Russ Feingold
Russell Dana Feingold (/ˈfaɪnɡoʊld/ FYNE-gold; born March 2, 1953) is an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee in the 2016 election for the same U.S. Senate seat he had previously occupied. From 1983 to 1993, he was a Wisconsin State Senator representing the 27th District.
Russ Feingold | |
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Feingold in 2015 | |
| United States Special Envoy for the African Great Lakes and the Congo-Kinshasa | |
| In office July 18, 2013 – March 6, 2015 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Barrie Walkley |
| Succeeded by | Tom Perriello |
| United States Senator from Wisconsin | |
| In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Kasten |
| Succeeded by | Ron Johnson |
| Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 27th district | |
| In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Everett Bidwell |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Wineke |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Russell Dana Feingold March 2, 1953 Janesville, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | Sue Levine
(m. 1977; div. 1986)Mary Speerschneider
(m. 1991; div. 2005)Christine Ferdinand (m. 2013) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Wisconsin–Madison (BA) Magdalen College, Oxford (BA) Harvard University (JD) |
| Signature | |
With John McCain, Feingold received the 1999 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. He and McCain cosponsored the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain–Feingold Act), a major piece of campaign finance reform legislation. He was the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act during the first vote on the legislation.
Feingold was mentioned as a possible candidate in the 2008 presidential election, but in November 2006 announced he would not run. In 2010, Feingold lost his campaign for reelection to the U.S. Senate to Republican nominee Ron Johnson. On June 18, 2013, he was selected by Secretary of State John Kerry to replace R. Barrie Walkley as a special envoy to the Great Lakes region of Africa.
On May 14, 2015, Feingold announced his candidacy for his old Senate seat in 2016. He was defeated by Johnson in a rematch of their 2010 Senate race. In 2020, Feingold became president of the American Constitution Society.