Ronald Paul Klink (born September 23, 1951) is an American television broadcaster and politician and who served four terms as a
United States Representative
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
from
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
Canton, Ohio
Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...
, and graduated from Meyersdale High School in Pennsylvania in 1969. He married Linda Loree Hogan in
Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Greensburg is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The population was 14,976 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located southeast of Pittsburgh, Greensburg is a part of the Greater Pittsbu ...
, on August 27, 1977.
Broadcasting career
Klink originally worked behind the scenes at WTAJ-TV in
Altoona, Pennsylvania
Altoona ( ) is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area, w ...
from 1976 to 1977 and then became weatherman plus fill-in sports anchor until his departure for Pittsburgh in July 1978. He later became a recognizable figure in the
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
area as a
television news
News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or tel ...
weatherman and
reporter
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
on
KDKA-TV
KDKA-TV (channel 2), branded CBS Pittsburgh, is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division alongside WPKD-TV (channel 19), a ...
from 1978 to 1991.
Congress
In
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
, Klink sought the Democratic nomination for the 4th District and defeated five-term incumbent Joe Kolter in the primary. He was easily elected in November and served four terms in the House, never winning less than 64 percent of the vote. Klink was popular within his district as a moderate Democrat with strong labor ties.
2000 Senate campaign
In
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, he left his House seat to run unsuccessfully for the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
against incumbent
Rick Santorum
Richard John Santorum Sr. ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, author, and political commentator who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2007. He was the Senate's Chairman of the United Sta ...
. Klink lost the race by five points. Klink was virtually unknown on the eastern side of Pennsylvania (including the important
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
area). Other contributing factors included his conservative stances on social issues and the fact that he had to spend a large amount of money in the crowded Democratic primary.
After Congress
He had been mentioned as a possible candidate for his own congressional seat against the person who succeeded him, Republican Melissa Hart. However, in December 2005, Klink announced he would not run.
According to then-Congressman Curt Weldon in his book ''Countdown to Terror'', in 2003, Klink offered Weldon the identity of an
intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...
source with information on
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
i
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
purchases. The agent was thought to be
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
ian
arms
Arms or ARMS may refer to:
*Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body
Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to:
People
* Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader
Coat of arms or weapons
*Armaments or weapons
**Fi ...
dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar. The intelligence reportedly later proved to be fabricated.
Electoral history
*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 1994, write-ins received 6 votes. In 1996, write-ins received 98 votes. In 1998, write-ins received 17 votes.