Prior to being elected to the Senate, David served in the House of Representatives for 4 terms. From 2007 to 2010, David served as the Assistant House Republican Leader. From 1994-2008, he served in various positions with Cherokee Investment Partners, the nation’s largest private equity firm specializing in brownfield redevelopment. Cherokee has purchased over 300 contaminated sites across North America and Europe. Cherokee closed its Denver office in 2008.

With Cherokee, David developed extensive experience in complex brownfield transactions including environmental characterization, assessment, subterranean aquifer remediation, environmental risk management, land acquisition, portfolio acquisition, land planning, redevelopment, and business development. As a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, David served in deployments to Afghanistan and Bosnia.

Since moving to Colorado in 1996, he has been active in various non-profit charities. From 1998 to 2006, David served on the Board of Trustees of Warren Village, a non-profit community in central Denver, which houses 93 previously homeless single mothers. He also tutored an elementary school boy for 2 years through the D.U. Bridge Project. David served for 3 years on the Accountability Committee for Fox Hollow Elementary School, part of the Cherry Creek School System. In 1999, he was honored with the Denver Business Journal's Forty Under 40 award, which recognizes Denver's top 40 young business leaders. From 2007-2010, he served on the Board of the Colorado Council on Economic Education.

David has earned Legislator of the Year awards from Colorado Ambulatory Surgery Centers Association (2011), Colorado Non-Profit Association (2008) and National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (2007). For eight straight years, David has received the Common Sense in the Courtroom Award from the Colorado Civil Justice League.

David earned a JD from Wake Forest Law School and a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also graduated from a number of Army training schools over the years. David is blessed with his wife Karen, daughter Laura and their three dogs Scout, Cooper and Digby.