About Mike Koolidge
Mike Koolidge has dedicated his life to serving his country, and he made his living for 14 straight years giving patriotic Illinoisans and Americans a voice through his popular radio program, The Michael Koolidge Show. In Congress, Mike will continue to serve and be a voice for Americans who career politicians seem to continue to ignore.
The son of a postal worker and a librarian’s assistant, Mike attended Boston University on an Army ROTC scholarship, graduating with a political science degree in 1997. Mike’s six years on active duty culminated with a final year of service in the combat zone of Kuwait and Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom I in 2003. Mike left the Army as a captain and moved back to Illinois where he completed a Master’s in Communication from Northwestern. Mike then went from working behind the scenes for Chicago radio hall-of-famer Spike O’Dell to hosting his own highly successful syndicated conservative radio program, The Michael Koolidge Show, the very first affiliate being 1360 WLBK in DeKalb. His top-rated radio show took Mike all over the country covering various national events and political conventions, interviewing congressmen, senators, governors, cabinet secretaries and one U.S. president, as well as newsmakers, celebrities, major league baseball players, comedians, and members of the military while they were on the ground in combat zones. By the end of the decade the show was syndicated on over a dozen stations all over Illinois, reaching “Small Town America, Rural America, and Non-Big City America.” In 2019, Mike was one of less than a dozen radio hosts invited to broadcast from The White House.
The Michael Koolidge Show never shied away from the most important topics gripping the country, and he has been engaged daily in the national fights over freedom, liberty, economic growth, and American exceptionalism. Mike is an active and lifelong conservative, serving as a Republican precinct committeeman for over 10 years and emceeing numerous events for conservative and patriotic causes.
Mike and his wife Joan, a physical therapist, have been married for sixteen years and have been members of Westminster Presbyterian Church in DeKalb since 2008 where they’ve been active as elders, deacons, and youth volunteers. Mike has served on the board of various community foundations and chambers of commerce in Northern Illinois, and for years managed a softball team in a highly competitive church fast-pitch league in DeKalb and Sycamore. Mike is a member of the NFIB Small Business Association, as well as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).
After achieving record numbers of listeners and attracting national advertisers like Hillsdale College where he has also been a guest speaker to the Dow Journalism Program on campus, Mike retired from his radio show on his own accord after 14 years behind the mic. He is now stepping up to serve his country again, this time running for Congress to represent the 14th Congressional District of Illinois.
All hands are needed on deck to save this great country. Let’s go.
FULL SPEED AHEAD!