Speaker Jeff Merkley Endorses Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States

Both Fought for Affordable Housing for Low Income Families

Portland – At his U.S. Senate campaign headquarters, Speaker Jeff Merkley today announced his endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States. Pointing to their shared experiences working with low-income families to create affordable housing, Jeff committed to uniting Democrats in Oregon around defeating Gordon Smith and John McCain and electing Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

"Barack Obama and I share something more in common than simply our determination to change America for the better,” said Speaker Jeff Merkley, “Both of us come from the grassroots, where real change is sown: Senator Obama was an organizer, committed to public housing in the neighborhoods of Chicago. And I worked with low-income families in need of housing through Habitat for Humanity and Human Solutions here in Portland.

“Both Senator Obama and I understand what it means to empower Americans house-by-house, community-by-community. That's the reason I'm running for U.S. Senate – to put that kind of power back into the hands of everyday Oregonians again. And that's the same reason I'm endorsing Barack Obama for President today."

The son of a millworker, Jeff Merkley spent his early years in Roseburg, a community where the children of loggers and mill workers learned the value of honest work, good neighbors, and strong families. The first in his family to go to college, Jeff attended Stanford and Princeton Universities on scholarships before serving as a national security analyst for the Pentagon and Congress.

After returning to Oregon, Jeff led Habitat for Humanity and worked with low-income families to rebuild neighborhoods and purchase their first home. Ten years ago, Jeff was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives and led the Democrats to take back the majority for the first time in sixteen years. The Register-Guard called Jeff’s session as speaker “one of the most productive in decades,” as he fought special interests to make health care more affordable and create jobs in Oregon. Today, Speaker Merkley lives in SE Portland with his wife Mary, a registered nurse, and their two children, Jonathan age eleven and Brynne age nine.

Posted February 25, 2008
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