Jeffrey Alan Merkley (born October 24, 1956) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Oregon since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1999 to 2009 as the representative for the 47th district in the Oregon House of Representatives, which covers central Multnomah County on the eastern side of Portland; he was the speaker of the House during the last two years of his tenure.
In 2008, Merkley defeated two-term Republican incumbent U.S. Senator Gordon Smith and was reelected in 2014 and 2020, defeating Republican nominees Monica Wehby and Jo Rae Perkins. During his tenure, Merkley has been an advocate of progressivism and was the only U.S. senator to endorse Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries. He was considered a potential candidate for president in 2020, but chose to run for reelection to the Senate instead.
Early life, education and early career
Merkley was born in Myrtle Creek, Oregon, the son of Betty Lou (née Collins) and Darrell Philip Merkley. His paternal grandmother was born in Calliope, Queensland, Australia. He attended first grade in Roseburg, Oregon, before moving to Portland with his family.
He graduated from David Douglas High School, received a bachelor of arts degree in international relations from Stanford University in 1979, and earned a Master of Public Affairs degree from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University in 1982. After completing his master's degree, Merkley was selected as a Presidential Management Fellow, working at the Office of the Secretary of Defense on the security of American military technology. After his fellowship, he worked in the Congressional Budget Office, where he analyzed nuclear weapons policies and programs.
In 1991 Merkley returned to Portland, where he served as executive director of Portland Habitat for Humanity until 1994.
Merkley started the Walk for Humanity, initiated the Journey for Mankind, launched development of the Habitat Home Building Center, and initiated a pilot project for "YouthBuild" in which gang-affected youth built homes in their own neighborhoods. He also served as Director of Housing Development at Human Solutions, where he worked to make available affordable housing complexes and launched Oregon's first Individual Development Account (IDA) program, which helps low-income families save money to buy homes, attend college, or start businesses.
Merkley was President of the World Affairs Council of Oregon for seven years and continues to serve on the board of trustees.
Oregon legislature
In 1998 Merkley was elected as a Democrat to the Oregon House of Representatives from the 16th district in east Portland (renumbered as the 47th district after the 2002 redistricting). He succeeded Frank Shields, who moved from the House to the Oregon State Senate due to term limits. In its endorsement, The Oregonian predicted that Merkley was the most likely of several Democrats to "accomplish something positive in the Legislature." Following the 2003 session, he was elected Democratic leader, and after the House Democrats gained a majority in the 2006 Oregon statewide elections, they unanimously elected him Speaker of the House in the 74th Oregon Legislative Assembly.
During Merkley's tenure as Speaker, the Oregon House passed numerous major pieces of legislation: It created a state "rainy day fund" (a savings account to protect public schools against the effects of any future fluctuating economy); increased Oregon public school funding by 14 percent ($1 billion) and state university funding by 18 percent ($1.4 billion); banned junk food in schools; expanded the Oregon commercial indoor smoking ban; revised the Oregon Bottle Bill; outlawed discrimination by sexual orientation and gender identity in housing and in the workplace; and gave same-sex couples rights, immunities, and benefits.
U.S. Senate
2008 election
On August 1, 2007, Merkley announced he would run for the U.S. Senate in the 2008 election. On August 13, he was endorsed by Governor Ted Kulongoski and former governor Barbara Roberts. In December 2007 he was endorsed by the Oregon AFL–CIO, the state's largest labor federation. The union federation's leaders cited Merkley's 97% record of voting in the interests of working families and his electability in a general election against the incumbent, Gordon Smith. Merkley was the first federal candidate to be cross-nominated by the Independent Party of Oregon.