Former state Rep. Mike McLachlan, a Durango Democrat and husband of current state Rep. Barbara McLachlan, died Wednesday after a long illness.

A celebration of life, planned by McLachlan himself, will be held at 5:30 p.m., Aug. 7, at the Powerhouse Museum in Durango.

Gov. Jared Polis has ordered flags flown at half-staff for the day of the memorial service. He said McLachlan “always stood up for what was right, even if that was the hard thing to do. His military service, professional work, and extensive commitment to volunteer service in his southwest Colorado community made our state better, and he will be dearly missed. My heart goes out to Barbara, his children Brian and Kate, and his entire family.”

Michael Edward McLachlan was born April 18, 1946, at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where his father was an Air Force Colonel. Mike McLachlan served in the Marine Corps and fought in Vietnam before being honorably discharged in 1967. After his military service, McLachlan attended Southern Colorado State College (now Colorado State University-Pueblo). He earned a law degree from the University of Arizona in 1973. Mike married Barbara Hall in November, 1984, celebrating 36 years together. 

McLachlan served one term in the Colorado General Assembly from 2013 to 2015. He defeated Republican Rep. J. Paul Brown by 917 votes; two years later, Brown reclaimed the seat, defeating McLachlan by 168 votes. Now-Rep. Barbara McLachlan defeated Brown in the 2016 election by 675 votes and has held the House District 59 seat ever since.

Between 2012 and 2016, the House District 59 seat was the most expensive House race in the state, with spending well above $270,000 in all three election cycles. During that tumultuous 2013 session, in which gun control bills resulted in turnover of three Senate seats, McLachlan’s name was raised as a possible recall target but it never came to fruition.

Brown said Mike was a formidable opponent and a good citizen of southwest Colorado, and added his condolences to Barb and the family. 

McLachlan served on the House agriculture and judiciary committees during the 2013-14 sessions, as well as on the interim wildfire review committee. He saw 11 of his 12 bills signed into law in 2013, including allowing resources officers to carry firearms in public schools. He has similar success in 2014 with nine out of 10 measures signed into law, including a bill to boost Colorado’s aerial firefighting fleet, a tax credit for food donations to nonprofit organizations and a law allowing resource officers to carry firearms in charter schools. 

Although he had no background in agriculture, McLachlan told the Colorado Statesman in 2013 that he wanted to be on the ag committee because of water. His law practice had focused on agricultural interests on oil and gas issues as well as land use. It’s a challenge to have a non-farmer or rancher on the ag committee but he saw his experience as a benefit in other areas.

In a Statesman profile of the 2014 race with Brown, McLachlan called himself a moderate. “This is why sometimes I have members of my own party, especially Front Range Democrats, they don’t get the Western Slope, they don’t understand the issues in the Western Slope, and so I have them disagree with me, and I vote contrary to what they want me to do.”

Prior to his legislative service, McLachlan was Colorado’s Solicitor General in 1999-2000. His most notable case was in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, where he defended the state’s shield law for abortion clinics.

The 1993 statute said that within 100 feet of a healthcare facility, a protester could not come within eight feet of clinic patients. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Hill v. Colorado that the statute did not violate the First Amendment right to free speech.

Following his 2014 legislative defeat, McLachlan returned to his law practice.

He was a former president of the Durango Rotary Club, served as chair of the Judicial Performance Commission for the Sixth Judicial District, and chaired the Colorado Supreme Court’s grievance committee. He also served on the Southern Ute Tribe/State of Colorado Environmental Control Commission.

Mike and Barbara have two children, Brian and Kate. His parents, Joseph and Audrey McLachlan, and three siblings, brother Joe, and sisters Peggy and Patty, all preceded him in death. He is also survived by brother Tom and a half-sister, Meeghan.

In a statement, Barbara McLachlan said, “Mike was the smartest, funniest, kindest and most loving person I will ever know. He spent his life serving, helping and advocating, and has been a true role model for me, our family and our community. I will miss him dearly.”

House Speaker Alec Garnett of Denver called Mike McLachlan “a great friend, a dedicated public servant, and a man of immeasurable talent who served his country as a Vietnam Veteran, as Colorado’s Solicitor General, and as a State Representative. He stood up for his community and his fellow Coloradans at every turn, going as far as the Supreme Court of the United States to speak up for what he knew was right. My heart and my thoughts are with my dear friend and colleague Barbara, who has been working tirelessly for over a year to both care for Mike and serve her district, and their children Kate and Brian.”

