Biography:

Rob Portman was born in Cincinnati in 1955 and resides in suburban Terrace Park, Ohio. He earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Dartmouth College in 1979 and a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1984. Before graduation, Portman worked as an intern for Rep. Bill Gradison of Ohio's 2nd District.

Portman later worked as an international trade attorney for a Cincinnati firm and for Patton, Boggs & Blow in Washington. He worked as legal counsel at the White House under the first Bush administration. Portman later returned to Cincinnati to practice law.

He won his House seat in a special election in 1993 when Gradison resigned to become president of a health industry group. Portman was elected to his first full term in 1994.

Portman and his wife, Jane, have three children.

Past Campaigns:

Rob Portman won his first bid for the U.S. House in a special election in 1993 with 70 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat Lee Hornberger. He was re-elected to a full term in 1994, defeating Democrat Les Mann with 77 percent of the vote.

In 1996, he was re-elected with 72 percent of the vote against Democrat Thomas Chandler. In 1998, Portman defeated Democrat Charles Sanders with 76 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2000 with 74 percent of the vote, again defeating Sanders. He defeated Sanders a third time in 2002, getting 74 percent of the vote.

Portman faced Sanders again in the 2004 general election. He had no opposition for Ohio's March 2, 2004, primary election in the 2nd District.

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