Ronald Jason Klein ( ; born July 10, 1957) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

politician and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

who is a former member of the United States House of Representatives for . He is a member of the Democratic Party and chairs the Jewish Democratic Council of America. He previously served in the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

and the Florida Senate. He is currently employed by the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

Holland & Knight.
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Early life, education and career

Klein was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. He graduated from Cleveland Heights High School in 1975, and attended Ohio State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

in political science in 1979. While at Ohio State, Klein became a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. Klein also spent time during college as an intern at the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...

. Klein attended

Case Western Reserve University School of Law Case Western Reserve University School of Law is one of eight schools at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the first schools accredited by the American Bar Association. It is a member of the Association of American ...

and graduated with a J.D. degree in 1982.

Florida Legislature

In 1992, Klein defeated ten-year incumbent

Steve Press Steve Press (born April 15, 1946) was an American politician in the state of Florida. Press was born in Washington and came to Florida in 1962. An attorney, he served in the Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representati ...

in the Democratic primary to win a seat in the

. Klein was elected to the Florida Senate in 1996, and served as minority whip in 1998 and as minority leader in 2002–2004.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

* Committee on Financial Services ** Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises ** Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit * Committee on Foreign Affairs ** Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade ** Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia ** Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere On September 29, 2008, Klein voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 During the 111th Congress, he voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, and both healthcare bills,

Affordable Health Care for America Act The Affordable Health Care for America Act (or HR 3962) was a bill that was crafted by the United States House of Representatives of the 111th United States Congress on October 29, 2009. The bill was sponsored by Representative Charles Rangel. ...

which was the House bill and

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...

which was the Senate bill. He also voted for the reconciliation bill and Dodd-Frank.

Political campaigns

2006

Klein ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida's 22nd congressional district against 13-term Republican incumbent Clay Shaw. Although Shaw won re-election easily in the 2004 election (his opponent dropped out before the election), John Kerry carried the district by a margin on 50-48 percent over George W. Bush in 2004. On Election Day 2006, Klein defeated Shaw by a margin of 51%-48% and assumed office when the

110th Congress The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...

convened on January 4, 2007. Klein was aided by voter discontent over the war in Iraq and the scandal involving Republican Congressman Mark Foley in the neighboring district. On December 18, 2007, the magazine Politico named Ron Klein as its "Rookie of the Year", citing his willingness to cross party lines and his ability to get major legislation passed.

2008

In 2008, Klein won his race against Republican nominee Allen West with 54.7% of the vote. Klein voted with a majority of his Democratic colleagues 97.9% of the time during the 111th Congress. The nonpartisan

National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes da ...

rated him as 58.3 percent liberal and 41.7 conservative based on his voting record.

2010

Klein lost his reelection bid to Republican nominee Allen West in a rematch of the 2008 race.

Post-Congressional career

After leaving Congress, Klein was hired by law firm Holland & Knight.

Personal life

Ron married Dori Dragin in 1982 and they moved to

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

in 1985. They have two children.

References

External links

Ron Klein Bio
at Holland & Knight
Ron Klein for Congress
''official campaign site'' * * , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Ron 1957 births Living people American lobbyists Florida lawyers Democratic Party Florida state senators Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni People from Boca Raton, Florida Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida Politicians from Cleveland Case Western Reserve University School of Law alumni Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives 21st-century American politicians Lawyers from Cleveland Holland & Knight people Cleveland Heights High School alumni 21st-century American Jews