Rob Portman

Rob Portman (born December 19, 1955, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) is an American politician who was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate in 2010 and represented Ohio from 2011 to 2023. He previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1993–2005).

Portman grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. After graduating from Dartmouth College (B.A., 1979), he earned a law degree (1984) at the University of Michigan. He then worked as an attorney for Patton, Boggs, and Blow in Washington, D.C., specializing in trade issues, before joining a firm in Cincinnati. During that time he married (1986) Jane Dudley, and the couple later had three children. In 1989 he was an associate counsel to U.S. Pres. George H.W. Bush, and he then served as deputy assistant and director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs (1989–91).

In 1993 Portman won a special election for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and was reelected six times. Continuing his interest in trade matters, he voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was enacted in 1994, and he was involved in efforts to reform welfare and the Internal Revenue Service. In 2005 he resigned from the House to become U.S. trade representative, and he later served as director of the Office of Management and Budget (2006–07) in the administration of Pres. George W. Bush. However, he left before the end of the president’s second term, reportedly frustrated that his program of fiscal discipline was not being followed. When Sen. George Voinovich announced in 2009 that he would not seek reelection, Portman sought the seat and received the backing of several Tea Party groups as well as the state’s Republican establishment. Greatly outspending his opponents, Portman won nearly 57 percent of the vote in the general election, and he entered the Senate in 2011.

Characterizing himself as a “deficit hawk,” Portman was considered a centrist-to-conservative Republican. While he generally voted with the party leadership, he broke with it on several issues, including marriage equality, of which he was a proponent. He introduced legislation related to tax reform, regulatory reform, and educational funding, and he emerged as a leading voice in efforts to end human trafficking. Portman also advocated a balanced-budget amendment.

In 2016 Portman initially backed the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, but he withdrew his support following the release of a hot-mic video from 2005 in which Trump stated that “when you’re a star…you can do anything,” including grabbing a woman’s genitals. Trump ultimately was elected. In 2017 Portman helped pass a massive tax-reform bill, and that year he also voted to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010), though the effort was unsuccessful. In 2019 Trump was impeached by the House following allegations that he had extorted a foreign country to investigate Joe Biden, his political rival. In the Senate trial the following year, Portman voted against conviction, though he described Trump’s actions as “not appropriate.” The president was acquitted in a nearly party-line vote.

Citing his economic policies, Portman supported Trump in the 2020 election, but the president was defeated by Biden. However, Trump and a number of Republicans contested the results, alleging widespread voter fraud despite a lack of evidence. In late November Portman dismissed these claims. On January 6, 2021, he and other members of Congress met to certify Biden’s victory, but the proceedings were temporarily halted when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Portman condemned the deadly siege, and he was among the legislators who ultimately certified the 2020 election. Later that month Portman announced that he would not seek a third term in 2022. His decision was partly based on “partisan gridlock.” During this time Trump was impeached by the House for his actions relating to the Capitol attack. The Senate trial was held in February 2021, after Trump had already left office, and Portman voted not to convict; Trump was acquitted. Portman left office in 2023.