Michael Avery Ross (born August 2, 1961) is an American businessman and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. representative for from 2001 to 2013 and was his party's nominee for governor of Arkansas in 2014. He is currently the last Democrat to have represented Arkansas in the House of Representatives. He was also a member of the Arkansas Senate from 1991 to 2001, a member of the Nevada County Quorum Court from 1983 to 1985, and a small business owner.
On July 25, 2011, Ross announced that he would not seek reelection to the House in 2012. He instead became the Democratic nominee for governor of Arkansas in the general election scheduled for November 4, 2014. He faced the Republican nominee, former U.S. Representative Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas's 3rd congressional district, who had previously lost the 2006 gubernatorial election to Democrat Mike Beebe. Ross lost to Hutchinson, ending his undefeated electoral streak.
Ross is an officer and senior vice president at Little Rock-based Southwest Power Pool, which manages the electric grid and operates the wholesale electric market for all or parts of 14 states.
Early life, education, and career
Ross was born in Texarkana, Arkansas. A fifth-generation Arkansan, he lived for many years in Prescott until relocating in 2013 to the capital city of Little Rock. The grandson of farmers and a nurse and the son of two public school educators, he graduated from high school in Hope, Arkansas and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, working his way through college as a local radio announcer.
Along with his wife Holly (divorced 2021), who is a pharmacist, they owned and operated a pharmacy and home medical equipment business in his hometown of Prescott, from 1993 until they sold it in 2007.
By the age of 20, Ross was driving and staffing then former governor Bill Clinton as he successfully waged his "come back" campaign for a second term as Governor of Arkansas. During the 1980s, Ross was also vice president for colleges for the Young Democrats of Arkansas and served for many years on the Democratic Party of Arkansas's state committee and its executive committee.
Ross previously served on the Nevada County Quorum Court from 1983 to 1985 and as chief of staff to then-lieutenant governor Winston Bryant from 1985 to 1989.
Ross was a member of the Arkansas State Senate for ten years (1991–2001), before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Arkansas's 4th congressional district in 2000. Ross left Congress on January 3, 2013, after choosing not to seek a seventh term and after a brief stint in the private sector as an officer and senior vice president at the Little Rock-based non-profit Southwest Power Pool, he announced his candidacy for Governor of Arkansas on April 17, 2013. After an unsuccessful bid for governor, he returned to Southwest Power Pool, a regional transmission organization that manages the electric grid and operates the wholesale electric market for all or part of 14 states, where he currently serves as an officer and senior Vice President.
Arkansas State Senate
In 1990, Ross was elected to the Arkansas State Senate becoming the legislature's youngest member at that time, where he served as chair of the Senate Children and Youth Committee. During his tenure, Ross worked alongside future governor Mike Beebe to help pass the Arkansas Academic Challenge scholarship program.
Ross served in the state senate ten years, until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000.
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee assignments
Committee on Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade
Subcommittee on Health
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
NATO Parliamentary Assembly
Caucus leadership and membership
Blue Dog Coalition (former co-chair) Congressional Delta Caucus (former co-chair) Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus (former co-chair) Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association (former president) Interstate 49 Caucus (former co-chair) Interstate 69 Caucus (former co-chair) Congressional Timber Caucus (former co-chair) Congressional Cement Caucus (former co-chair) Congressional Community Pharmacy Caucus (former co-chair) Congressional Rice Caucus