James E. Risch - served 2009 to present

James E. Risch was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 3, 1943.  He attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 1961-1963, then transferred to the University of Idaho where he received a B.S. in forestry in 1965.  He continued his education at the University of Idaho's College of Law and received a J.D. in 1968. 

Risch was a small business owner, a rancher and a senior partner in a Boise-based law firm.  He served in the the Idaho Senate for a total of 19 years.  His first service ran from 1974 until 1988, where he served as Senate Majority Leader and later as President Pro Tempore.  He was defeated for re-elected in 1988 in what is listed as Idaho's most expensive state legislative contest.  He returned to the Idaho State Senate in 1995 as an appointee of Governor Phil Batt and served until 2002, when he was elected as Idaho's Lieutenant Governor.  He served in this capacity until Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne resigned to become the U.S. Secretary of Interior.  Risch then served out the remaining seven months of Kempthorne's term, which ended in January 2007.  He was then re-elected as Lieutenant Governor, serving until he began service in the U.S. Senate in 2009.

He was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate for the 111th Congress, beginning January 3, 2009. 

Photos provided by the Idaho State Historical Society. Biographical information compiled by Congressional Research Service.