Biography of Congressman Mike Ross

Congressman Mike Ross of Prescott represents Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District which includes 29 counties throughout much of the southern and western parts of the state.  First elected in 2000, Mike is currently serving his fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives.  He was re-elected to a fifth term on Nov. 4, 2008.

A fifth-generation Arkansan, Mike brings to Washington the same common sense values he learned growing up in towns like Emmet, Hope and Prescott.  During his time in Congress, Mike has used his seat on the powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce and on its Energy and Health Subcommittees to address issues like energy and health care.  Mike has led efforts to reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil by calling for the largest expansion of domestic and offshore drilling, while also pushing for investments in alternative and renewable energy, much of which can be found and developed here in Arkansas. 

Mike also serves on the House Committee on Science and Technology, and was appointed by House leadership to serve on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Parliamentary Assembly (NATO-PA) where he represents the United States at meetings of the 26 NATO-member countries throughout the world.

Understanding the importance of a balanced federal budget, Mike is a key leader of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of fiscally conservative Democratic House members that advocates the principles of fiscal responsibility and government accountability. 

Mike was born in Texarkana, Arkansas, as the son of two public school educators.  Along with his wife, Holly, and two children, Sydney and Alex, Mike and his family are active members of the First United Methodist Church in Prescott.  When he is not working in the nation’s capital or visiting the 150 towns in the Fourth Congressional District, Mike spends time with his family and enjoys hunting and fishing right here in Arkansas.

In 1990, Mike was elected, at age 29, as the youngest member of the Arkansas State Senate where he served for ten years.  He is also a former member of the Nevada County Quorum Court, and a graduate of Hope High School in Hope, Arkansas, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.  He worked his way through college as a radio announcer and previously owned a family pharmacy in Prescott with his wife, Holly.

Click here to download a high resolution official photograph of Mike