Mark Ferrandino, now executive director of the Department of Revenue, was House Speaker during Mike’s term. Ferrandino told Colorado Politics that “Mike was always so strong. I remember just how hard his election was, and even though his was one of the closest seats in Colorado at the time he always did what he thought was right for Colorado. He didn’t make political decisions, he made policy decisions. Even as people warned him about political consequences he didn’t care, he was a man of strong conviction who always fought for his district and our state.”

It was former House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst of Gunbarrel, who was  in charge of House Majority Project in 2012, who persuaded McLachlan, along with a glass of bourbon, to run. His was a wonderful life cut short, Hullinghorst told Colorado Politics Thursday. He fought a good fight, she said.

Hullinghorst pointed out that McLachlan succeeded where many Democrats had failed before in winning the Durango-area seat. “He was very hesitant at first,” she said. But Hullinghorst told him it would be hard work, something he was never immune to anyway, as well as fun. The race would be a tough one, but Hullinghorst believed McLachlan was the one to win it, and she was right. Once he decided to go for it, he was all in, she said.

Some believed his loss in 2014 was due to his votes on the controversial gun safety bills in 2013. Voting for those bills took courage, and that’s what McLachlan signed up for, she said, adding that 2014 was a year for Democrats to just hang on in the House.

Hullinghorst and her husband, Bob, remained friends with the McLachlans after the 2014 loss. “He was always ready for a good laugh and fun – very Irish. We shared some good times, good bourbon and not so bad wine,” she said.

Kelly Watkins, chief of staff for House Dems, said she first met the McLachlans when she was a House staffer and on the campaign trail. “Mike was whip-smart, generous and down to earth. he had a great sense of humor and he loved to encourage us in earlier stafges of our career to do good in the world.” She said he would frequently ask when she was heading to law school. “I’m grateful for the time I was able to share with him and so saddened by his passing,” Watkins said. 

While former state Rep. Rob Witwer, a Republican from Genesee, never served with either McLachlan, Mike’s passing brought back a memory of McLachlan’s friendship. Witwer said that when his wife, Heather, worked for Gov. Bill Owens, Doug Bruce went after her (and others in the Owens administration) for working on the TRANS highway funding, Mike stood by her side and they successfully chased [Bruce] back to whence he came.”

State Sen. Don Coram, R-Montrose, served in the House with McLachlan. In all the time he’d known Mike, Coram said they never got disagreeable with each other, something the rest of the nation could learn from. Coram’s wife, Dianna, added that Don and Mike had a passion for the Ute tribes in the district, which included passing legislation to assist them.

Sen. Coram said that after Mike was gone and Barb was the representative, no matter what, Mike would seek out Coram’s wife, Dianna, to sit with. “We said we were dating,” Dianna Coram joked. 

“Good friends,” she said.

“The politics of Colorado are not as much Republican and Democrat as they are urban and rural,” Sen. Coram added.

Sen. Pete Lee, a Colorado Springs Democrat, served with McLachlan on the House Judiciary Committee. “Mike was one of the best of the best,” Lee said in a statement to Colorado Politics. “I could count on him to pose probing, thoughtful and elucidating questions to clarify issues. He brought the mind of a legal scholar and the practical experience of a long-term trial lawyer to our deliberations. His commitment to progressive values and the Colorado way were hallmarks of his character.”

Former state Sen. Lois Court, a Denver Democrat who served with McLachlan in the House, said Mike was “a very caring, strong man and a dedicated public servant. I will miss him, as I know his loving wife, Barb, and all his friends and colleagues will.”

State Treasurer Dave Young served with both McLachlans in the House. “I always respected the fact that he stepped forward and represented his district at at time when there had been quite a bit of political contention. I admired the way he represented his constituents. His support of and by his family was always inspiring…Mike always lived his life on his own terms and stood by his principles. He will be greatly missed.”

And finally, from former state Sen. Ellen Roberts, a Durango Republican:  “Mike McLachlan was one of the first attorneys I met in Durango and I learned quickly to never underestimate his intelligence, quick wit, or his passion as an advocate. He cared deeply about his family, especially his wife Barbara, as well as the Durango community and the state of Colorado and brought his admirable skills and a strong dedication to high ideals to his public service in the legislature. He will be missed.”