Russ Feingold
Russ Feingold | |
|---|---|
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. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Wisconsin, Madison (BA) Magdalen College, Oxford (BA) Harvard University (JD) |
| Signature | |
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.
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 of 2001.
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, Secretary of State John Kerry selected Feingold 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 former Senate seat in 2016. He lost to Johnson in a rematch of their 2010 race. In 2020, Feingold became president of the American Constitution Society. He stepped down from the role in April 2025. Feingold is currently Chair of the Campaign for Nature's Global Steering Committee.