Ron Klink

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ron Klink
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 4th district
In office
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2001
Preceded by Joseph Kolter
Succeeded by Melissa Hart
Personal details
Born (1951-09-23) September 23, 1951
Canton, Ohio
Political party Democratic

Ronald "Ron" Klink (born September 23, 1951) is a Democratic politician and former United States Representative from Pennsylvania.

Biography

Klink was born in Canton, Ohio, and graduated from Meyersdale High School in Pennsylvania in 1969. Klink originally worked behind the scenes at WTAJ-TV in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He later became a recognizable figure in the Pittsburgh area as a television news weatherman and reporter on KDKA-TV from 1977 to 1991.

In 1992, Klink sought the Democratic nomination for the 4th District and defeated five-term incumbent Joe Kolter in the primary. He was easily reelected in November and served four terms in the House. Klink was popular within his district as a moderate Democrat with strong labor ties.

In 2000, he left his House seat to run unsuccessfully for the Senate against incumbent Rick Santorum. Klink lost the race by five points. Klink was virtually unknown on the eastern side of Pennsylvania (including the important Philadelphia area). Other contributing factors included his conservative stances on social issues and the fact that he had to spend a large amount of money in the crowded Democratic primary.

He had been mentioned as a possible candidate for his own congressional seat against the person who succeeded him, Republican Melissa Hart. However, in December 2005, Klink announced he would not run.

According to then-Congressman Curt Weldon in his book Countdown to Terror, in 2003, Klink offered Weldon the identity of an intelligence source with information on Iraqi uranium purchases. The agent was thought to be Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar. The intelligence reportedly later proved to be fabricated.

Electoral history

Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district: Results 1992–1998[1]
Year Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct
1992 Ron Klink 186,684 78% Gordon R. Johnston 48,484 20% Drew Ley None of Above 2,754 1%
1994 Ron Klink 119,115 64% Ed Peglow 66,509 36% *
1996 Ron Klink 142,621 64% Paul T. Adametz 79,448 36% *
1998 Ron Klink 103,183 64% Mike Turzai 58,485 36% *
*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 1994, write-ins received 6 votes. In 1996, write-ins received 98 votes. In 1998, write-ins received 17 votes.
Pennsylvania Senator (Class I): 2000 results[1]
Year Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct
2000 Ron Klink 2,154,908 46% Rick Santorum 2,481,962 52% John J. Featherman Libertarian 45,775 1% Lester Searer Constitution 28,382 1% Robert Domske Reform 24,089 1%

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Retrieved 2007-08-08. 

External links

Media related to Ron Klink at Wikimedia Commons

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Joseph Kolter		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district
1993–2001 		Succeeded by
Melissa Hart
Party political offices
Preceded by
Harris Wofford		 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
(Class 1)
2000 		Succeeded by
Bob Casey
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.