Mike Cooney

Mike Cooney (2017)

Michael R. "Mike" Cooney (born September 3, 1954 in Washington, DC ) is an American politician . He has been Lieutenant Governor of the State of Montana since 2016 . He previously held various other political offices in Montana.

Career

Michael Cooney was born in Washington DC, but comes from a family that has lived in Montana for four generations. His grandfather Frank Henry Cooney (1872-1935) was the ninth governor of Montana between 1933 and 1935. He grew up in Butte , where he graduated from high school in 1972. He actually wanted to become a journalist and in 1972 he worked for a local TV station. There he met Max Baucus , who later became the US Senator for Montana, who was running for the House of Representatives in Montana . Cooney got into politics through Baucus, whose election campaigns he supported. Like him, he became a member of the Democratic Party . At the same time he studied at the University of Montana until 1979 .

During his student days, Cooney worked for Conney Food Brokerage from 1972 to 1979 . From 1977 to 1989 he was a member of Senator Baucus' staff. He also sat in the Montana House of Representatives from 1976 to 1980. Between 1989 and 2000 he was his state's Secretary of State . In 2000, he ran unsuccessfully for governor . From 2002 to 2010 he was a member of the State Senate , of which he was President between 2007 and 2009. Since 2001 he has worked in various positions for the state government. Until 2006 he was employed as an Executive Director at the Montana Healthy Mothers authority. Since 2006 he worked for the Department of Labor ( Division Administrator, Montana Department of Labor ).

After Lieutenant Governor Angela McLean resigned, Governor Steve Bullock appointed Michael Cooney as the new Lieutenant Governor of Montana. He took up this position on January 4, 2016. He is thus the governor's deputy. In the run-up to the 2016 gubernatorial election, Bullock selected Cooney as his running mate . The election on November 8, 2016, was the two of them. Cooney then took on a full term as lieutenant governor in January 2017.

Web links

• Cooney on Vote Smart
• Re-election to Ballotpedia in November 2016