He is a former Democratic Colorado state legislator, where he served a total of 14 years in the CO General Assembly from 1994 to 2008 before leaving office in 2009 due to term limits.
He comes from a long line of United States Coast Guardsmen (brother, father, uncle, grandfather, great-grandfather, great uncles) and his father's service gave him the great opportunity to live in many different states, including Michigan, Ohio, Mississippi and military bases in New York and Texas.
He worked full-time for a year to establish state residency then went back to school to receive a teaching certificate from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1994.
While attending the University of Colorado, Ron spent the next 3 years working nights and weekends as a Teamster loading freight onto trucks.
In 1994, Ron was President of the Colorado Young Democrats when he was appointed to fill a vacancy for state representative in Boulder's House District 14.