Ric Keller
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ric Keller | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2001 |
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| Preceded by | Bill McCollum |
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| Born | September 5, 1964 Johnson City, Tennessee |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Dee Dee Keller |
| Religion | Methodist |
Richard "Ric" Keller (born September 5, 1964) is an American politician, and has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 2001, representing Florida's 8th congressional district (map), including Orlando, Ocala and Celebration.
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[edit] Personal information
Keller was born in Johnson City, Tennessee. He received a bachelor's degree from East Tennessee State University, where he graduated first in his class in 1986, and a law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1992. He was a lawyer in Florida before being elected to the House of Representatives in 2000.
Congressman Keller has served as the chairman, and is now the ranking member, of the House higher education subcommittee. As the only Floridian in Congress to serve on the House Education and Labor Committee, Congressman Keller is the state's point man on education issues in Washington. Congressman Keller also sits on the House Judiciary Committee, where he has been a leading advocate of the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) program to put more law enforcement officers on our streets.
In March 2003, Keller and his wife of 10 years, Cathleen divorced. Keller agreed to pay $4,500 per month in child support and alimony; he and his wife split the custody of their two children.[1] He has since remarried; he and his wife Dee Dee live in Orlando with his three children: Nick, Christy, and Kaylee.[2]
On October 18, 2005, Keller was hospitalized in Orlando, Florida, after suffering a cardiac arrhythmia. He was driving his car and blacked out and hit another car in a parking lot. He was told by his doctor not to drive for 6 months.[citation needed]
[edit] Committee Assignments
- Education and Labor Committee
- Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education
- Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness (Ranking Member)
- Judiciary Committee
- Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property
- Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
- Antitrust Task Force and Competition Policy
[edit] Congressional campaigns
[edit] 2000
In Keller's first run for Congress, he finished second in the Republican primary with 31% of the vote, against fellow Republican and then state representative Bill Sublette, who had 43%. Bob Hering finished a close third, and endorsed Keller after the primary.[3] In an upset, Keller defeated Sublette in the runoff election with 52% of the vote.
In the 2000 general election, Keller won with 51% of the vote against Democrat Linda Chapin.[4]
[edit] 2002
After the 2001 Congressional re-apportionment, Florida's 8th District was redistricted from a near equal representation (Democrat-Republican) to one that included seven percent more Republicans than Democrats.
Keller readily won the 2002 Congressional election against Democrat Eddie Diaz, winning with 65% of the vote.
[edit] 2004
In 2004 Keller won his third term with 60% of the vote against Democrat challenger Stephen Murray.
[edit] 2006
In 2006, Keller won the Republican primary with 72% of the vote, defeating businesswoman Elizabeth Doran. In the general election, Keller defeated Democrat Charlie Stuart, 53% to 46%.
In October, during a debate with Stuart, Keller was asked whether or not, if elected, he would seek a fifth term in 2008. "When I make that decision, I’ll let you know", Keller responded.[1]
[edit] 2008
Keller decided not to keep his term limits pledge and chose to run for another term in the House in 2008. Keller said "I don’t like making mistakes, but I admit that was a big one. As a rookie candidate, I underestimated the value of experience and seniority."[4]
In late 2006, Todd Long, an Orlando attorney and radio talkshow host, announced he would challenge Keller in the Republican primary. Long said he would make an issue of the term-limits pledge.[4] Early in the races there were other challengers but only Mr. Long met the qualifying requirements so it will be a two man race on the Republican side.
As of June 2007, the 8th Congressional District was one of five in Florida that Democrats hoped to win from the Republicans in 2008. Mike Smith, a former prosecutor and current trial lawyer with Morgan and Morgan, is running for the Democratic nominiation to challenge Keller.[5] Charlie Stuart (politician), who lost to Keller by six percentage points in 2006, is also running again, as is environmental activist Corbett Kroeler , Alan Grayson, an attorney who prosecutes war profiteers, who lost to Stuart in the 2006 Democratic primary,[3] and local weight-lifting champion and recent Emory Law School graduate Quoc Ba Van.[6]
[edit] Political positions and actions
[edit] Cheeseburger Bill
In 2003, Keller was sponsor of H.R. 339, the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act. The bill would have shielded manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of food and beverages from lawsuits blaming them for "weight gain, obesity, or a health condition related to weight gain or obesity." Keller, who said he was about 20 pounds over his ideal weight, said that he thought consumers should stop blaming "fast food" sellers and "junk food" manufacturers for their weight issues.[7] Keller did not vote on the bill; he was in the hospital after experiencing a cardiac arrhythmia the day before.[1]
[edit] Iraq War
In June 2006, Keller voted to affirm that the war in Iraq was part of the Global War on Terror, and against any exit date for the war.[1]
In February 2007, Keller announced during a speech that he was in favor of the Democratic proposal at the time for withdrawing from Iraq. He stated "Let me give you an analogy. Imagine your next door neighbor refuses to mow his lawn and the weeds are all the way up to his waist. You decide you’re going to mow his lawn for him every single week. The neighbor never says thank you. He hates you and sometimes he takes out a gun and shoots at you. Under these circumstances, do you keep mowing his lawn forever? Do you send even more of your family members over to mow his lawn? Or do you say to that neighbor, ‘You better step it up and mow your own lawn or there’s going to be serious consequences for you’?"[8]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Jeffrey C. Billman and Jonathan Cunningham, "Ric Keller's Greatest Hits: Votes and quotes from Orlando's favorite congressman", Orlando Weekly, November 2, 2006
- ^ House biography of Keller, accessed June 23, 2007
- ^ a b Josh Kraushaar, "Florida Rep. beset by challengers", Politico, August 1, 2007
- ^ a b c Rachel Kapochunas, "Keller’s Early ‘08 Opponent Focusing on Broken Term Limit Pledge", New York Times, December 5, 2006
- ^ Brendan Farrington, "Florida will be a congressional battleground again in 2008", Herald Tribune, June 23, 2007
- ^ Scott Maxwell"More Keller competition", Orlando Sentinel, June 20, 2007
- ^ "Keller, Kraft Weigh in on Obesity",Conrad F. Meier, Health Care News, August 1, 2003.
- ^ "Congressman Ric Keller’s Speech on Iraq Resolution", February 14, 2007
[edit] External links
- Congressman Ric Keller official U.S. House website
- Ric Keller for Congress official campaign website
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
- Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
- Todd Long for Congress Challenger's Website
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Bill McCollum |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 8th congressional district 2001–Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
