Roger F. Wicker

Details

Party Affiliation

Republican

In Office Since

Jan 1, 2007

Organization

United States Federal Government

Biography

Roger Frederick Wicker (born July 5, 1951) is an American politician, attorney, and former Air Force officer serving as the senior United States senator from Mississippi, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Republican Party, Wicker was a Mississippi State Senator from 1988 to 1995 and the U.S. representative from Mississippi's 1st congressional district from 1995 until 2007. Born in Pontotoc, Mississippi, Wicker is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and the University of Mississippi School of Law. He was an officer in the United States Air Force from 1976 to 1980 and a member of the United States Air Force Reserves from 1980 to 2003. During the 1980s, he worked as a political counselor to then-Congressman Trent Lott on the House Rules Committee. In 1987, Wicker was elected to the Mississippi State Senate, representing the 6th district, which included Tupelo. Wicker was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, succeeding retiring 27-term Democratic Congressman Jamie Whitten. Wicker served in the House from 1995 to 2007, when he was appointed to the Senate by Governor Haley Barbour to fill the seat vacated by Lott. Wicker subsequently won a special election for the remainder of the term in 2008 and was reelected to a full term in 2012. Wicker served as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee from 2015 to 2017 and is a deputy Republican whip. He became the state's senior senator in 2018, when Thad Cochran resigned, and was reelected later that year, defeating Democratic nominee David Baria. He was reelected again in 2024, defeating Democratic nominee Ty Pinkins. Wicker serves on four committees in the 119th Congress: the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee, the Rules Committee, and the Senate Armed Services Committee, which he chairs.

From the English Wikipedia article “Roger Wicker”, available under CC BY-SA.