Political party Democratic Religion Roman Catholic Profession attorney | Residence Milwaukee, Wisconsin Spouse(s) Betty Ulmer Name Pedro Colon | |
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Born April 7, 1968 (age 56)
Ponce, Puerto Rico ( 1968-04-07 ) Alma mater Marquette University,
University of Wisconsin–Madison | ||
Pedro A. Colón (born April 7, 1968) is a Milwaukee jurist and politician who currently serves as a judge of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court. The first Latino elected to the Wisconsin Legislature, Colón was a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 8th Assembly District, from 1999 to 2010. In 2010, he was appointed as a circuit judge by Governor Jim Doyle.
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Background
Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, April 7, 1968, Colón grew up on the South Side of Milwaukee and graduated from Thomas More High School in Milwaukee. He received his B.A. in political science from Marquette University in 1991, and his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1994.
Political history
He was first elected to the State Assembly in 1998, making him the first Latino to be elected a member of either house of the Wisconsin Legislature; and was reelected in the next five elections. He serves as Vice-Chair of the Joint Committee on Finance and of the Judiciary and Ethics Committee.
He briefly ran for mayor of Milwaukee in 2003, but withdrew, endorsing and becoming co-chair of the campaign for eventual 2004 election winner Tom Barrett. Colón also ran unsuccessfully for Milwaukee city attorney in 2008 against incumbent Grant Langley. On May 26, 2010, Colón announced that he was not running for re-election in the 2010 general election, and resigned from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Commission, which he once chaired. The next day, he confirmed that he was applying for a job as the deputy director of legal services at the District, and had resigned to avoid a potential conflict of interest.
Wisconsin Circuit Judge
In September 2010, Governor Jim Doyle appointed Colón a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge for Milwaukee County. He was elected to the seat in the April 5, 2011 spring election.
Personal life
He is married to Betty J. Ulmer; they have two daughters, Lily and Julia, and live in Walker's Point. Colón is on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials.