Ed Rendell

Ed Rendell (b. Edward G. Rendell, 1944) is the 45th governor of Pennsylvania; he was elected as a Democrat in 2001. His name is pronounced ren-DELL.

Career

Rendell was born on January 5, 1944 to a wealthy Jewish family in New York City. He moved to Philadelphia to attend the U. of Pennsylvania (an Ivy League school) and earned a law degree at Villanova in 1968. He and his wife, Federal Judge Marjorie Rendell have been married since 1971. They have one son, Jesse.

Rendell served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve from 1968 to 1974.

Prior government experience included Chairman of the Democratic National Committee or DNC in 2000. After a defeat in 1987 he was elected mayor of Philadelphia in 1991 and reelected in 1995. He was the elected District attorney in Philadelphia from 1977-1986, when he left to run, unsuccessfully for governor. As D.A. he was a proponent of capital punishment, including one high profile case which he successfully prosecuted, that of convicted cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal [1].

Governor

Rendell has tried cutting the state budget to meet the Recession of 2008, and has raised state income taxes 10%. He succeeded in legalizing casino gambling, and also signed a law to sharply increase the salaries of elected officials. (He returned his own increase.) Facing a difficult reelection in 2006, he passed a $1 billion cut in property taxes. He defeated a retired football player for reelection. His numerous financial proposals were rejected by the legislature in 2007-08.

Rendell ran Hillary Rodham Clinton's primary campaign in April 2008, scoring a decisive 55%-45% win over Barack Obama. He of course endorsed Obama when he won the nomination and helped carry the state for the Democratic ticket, 54%-44%. In spring 2009 he persuaded Senator Arlen Specter to switch from the GOP to the Democrats, promising he and Obama would campaign for Specter in 2010.

Trivia

Rendell is a renown sports fan and avidly follows the Philadelphia Eagles