Ray Keith Roark (born April 10, 1949) is an American attorney and politician who served as chair of the

Idaho Democratic Party The Idaho Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Idaho. While the party has been in the minority for most of the state's history, it has produced several notable public figures, including former U.S. sena ...

from 2008 to 2011.

Early life and education

Roark was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

in 1949. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

in 1974 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

S.J. Quinney College of Law The S.J. Quinney College of Law is the professional graduate Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Utah. Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, the school was established in 1913. It is a member of the Association of American ...

in 1977.

Career

He was a deputy prosecuting attorney and was elected in 1978 to the office of Blaine County prosecuting attorney, where he served until leaving to form the Roark Law Firm in 1985. He served as the mayor of Hailey, Idaho from 1989 to 1993 He holds the "AV" rating from Martindale-Hubbell and is listed in Super Lawyers as one of the top attorneys in Nevada, Utah, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. In 2002, Roark was the Democratic nominee for

attorney general of Idaho The Attorney General of Idaho is an elected office that assists local law enforcement agencies in the state of Idaho. They provide legal representation for state agencies, state corporations and any persons holding ownership of property, as well as ...

, losing to

Lawrence Wasden Lawrence Garth Wasden is an American attorney and politician who served as the Idaho Attorney General from 2003 to 2023. First elected in 2002, he was the longest-serving attorney general in Idaho history. Wasden was re-elected four more times be ...

. In 2007, he was elected to the American College of Trial Lawyers. He was an unpledged delegation chair for the

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The conventi ...

. In 2008, Roark was elected chair of the

, defeating

Jerry Brady The 2002 Idaho gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002 to select the governor of the state of Idaho. Dirk Kempthorne, the Republican incumbent, defeated Democratic nominee Jerry Brady to win a second term, but the win was not nearly a ...

. He won re-election in March 2009 and served until February 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roark, R. Keith Idaho Democrats Living people 1949 births