Meet Jeff Merkley
To Jeff, America has always been about giving underdogs a chance. Jeff grew up in a blue collar family, first in the small town of Myrtle Creek, then Roseburg, and ultimately, East Multnomah County. Jeff's dad was able to earn a good living working with his hands, first as a millwright at the local timber mill and then as a union machinist. Thanks to his parents and his public school teachers, Jeff was able to become the first in his family to graduate from college.
Jeff still lives in the same blue collar neighborhood he grew up in, but today hope and opportunity feel a lot further away. His neighbors’ chances are different not because their families are different, but because America is different. The privileged and powerful have rigged our politics and our economy. Now the Trump administration and their cronies are pushing through a families lose, billionaires win agenda.
Jeff has spent his life fighting for people who need a chance. He led nonprofits to create affordable housing, threw the payday lenders out of Oregon and put predatory mortgage lenders out of business across America. Jeff shut down the worst abuses of the Wall Street Casino that crashed the economy and led the fight against the first Trump administration’s inhumane child separation policy. He’s led a national battle to stop billionaires from buying elections, prevent voter suppression targeting Black, Brown, and Tribal voters, and end partisan gerrymandering.
Every day, Jeff rolls up his sleeves and takes on the powerful to deliver for ordinary Oregonians so that everyone, no matter what they look like or where they come from, has the kinds of chances we all deserve – because we can create a future where families thrive and billionaires pay their fair share.
U.S. Senators write and vote on federal laws. Each state has two senators, who serve six-year terms. Only the Senate confirms the President's nominees for judges and the cabinet, approves treaties, and holds impeachment trials.
