Ed Perlmutter

Infobox Congressman
name=Ed Perlmutter


width=
state= Colorado
district= 7th
party= Democrat
term_start =January 4, 2007
preceded=Bob Beauprez
succeeded= Incumbent
date of birth= birth date and age|1953|05|01
place of birth=Denver, Colorado
residence=Golden, Colorado
alma_mater=University of Colorado
spouse= Deana Perlmutter
children= Alexis Perlmutter
Abby Perlmutter
Zoey Perlmutter
religion=Evangelical Covenant
occupation=attorney

Edwin George "Ed" Perlmutter (born May 1, 1953) is a Democratic politician from Colorado. He is the congressman for the U.S House in ushr|Colorado|7|, a seat vacated by Republican Bob Beauprez who ran for Governor of Colorado in 2006.

Education and family

Perlmutter graduated from Jefferson High School in Edgewater, Colorado and went on to study Political Science, History and Economics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, graduating in 1975. He received his Juris Doctor from CU in 1978 where he was twice elected President of his class while working part time as a laborer on construction projects. Perlmutter and his wife Deana have three children — Alexis, Abby, and Zoey.

Career and non-elected positions

Perlmutter is a director of the law firm of Berenbaum, Weinshienk and Eason, and has specialized in business reorganizations and commercial litigation. He served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Colorado Bar Association and served on the Board of Trustees and Judicial Performance Commission for the First Judicial District. He is a Trustee for the Midwest Research Institute (primary operator of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory), and a Board Member for the National Jewish Medical & Research Center.

Elected career

Perlmutter was elected to two four-year terms to represent central Jefferson County as State Senator from 1995 to 2003 — the first Democrat elected in the district in 30 years.

In 2000, he helped lead a team that succeeded in a Democratic takeover of the Colorado State Senate for the first time since John F. Kennedy was president. He has assisted numerous campaigns and most recently was co-chair of the Kerry Campaign in Colorado.

In the Colorado Senate, he served on numerous Colorado State Senate committees including: Water, Finance, Judiciary, Child Welfare, Telecommunication, Transportation, Legal Services, and Oil and Gas. He was Chair of the Public Policy and Planning Committee, Chair of the Bi-Partisan Renewable Energy Caucus, and President Pro Tem of the Senate during the 2001 and 2002 session.

Among the awards he received while in the Senate were the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry award “Business Legislator of the Year”, Legal Aid Award for Equal Justice Under the Law, American Institute of Architecture award for “Colorado Legislator of the Year”; DARE Man of the Year; Jeffco Education Association Friend of Education, United Veterans Committee “Legislator of the Year”, Colorado Humane Society Distinguished Service Award, The AARP Outstanding Legislative Service Award, and the University of Colorado School of Law “Distinguished Alumnus Award”.

2006 campaign for U.S. House of Representatives

Perlmutter won the Democratic nomination for the 7th District by defeating former State Representative Peggy Lamm and college professor Herb Rubenstein, with 53% of the vote in the primary. State education chairman Rick O'Donnell was unopposed for the Republican nomination. Dave Chandler, a Green, was also a candidate.

The seat was held by Republican Bob Beauprez, who was reelected to a second term in 2004 with 55% of the vote, after winning his first term by only 121 votes. He left the seat at the end of the 2005–2007 term, having failed in his bid to become Governor of Colorado. The 7th District is considered highly competitive. It is located in the western and northern Denver suburbs and was narrowly won by John Kerry in 2004.

In late September, O'Donnell was put on the defensive when ads appeared noting that he had previously supported abolishing Social Security. A Survey USA poll soon after that showed Perlmutter with a 54 to 37 percent lead, although GOP consultants guessed that the support was "soft". [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/elections/article/0,2808,DRMN_24736_5024085,00.html] . An October 4 poll released by Zogby showed Perlmutter ahead of O'Donnell by 45-34 percent. [cite news | title=Results in key House races: Reuters poll | publisher = Reuters | date= 2006-10-04 | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100400310.html] "Cook Political Report" rating: "Republican Toss Up". "CQPolitics" rating: "No Clear Favorite".

In the end, Perlmutter (54%) soundly defeated O'Donnell (42%) for the congressional seat, helping Democrats to regain the majority in the U.S. House.

Committee Assignments

*Financial Services Committee
**Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises subcommittee
**Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit subcommittee
*Homeland Security Committee
**Intelligence Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment subcommittee
**Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection and Management subcommittee
**Investigations and Oversight subcommittee

See also

* United States House elections, 2006

Notes

External links

* [http://perlmutter.house.gov/ U.S. Congressman Ed Perlmutter] , U.S. House site
* [http://www.perlmutterforcolorado.com Perlmutter for Colorado] campaign site
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ed_Perlmutter Profile] at SourceWatch Congresspedia