Roy Rudolf Romer (born October 31, 1928) is an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Colorado from 1987 to 1999, and subsequently as the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2000 to 2006. Romer was a member of the Democratic Party. He is the father of Paul Romer, a recipient of the 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. Since the death of George Ariyoshi in April 2026, he is the oldest living former governor of any U.S. state and is the last living former American governor born in the 1920s.

Background and personal life

Romer was born in Garden City, Kansas, on October 31, 1928, the son of Margaret Elizabeth (Snyder) and Irving Rudolph Romer. He grew up in the southeastern Colorado town of Holly. Romer received a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Colorado State University in 1950, where he served for one year as President of the Associated Students of Colorado State University. He later received a law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1952. They had seven children, including Paul Romer, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, and Chris Romer, who was elected to a Colorado State Senate seat from Denver in 2006. His granddaughter, Rachel Romer is the co-founder and CEO of Guild Education.

Political career

Colorado state government

150px|thumb|left|Romer as governor.

Romer served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1958 to 1962 and in the Colorado Senate from 1962 to 1966. In 1966, Romer unsuccessfully challenged Republican U.S. Senator Gordon Allott.

Romer was Colorado State Treasurer from 1977 to 1987 (winning re-election to full four-year terms in 1978 and 1982), and a member of the governor's cabinet. Romer was first elected as governor in 1986, and re-elected in 1990 and 1994; he was the second Colorado governor to serve three terms. In 1997, Romer, along with Utah Governor Michael O. Leavitt and Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer, led a bipartisan team of 19 state governors in the founding of Western Governors University.

National political positions

Romer chaired the Democratic Governors Association in 1991. In 1992, he was co-chairman of the Democratic National Platform Committee. Romer served as national vice chair of the Democratic Leadership Council, and was a national co-chairman of the Clinton-Gore '96 campaign. In 1997, Romer was elected to serve as general chairman of the Democratic National Committee. he became Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, where he served for six years. On October 12, 2006, the Los Angeles Board of Education unanimously named David L. Brewer III as his successor.

On April 25, 2007, Roy Romer began his service as the chairman and lead spokesman for Strong American Schools, a nonprofit project responsible for running Ed in 08, an information and initiative campaign funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eli and Edythe Broad foundation, aimed at encouraging 2008 presidential contenders to include education in their campaign policies.

Honors and awards

In 2008, Roy Romer Middle School in Los Angeles was named after him and it was first opened to students in September of that year.

References

  • Colorado State Archives
  • National Governor's Association
  • The Political Graveyard

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