ABOUT THIS EPISODE
In this episode of Murphy's Law, host Murphy Robinson sits down with his friend, colleague, and self-described longtime brother James Coleman — President of the Colorado State Senate, representing Senate District 33 in Denver. Murphy opens by needling Coleman about his signature Western wardrobe (bolo tie, cowboy boots and all), and the two spend the rest of the hour trading that same easy, brotherly back-and-forth while covering a lot of ground: Coleman's path from a childhood expulsion to the president's chair, the real mechanics of party politics and bipartisanship in Colorado, what a Senate president's job actually involves day to day, and the sobering reality of political violence and safety measures now built into the job.
Coleman traces his own story first — born in Denver, raised for a stretch in Nevada, and back home by age 11, when he was expelled from Smiley Middle School (now Denver's McAuliffe International School) for fighting bullies. A scholarship sent him to a small private school where, for the first time, he had a Black teacher and a Black principal, Vivian Wilson, and where Black history was taught as a daily part of the curriculum rather than a February add-on. That same year he reconnected with his father, a street preacher and military veteran 50 years his senior, and met the girl he'd go on to marry — his wife of 16 years within a 25-year relationship. A community ask pulled him into his first legislative race in 2016 with only a few months' runway before the primary; he won by 84 votes. A decade later, after four years in the Colorado House and six in the Senate, he's serving as Senate president with two years left before term limits end his run.
Some of the most candid moments come when Coleman talks about carrying the weight of representation. He is one of only three Black men among Colorado's 100 legislators and one of two Black senators, a reality he holds up against a "legacy wall" in his office honoring every Black elected official who's represented his district before him — including Peter Groff, Colorado's first Black Senate president; George L. Brown, the first Black person elected to statewide office in the United States as Colorado's lieutenant governor; and Wilma Webb, the state representative and wife of Wellington Webb, Denver's first Black mayor. That history, Coleman says, is what answers his own imposter syndrome: the question was never whether he should be there because of how he looks, but whether he's earned it through the work.
But the heart of this episode is how government actually functions — and how Coleman thinks it should. He and Murphy dig into the difference between "stakeholding" and "fake holding," the discipline of running one or two well-vetted bills instead of the five each legislator is allotted (Murphy proposes capping it by law, and the two riff on calling it "the Murphy's Law Bill of Sense"), and how Colorado's TABOR-driven billion-dollar annual budget gap forces creativity over spending. Coleman also walks through the bipartisan Collaborative Management Program bill he ran with Republican colleague Cleave Simpson to keep at-risk kids out of the juvenile justice system, and makes the case — backed by a claim that roughly 80% of bills passed in Colorado are bipartisan in some form — that the state legislature is far less divided than national media coverage of "the aisle" suggests.
The conversation turns serious when Coleman describes the physical-safety dimension of the job that no one warns you about. He recounts a 2020 threatening letter sent to his home, and a call with Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion in the wake of the 2025 shootings that killed and wounded Minnesota state legislators, after which Coleman helped lead the push for the authority-verification legislation implemented statewide this year through SurePass — screening for identity, authority, and capacity at security checkpoints in the Capitol, courthouses, and other government buildings, following incidents of firearms slipping past unchecked in the Capitol itself.
Key Themes & Takeaways
A Legacy Wall and the Weight of Being "One of Two." Coleman keeps a wall in his office honoring every Black elected official who has represented his Denver district before him — Peter Groff, George L. Brown, and Wilma Webb among them. With only three Black men among Colorado's 100 legislators, he says that history, not personal doubt, is what keeps him grounded in the role.
Exercise Discretion: One Good Bill Beats Five. Each Colorado legislator can run up to five bills a session, and Coleman argues most shouldn't. He makes the case for running one or two well-researched, well-stakeholded bills — and using the rest of the two-year term to funnel constituent problems directly to the executive branch and local agencies — rather than treating bill count as a proxy for effectiveness.
Governing the Chamber Is Leading by Influence, Not by Authority. As Senate president, Coleman can't fire or discipline the members he leads — they're all independently elected. He describes the job as service to every member regardless of party, elected by the full chamber (Republicans included), and built on modeling behavior, exposure trips into colleagues' districts, and holding his own leadership team to a standard of objectivity.
Political Violence Has Become Part of the Job Description. After a 2020 threatening letter to his home and a conversation with Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion following the 2025 shootings of Minnesota legislators, Coleman helped champion legislation requiring identity and authority verification at security checkpoints in the Capitol and other government buildings statewide, implemented this year through SurePass.
Beyond the Aisle: Bipartisanship Is the Norm, Not the Exception. Coleman pushes back on the narrative of a divided legislature, citing roughly 80% of bills passed in Colorado as bipartisan in some form — whether through mixed-party votes, dual-party prime sponsorship, or unanimous chamber support. He points to his Collaborative Management Program bill with Republican Cleave Simpson as an example of finding agreement even inside a Democratic supermajority.
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