Representative Daniel Schaefer

Daniel Schaefer (January 25, 1936 – April 16, 2006) was an American politician and public relations consultant who served as the U.S. Representative for Colorado’s 6th congressional district from 1983 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he served eight consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives, where he contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in late twentieth-century American history and represented the interests of his Colorado constituents.

Schaefer was born in Guttenberg, Iowa, on January 25, 1936, and attended public schools there. After completing his primary and secondary education, he pursued higher education at Niagara University, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. He later undertook additional studies at Potsdam University from 1961 to 1964, further broadening his academic background before fully entering public life.

Before beginning his political career, Schaefer served in the United States Marine Corps from 1955 to 1957, attaining the rank of sergeant. His military service was followed by work in the private sector as a public relations consultant, a role that drew on his communication skills and provided experience in public affairs and community engagement. This professional background helped prepare him for the demands of electoral politics and legislative service.

Schaefer became active in Republican Party politics in Colorado during the 1970s. He was a delegate to Colorado State Republican conventions between 1972 and 1982, participating in party organization and candidate selection at the state level. In 1976, he was elected to a two-year term in the Colorado General Assembly, marking his entry into elective office. Building on this experience, he won election to the Colorado State Senate, where he served from 1979 to 1983. His tenure in the state legislature provided him with legislative experience and a platform for his subsequent bid for national office.

Schaefer was elected as a Republican to the Ninety-eighth United States Congress by special election in 1983, representing Colorado’s newly created 6th congressional district. The special election was held to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative-elect Jack Swigert, a former astronaut who died of cancer before taking his seat in Congress. In that contest, Schaefer received 49,816 votes, or 63 percent of the total, defeating Democrat Steve Hogan, who polled 27,779 votes, or 35 percent. He took office in 1983 and went on to serve eight terms, remaining in the House of Representatives until January 1999.

During his congressional career, which spanned from the Ninety-eighth through the One Hundred Fifth Congresses, Schaefer consistently secured strong electoral support in his district. No Democrat challenged him in the 1984 election, underscoring his political strength at that early stage of his tenure. In successive elections from 1986 through 1996, he regularly polled more than 60 percent of the vote against each of his Democratic opponents. In his final race in 1996, he received 146,018 votes, or 62 percent, compared with 88,600 votes, or 38 percent, for Democratic nominee Joan Fitz-Gerald. Throughout this period, he participated in the democratic process as a Republican member of the House, contributing to national legislative debates and representing the interests and concerns of the residents of Colorado’s 6th district.

Schaefer chose not to run for re-election to the One Hundred Sixth Congress in 1998, thereby concluding his service in the U.S. House of Representatives at the end of his eighth term. He was succeeded by fellow Republican Tom Tancredo, who took office in January 1999. Schaefer’s retirement from Congress marked the end of more than two decades of continuous public service at the state and federal levels, from his early years in the Colorado General Assembly through his long tenure in the House.

Daniel Schaefer died of cancer on April 16, 2006, at the age of 70. His career encompassed military service, work in public relations, and a substantial record of elected office in Colorado and in the United States Congress, where he served from 1983 to 1999 during a transformative era in American political and legislative history.