JEFFERSON CITY — Republican Gov. Mike Parson appointed a former Democratic state lawmaker as an associate circuit judge Friday.

Mike Colona, who served eight years in the Missouri House representing a district in St. Louis, was named to the 22nd Judicial Circuit post, filling the vacancy created when Parson elevated Judge Madeline Orling Connolly to circuit judge in the city.

Colona, who left office in 2016 after eight years, is an attorney who had considered running for the state Senate in 2020. He terminated his campaign account in April.

As a member of the House, Colona, who is openly gay, introduced a proposed constitutional amendment to allow gay couples in Missouri to marry. The 2014 initiative was unsuccessful.

In 2016, he introduced a proposal aimed at allowing St. Louis to leave Missouri and become its own state. That, too, was unsuccessful.

In 2017, he served as treasurer for an unsuccessful ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana.