Topic: Bob Wise

Robert Ellsworth "Bob" Wise, Jr. (born January 6, 1948) is an American politician. A Democrat, Wise served as the Governor of West Virginia from January 2001 to January 2005.

Wise was born in Washington, D.C.. He received a B.A. from Duke University in 1970 and a law degree from Tulane University Law School in 1975. Wise's political career began in 1980, when he defeated an incumbent senator for election to the state Senate of West Virginia as a Democrat from the state capital, Charleston. On July 28, 1984, he married Sandra Casber.

In 1981, Wise started a career in the West Virginia Senate before being elected in 1982 to the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia's 3rd congressional district. He unseated incumbent Republican Mick Staton in a close race, but was reelected eight times without serious opposition. His district was renumbered the 2nd after West Virginia's declining population cost it a congressional seat after the 1990 United States Census. Wise served as an at-large whip, regional whip, and parliamentarian for the Democratic Party. He also served as ranking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. In December 1998, Representative Bob Wise announced that he was considering forming an exploratory committee to raise money for a campaign for governor.