[3] Born in Edison, New Jersey, Mitchell attended San Diego State University, earning a bachelor's degree in finance in 1988.

After expanding to 114 branded locations and thousands of independent retailers across the US, Advantage Wireless was sold to a private equity consortium in 2004.

[5] In 2003, Mitchell acquired control of Ricochet Networks, a data service provider that had suffered multiple bankruptcies.

[4] In June 2008, Mitchell founded Lead Funding, a private lender to real estate investors, homebuilders, and developers across the United States.

[17] Mitchell criticized the Democratic version of the bill for not having sufficiently high penalties for striking state employees.

[18] Mitchell has also proposed legislation to require students to pass a high school proficiency exam before graduating,[19] and to enhance the ability of the state to inspect public school buildings by giving the Division of Oil and Public Safety the power to delegate building inspections to other parties, a measure which passed the state house.

[20] Citing business responsibilities and frustration with advancing legislation while a member of the minority party in the legislature, Mitchell announced in January 2008 that he did not intend to seek re-election to a second term.

[27] Currently a resident of Longboat Key, Florida, Mitchell has three children, Lauren a New York City educator, David a United States Army Lieutenant, and Emily, a college student.