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

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and lawyer who is a former member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for . He is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and chairs the

Jewish Democratic Council of America The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA), also known as "Jewish Dems", is an organization that defines itself as "the voice for Jewish Democrats and socially progressive, pro-Israel, and Jewish values". It was announced in August 2017, a ...

. He previously served in the Florida House of Representatives and the

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

. He is currently employed by the law firm

Holland & Knight Holland & Knight LLP is an American multinational law firm with more than 1,700 lawyers and other professionals in 35 offices in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and North Africa. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, the firm provides repre ...

.
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Early life, education and career

Klein was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from

Cleveland Heights High School Cleveland Heights High School (commonly known as Heights, Heights High or Heights High School) is the senior high school of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District, located in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, United States. Histo ...

in 1975, and attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

in 1979. While at Ohio State, Klein became a member of the

Alpha Epsilon Pi Alpha Epsilon Pi (), commonly known as AEPi, is a college fraternity founded at New York University in 1913 by Charles C. Moskowitz and ten other men. The fraternity has more than 150 active chapters across the United States, Canada, United K ...

fraternity. Klein also spent time during college as an

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gove ...

at the Ohio General Assembly. Klein attended Case Western Reserve University School of Law and graduated with a J.D. degree in 1982.

Florida Legislature

In 1992, Klein defeated ten-year incumbent Steve Press in the Democratic primary to win a seat in the Florida House of Representatives. Klein was elected to the

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 The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...

** 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 The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, often called the "bank bailout of 2008", was proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, passed by the 110th United States Congress, and signed into law by President George W. Bush. It became ...

During the 111th Congress, he voted for the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the Gr ...

American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) was an energy bill in the 111th United States Congress () that would have established a variant of an emissions trading plan similar to the European Union Emission Trading Scheme. The bill ...

, 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 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 The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in Florida's 22nd congressional district against 13-term Republican incumbent

Clay Shaw Clay LaVergne Shaw (March 17, 1913 – August 15, 1974) was an American businessman and military officer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Shaw is best known for being the only person brought to trial for involvement in the assassination of John F. ...

. Although Shaw won re-election easily in the 2004 election (his opponent dropped out before the election),

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

carried the district by a margin on 50-48 percent over

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

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 Mark Adam Foley (born September 8, 1954) is an American former politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. He served from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida as a member of the Republic ...

in the neighboring district. On December 18, 2007, the magazine

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

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 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 Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

firm

Personal life

Ron married Dori Dragin in 1982 and they moved to Boca Raton, Florida in 1985. They have two children.

References

External links

Ron Klein Bio
at

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