatives

Elections

Exum received the Democratic nomination to run for a seat in the Colorado House of Representatives from the 17th district in the 2012 election. He defeated Republican nominee Mark H. Barker, Libertarian nominee Susan Quilleash, and American Constitution nominee Barry Forest Pace in the election.

Republican nominee Catherine Roupe defeated Exum in the 2014 election. During the 2016 election he was endorsed by President Barack Obama and defeated Roupe and Quilleash in the general election. He won reelection in the 2018 election against Roupe. He defeated Republican nominee Rob Blancken and Libertarian nominee Quilleash in the 2020 election.

During the 2022 election Exum won the Democratic nomination for a seat in the Colorado Senate against Yolanda Avila. In the general election, Exum defeated Republican Sen. Dennis Hisey.

Tenure

During Exum's tenure in the state house he served as chair of the Government committee and served on the Education, and Transportation and Local committees.

03Electoral history

2012 Colorado House of Representatives 17th district Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tony Exum 1,567 100.00%
Total votes 1,567 100.00%
2012 Colorado House of Representatives 17th district election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tony Exum 11,212 54.57%
Republican Mark H. Barker 7,757 37.76%
Libertarian Susan Quilleash 1,006 4.90%
American Constitution Barry Forest Pace 570 2.77%
Total votes 20,545 100.00%
2014 Colorado House of Representatives 17th district Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tony Exum (incumbent) 1,548 100.00%
Total votes 1,548 100.00%
2014 Colorado House of Representatives 17th district election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Catherine Roupe 6,766 47.27% +9.51%
Democratic Tony Exum (incumbent) 6,477 45.25% −9.32%
Libertarian Susan Quilleash 1,071 7.48% +2.58%
Total votes 14,314 100.00%
2016 Colorado House of Representatives 17th district Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tony Exum 2,034 100.00%
Total votes 2,034 100.00%
2016 Colorado House of Representatives 17th district election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Tony Exum 11,445 49.39% +4.14%
Republican Catherine Roupe (incumbent) 9,613 41.48% −5.79%
Libertarian Susan Quilleash 2,116 9.13% +1.65%
Total votes 23,174 100.00%
2018 Colorado House of Representatives 17th district Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tony Exum 3,618 100.00%
Total votes 3,618 100.00%
2018 Colorado House of Representatives 17th district election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Tony Exum (incumbent) 11,037 58.76% +9.37%
Republican Catherine Roupe 7,745 41.24% −0.24%
Total votes 18,782 100.00%
2020 Colorado House of Representatives 17th district Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tony Exum (incumbent) 5,940 100.00%
Total votes 5,940 100.00%
2020 Colorado House of Representatives 17th district election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Tony Exum (incumbent) 15,780 56.76% −2.00%
Republican Rob Blancken 10,398 37.40% −3.84%
Libertarian Susan Quilleash 1,621 5.83% +5.83%
Total votes 27,799 100.00%
2022 Colorado State Senate 11th district Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tony Exum 4,912 54.03%
Democratic Yolanda Avila 4,179 45.97%
Total votes 9,091 100.00%
2022 Colorado State Senate 11th district general election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tony Exum 20,258 49.94%
Republican Dennis Hisey 18,042 44.48%
Libertarian Daryl Kuiper 2,264 5.58%
Total votes 40,564 100.00%
Watch videos about Tony ExumExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Tony Exum, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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