Victor Mitchell

By Susan Helton; photos courtesy of the Mitchell family

Castle Pines Village (CPV) neighbor Victor Mitchell, a former state lawmaker from 2007 to 2009, is in the Republican race for Colorado governor in 2018. He seeks to replace current governor John Hickenlooper, who is term-limited.

Mitchell’s history is one of hard work, a quality in which he firmly believes. He started working at 13 to help support himself and his mother, who was nearly deaf and blind. He founded his first company when he was 21, a junior in college. “Anything worth doing in life takes a tremendous amount of commitment and sacrifice. The harder you work, the luckier you are,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell met Amy, his wife of 27 years, in college. When they first moved to Colorado in the 1990s for business, it was never their intention to stay. But they developed incredible friendships here, and Colorado has been good to their family. “We have found our forever home in Colorado,” said Mitchell. In Colorado, the Mitchell family has always lived in Douglas County, and they have lived in CPV about 12 years. They have three children: Lauren (24), a software engineer; David (21), a cadet at West Point; and Emily (14), an eighth-grader who is active in singing and acting. The family has two golden retrievers.

The Mitchell family at West Point: Emily, David, Amy, Victor and Lauren.

Mitchell and his wife are active in various civic and community organizations, including Meals on Wheels and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He has taught in the College of Business at Colorado State University, and Amy has worked with Junior Achievement programs. Mitchell is a graduate of San Diego State University and The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Mitchell is a life-long entrepreneur with a knack for creating companies. In 30 years, he has founded or turned around six successful companies in fields ranging from transportation to manufacturing to telecom and tech. In 2000, one of his companies was named “Colorado Small Business of the Year” by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. Mitchell has also been recognized by Ernst & Young and has been featured in Entrepreneur magazine. Of all his entrepreneurial businesses, Mitchell’s favorite so far is his current one, Lead Funding. Lead is a specialty real estate lending company, primarily for small developers, that operates within Colorado, Arizona, Texas and Washington state.

In his leisure time, Mitchell enjoys skiing, tennis, climbing and hiking. He has even taken on a few 14ers, with plans to tackle more. Mitchell’s favorite trail is near Silverthorne, but he and Amy also enjoy the trails closer to home.

Working on his campaign takes a lot of time; Mitchell devotes about 70 hours a week to this endeavor. The campaign has given him the opportunity to listen and learn, and meeting people who are doing good things selflessly and who are making a difference is an inspiration to him. He is finding running his grassroots, high-tech campaign a wonderful experience, fun and rewarding. “I think it’s the most important work I’ve ever done,” Mitchell said.

For more information about Mitchell’s campaign, visit vic4gov.com.