Ron Wyden
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Ronald Lee Wyden (born May 3, 1949) is Oregon's senior United States Senator. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was born in Wichita, Kansas.
Before his election to the Senate in 1996, he served 15 years in the United States House of Representatives. Wyden attended the University of California, Santa Barbara on a basketball scholarship before receiving his B.A. with distinction from Stanford University. He received a J.D. degree from the University of Oregon School of Law and taught gerontology at several Oregon universities. During this time he was the founder of the Oregon chapter of the Gray Panthers. Senator Wyden's home is in Portland, Oregon; he has two children, Adam and Lilly, by his former wife Laurie. They separated and filed for divorce in 1998.
Ron Wyden holds the Senate seat once held by his mentor, the late Wayne Morse--who, ironically, was the last Democratic Senator from Oregon before Wyden's election. He was elected in a special election in January 1996, following the resignation of Bob Packwood, the man who defeated Morse. Wyden defeated the state senate president, Gordon Smith, who has since been elected to Oregon's other senate seat. In the Senate, Wyden serves on the following Committees: Finance; Intelligence; Energy and Natural Resources, Budget and the Special Committee on Aging. He was elected to a full term in 1998. In 2004, he was elected to another full term, receiving 64% of the vote compared to 31% for his main opponent, Republican Al King.
External link
- Official Senate Web Site (http://wyden.senate.gov/)
| Preceded by: Robert B. Duncan | U.S. Representative of Oregon's 3rd Congressional District 1981-1996 | Succeeded by: Earl Blumenauer |
| Preceded by: Bob Packwood | U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Oregon 1996- | Succeeded by: Incumbent |