Matt Snider short Biography
Matt Snider is a candidate for Colorado Senate District 27 in the 2022 election cycle. Matt was born and raised in the Bronx and spent more than 30 years in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, first, as an employee benefits paralegal with a multi-practice law firm, then with several large accounting and employee benefits consulting firms, then, as the benefits manager with a Fortune 50 aerospace and defense company and finally, as a business owner, building a very successful IT company. In 2011, Matt sold his company, retired and moved to Colorado to be closer to his kids and granddaughter. Retirement proved too difficult because Matt is used to being very active and engaged in his community and politics. Matt “came out of retirement” and stays busy as an investigator and IT Director of the Mintz Law Firm in Lakewood, CO. In his spare time, Matt enjoys freelance photography and gardening and trying to teach his wonderful granddaughter, Katie, chess, backgammon and photography.
Matt has been active in politics since he arrived in Colorado. Initially registered as a Democrat and ended up running as the Democratic candidate for House District 56 in the 2016 election cycle, Matt became disenchanted with the Democratic Party in Arapahoe County after several changes of leadership. The new leadership made a “hard-left” and that is simply not where he is politically. Matt’s campaign motto is: “Fiercely independent because not every Democratic idea is a good one, not every Republican idea is a bad one and most of us live solidly in the middle.” While Matt certainly leans a bit to the left, he’s always called himself an “Eisenhower Republican and a Kennedy Democrat.” Matt’s political philosophy is centrist-moderate simply because life has taught him that extremes on either side are simply not good for the vast majority of people. Matt calls himself a “utilitarian pragmatist,” called to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people that is actually possible to accomplish.
Politics as usual simply is not sustainable. And the politics of the recent past is intolerable. To paraphrase a famous science fiction character, “the first duty of every person is to the truth, whether that be scientific truth, historical truth or personal truth.” Matt was raised in an era when public service was regarded as a high honor and those privileged enough to be entrusted with political office were held to the highest standards of personal and public morality and decency. What we’ve seen recently has been a complete corruption of the expectations of civility, probity and integrity. Recent candidates from Colorado and elsewhere have perverted the meaning of public service as they’ve turned their offices into revolving doors for campaign contributions and self-dealing. Lies, corruption and blatant distortions of reality must stop. It is because Matt believes that government is the mechanism that is supposed to help people organize and run an orderly, civil society that he has decided to seek office again. Matt is looking forward to bringing the balanced approach he’s lived by to the halls of the Senate and the political debate on all issues.
Throughout his life, Matt has found ways to serve his community. He has been active in the arts, journalism, education, and technology organizations. In addition, Matt attended Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University and was ordained in the United Methodist Church. He was the associate pastor of several UMC churches, including Simpson United Methodist Church in Arvada, and filled a volunteer pastoral role at Smoky Hill United Methodist Church in Centennial from 2011 until 2016.