Biography:

Paul Ryan was born in Janesville, Wis., where he still resides. He graduated from Craig High School in 1988 and earned bachelor's degrees in political science and economics in 1992 from Miami University in Ohio.

In 1992, he worked as economic advisor for then-U.S. Sen. Bob Kasten, R-Wis. He was a speechwriter and economic advisor from 1993-95 to former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp and former Education Secretary Bill Bennett at Empower America, a public policy advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

He worked on the staff of then-U.S. Rep. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., in 1995 and 1996, first as legislative director and then as chief of staff. Ryan was legislative director on Brownback's U.S. Senate staff in 1997. He also worked as a marketing consultant at RYAN Incorporated Central, a Janesville-based construction company started by his great-grandfather and now owned and run by his cousins.

Ryan describes himself as an avid outdoorsman and belongs to the Janesville YMCA, the Janesville Bowmen and Ducks Unlimited. He serves on the board of directors of the Rock County Chapter of Junior Achievement of Wisconsin, Inc.

Ryan is married and has two children.He was elected to the U.S. House in 1998.

Past Campaigns:

Paul Ryan's 1998 congressional campaign was his first run for public office. Ryan defeated Democrat Lydia Spottswood with 57 percent of the vote to win the race to succeed Republican Mark Neumann, who ran for the U.S. Senate that year. He was re-elected in 2000 with 66 percent of the vote, defeating orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Thomas, who has run for Congress three times before.

Ryan defeated Thomas again in the 2002 election garnering 67 percent of the vote.

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