Wicker, Roger Frederick (1951-…), has represented Mississippi in the United States Senate since 2007. Wicker, a Republican, was appointed to the Senate in December 2007 following the resignation of Senator Trent Lott earlier that month. Prior to his appointment, Wicker had served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1995.
Lott had been elected to his fourth Senate term in 2006, but he resigned his seat at the end of 2007. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour chose Wicker to fill the seat until November 2008. That month, Wicker won a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of Lott’s term. Wicker won election to his first full Senate term in 2012. He was reelected in 2018.
Wicker was born on July 5, 1951, in Pontotoc, Mississippi. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi in 1973 and a law degree from the university’s law school in 1975. After graduation, Wicker served in the U.S. Air Force from 1976 to 1980. He served in the Air Force Reserve from 1980 to 2004.
Wicker was a member of Lott’s staff from 1980 to 1982, when Lott was a member of the House of Representatives. Wicker later worked as a lawyer in private practice and as a public defender in Lee County, Mississippi. Wicker served in the Mississippi State Senate from 1988 until 1994, when he was elected to his first term in the U.S. Congress. In Congress, Wicker supported increasing funding for medical research, strengthening rural development programs, and improving benefits for military veterans.
See also Lott, Trent .
