Merkley, Jeff (1956-…), a Democrat from Oregon, won election to the United State Senate in 2008. Prior to his election, Merkley had served in the Oregon House of Representatives since 1999. He had been the state’s speaker of the House since 2007.
Jeffrey Alan Merkley was born in Myrtle Creek, Oregon, on Oct. 24, 1956. He graduated from Stanford University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in international relations. He earned a master’s degree in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1982. Merkley received a presidential fellowship to work as a national security analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense from 1982 to 1985. He then worked as an analyst in the federal Congressional Budget Office from 1985 to 1989. During the 1990’s, he worked as an executive for several nonprofit organizations in Portland, including the Portland branch of Habitat for Humanity, an organization that builds houses for poor people.
Merkley was minority leader of the Oregon House of Representatives from 2003 to 2006 and became speaker of the House in 2007. In 2008, he defeated incumbent Republican Senator Gordon H. Smith in a close U.S. Senate election. Merkley was reelected in 2014 and 2020. He has served on the Senate committees on appropriations; the budget; the environment and public works; and foreign relations.
