Laura Bradford
Laura Bradford
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Laura Bradford

Laura Bradford (born January 9, 1957) was a legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. Elected to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Republican in 2008, Bradford represented House District 55, which encompasses northern portions of Mesa County and northern Grand Junction from 2008 to 2013.

Born in Crookston, Minnesota and raised in Stephen, after moving to Montana and working at Yellowstone National Park at the age of 18, Bradford settled in Colorado, living in Denver, Greeley, and Aspen, before moving to Grand Junction, Colorado in 1981. Bradford has been married three times; she and her husband, Linton Mathews, have three children: Elizabeth, Meredith, and Preston.

After founding several sewing-related businesses, Bradford founded ProSafe Products in 1987, a small business manufacturing fitted covers and garments for medical and dental applications. Her family opened a tree farm in 2006 on land near Collbran, Colorado. She joined the Women's Success Forum at the University of Denver Daniels College of Business in 1998, and was featured in the 1999 book Women Who Mean Business. She was a member of the Colorado Women's Economic Development Council from 1995 to 2000, and, in 1999, was appointed its chair by Gov. Bill Owens, and also sat on the Mesa County Revolving Loan Fund Administration Loan Review Committee.

An amateur musician, Bradford has been treasurer for the Messiah Choral Society and directed her church's English Handbell Choir. She has served in various positions with the Republican party, and became House District 55 chair in 2002.

Bradford began considering a run for the house seat, meeting with Republican leaders, in 2007, as did former state senator Ron Teck. When Teck declined to run in August 2008, Bradford was left as the leading contender for the seat. She had no opposition in the August 2008 Republican primary, but faced incumbent Democratic Rep. Bernie Buescher in the November 2008 general election. Buescher was widely expected to become the next Speaker of the House if re-elected. Buescher's candidacy was endorsed by the Denver Post.

Bradford ran a campaign focused on fiscal and economic issues, particularly attempting to link Buescher with Gov. Bill Ritter and their support of a controversial mill levy freeze. Buescher was targeted by flyers from Focus on the Family Action and other 527 groups during the campaign. Bradford was also criticized by outside groups as failing to support cancer screenings, a charge she rebutted by citing her own bout with cancer. Bradford aired television commercials responding to attacks from 527 groups, some of which were briefly taken off the air and revised after it was discovered that a photograph of Buescher, taken by a Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reporter and used in the ad, was used without proper permission.

Bradford, running in a district with a 2:1 Republican voter registration advantage, received a late-minute boost from a visit by Republican presidential candidate John McCain on election day. As returns came in, Bradford and Buescher traded leads, with Bradford leading at the end of the night. By the following day, Bradford's lead settled at about 600 votes, more than 1 percent of ballots cast. Buescher conceded defeat the day after the election.

After defeating Buescher, Bradford received a standing ovation when first meeting with the House Republican caucus later in the week.

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