Ronald "Ron" Klink (born September 23, 1951) is a Democratic politician and former United States Representative from Pennsylvania. Klink was born in Canton, Ohio, and graduated from Meyersdale High School in Pennsylvania in 1969. Klink originally worked behind the scenes at WTAJ-TV in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He later became a recognizable figure in the Pittsburgh area as a television news weatherman and reporter on KDKA-TV from 1977 to 1991. Klink was elected to the House of Representatives in 1992 and served four terms there. Klink was popular within his district as a moderate Democrat with strong labor ties. In 2000, he left his House seat to run unsuccessfully for the Senate against incumbent Rick Santorum. Klink lost the race by five points. Klink was virtually unknown on the eastern side of Pennsylvania (including the important Philadelphia area). Other contributing factors included his conservative stances on social issues and the fact that he had to spend a large amount of money in the crowded Democratic primary. He had been mentioned as a possible candidate for his own congressional seat against the person who succeeded him, Republican Melissa Hart. However, in December 2005, Klink announced he would not run. Hart was defeated by her Democratic opponent, Jason Altmire in 2006. According to then-Congressman Curt Weldon in his book Countdown to Terror, in 2003, Klink offered Weldon the identity of an intelligence source with information on Iraqi uranium purchases. The agent was thought to be Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar. The intelligence reportedly later proved to be fabricated.
Electoral history
| Year | Democrat | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Ron Klink | 186,684 | 78% | Gordon R. Johnston | 48,484 | 20% | Drew Ley | None of Above | 2,754 | 1% | ||||
| 1994 | Ron Klink | 119,115 | 64% | Ed Peglow | 66,509 | 36% | * | |||||||
| 1996 | Ron Klink | 142,621 | 64% | Paul T. Adametz | 79,448 | 36% | * | |||||||
| 1998 | Ron Klink | 103,183 | 64% | Mike Turzai | 58,485 | 36% | * |
| Year | Democrat | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Ron Klink | 2,154,908 | 46% | Rick Santorum | 2,481,962 | 52% | John J. Featherman | Libertarian | 45,775 | 1% | Lester Searer | Constitution | 28,382 | 1% | Robert Domske | Reform | 24,089 | 1% |
References
- Weldon, Curt (2005). Countdown to Terror: The Top-secret Information That Could Prevent the Next Terrorist Attack on America—and How the CIA Has Ignored It. Washington, D.C.: Regnery. ISBN 0-89526-005-0.
- The Front, The American Prospect, April 4, 2005
- Ron Klink at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- ^ a b Election Statistics. Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
External links
| Preceded by Joseph P. Kolter |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district 1993–2001 |
Succeeded by Melissa Hart |
