Ron Wyden
Ron Wyden | |
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| Senior Senator, Oregon | |
| In office January 1996–Present | |
| Preceded by | Bob Packwood |
| Succeeded by | Incumbent (2009) |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | american |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Laurie Wyden (divorced) (2) Nancy Bass |
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 apartment is in Portland, Oregon; he has two children, Adam (21) and Lilly (16), by his former wife Laurie. They separated and filed for divorce in 1998. Senator Wyden married Nancy Bass, co-owner of Manhattan's Strand Book Store, on September 24, 2005 in a ceremony performed by Rabbi Ariel Stone of Portland. The couple plans to purchase a house in or near Portland.
In the 1980 Democratic primary, Wyden upset incumbent Rep. Bob Duncan in Oregon's third Congressional District. Later that fall, Wyden easily defeated his Republican opponent. Wyden was reelected in each of the following seven elections.
Ron Wyden holds the Senate seat once held by his mentor, the late Wayne Morse--who was the last Democratic Senator from Oregon before Wyden's election. He was elected in a bitter special election in January 1996 following the resignation of Bob Packwood, the man who defeated Morse. Wyden narrowly defeated the state senate president, Gordon Smith, who was elected later that year 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.
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