Roger J. Katz (born c. 1950s) is an American politician and lawyer. He graduated from

Cony High School Cony High School is a public school located in Augusta, Maine, United States that educates students from Grades 9 to 12. Cony draws its students from Augusta, as well as the surrounding communities of Chelsea, Maine, Chelsea, China, Maine, China ...

in Augusta, Maine, where he played on the boys' basketball team, which won the 1973 state championship. He then went on to

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

and

Boston University Law School The Boston University School of Law (BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a Private university, private research university in Boston. Established in 1872, it is the third-oldest law school in New England, after Harvard Law School and ...

. Katz is a Republican

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

from

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

's 15th District, representing Augusta,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, Sidney and Vassalboro. He was first elected to the

Maine State Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, though the Maine Constitution ...

in 2010 after serving from 2006 to 2010 as mayor of state capital Augusta. He is chair of the Government Oversight committee in the State Senate. A practicing lawyer, he is a partner in the law firm Lipman & Katz in Augusta. In 2010, Katz defeated State Representative Patsy Crockett. Following re-election in November 2012, Katz was elected as Republican Senate assistant minority leader after his party lost majority status to the Democrats. When the Republicans regained the majority in the Senate after the 2014 election, Katz decided not to seek a leadership position in the following legislative session.

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Paul LePage Paul Richard LePage (; born October 9, 1948) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 74th governor of Maine from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the mayor of Waterville, Maine, from 20 ...

has called for Katz to resign his chairmanship of the Government Oversight Committee, which is investigating LePage for using state funds to force a non-profit to reverse its hiring of Democratic

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

Mark Eves Mark W. Eves is an American politician and family counselor who served as a member of the Maine House of Representatives for the 146th district from 2008 to 2014. He was also a Democratic candidate in the 2018 Maine gubernatorial election. Earl ...

. LePage said that Katz has a clear conflict of interest due to past public statements against LePage and having already arrived at some conclusions in the investigation. Katz responded by noting that the committee vote to begin the investigation was unanimous. LePage also said Katz was conducting a "witch hunt" against him. Senate President

Michael Thibodeau Michael D. Thibodeau (born July 16, 1966) is an American politician and businessman from Maine. He was a Republican State Senator from Maine's 23rd District, representing all of Waldo County. He graduated from Hampden Academy in 1984. He was f ...

and Majority Leader

Garrett Mason Garrett Paul Mason (born June 19, 1985) is an American politician from Maine. A Republican, Mason formerly served in the Maine State Senate from the 22nd District, representing part of Androscoggin County, including his residence in Lisbon Fal ...

each issued statements of support for Katz. His father,

Bennett Katz Bennett D. Katz (October 7, 1918 - November 1, 2007) was an American Maine Republican Party, Republican politician from Maine. Katz was born on October 7, 1918, in Springfield, Massachusetts, and attended schools in Boston, Massachusetts, before ...

, served as state senator in the 1960s and 1970s, including a stint as Senate Majority Leader. The

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

's Maine Department awarded Katz its Legislator of the Year award on January 17, 2016, citing what they termed his tireless work for veterans. Katz opposed

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in the 2016 election, calling him "not fit to be president". Katz is Jewish.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Mayors of Augusta, Maine Maine lawyers Maine Republicans Majority leaders of the Maine Senate Jewish American mayors Harvard College alumni Boston University School of Law alumni Jewish state legislators in Maine 21st-century American Jews Cony High School alumni 21st-century members of the Maine Legislature {{Maine-MESenate-stub

See also

References