Bob Ehrlich

Robert Leroy "Bob" Ehrlich, Jr. (born November 25, 1957) is an American attorney and Republican politician who served as the 60th governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007 after defeating Democratic opponent Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in the 2002 election. Prior to serving as governor, Ehrlich represented Maryland's 2nd Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Before that he served in the Maryland House of Delegates.

In the November 2006 elections, Ehrlich lost to Democrat Martin O'Malley. In 2010, Ehrlich again ran unsuccessfully against O'Malley. Ehrlich then announced, via his website, that he would "return to private life". In October 2011, he was named chairman of Mitt Romney's Maryland campaign for the 2012 Republican nomination for President.

Early life, career, and family

Ehrlich was born in the Southwest Baltimore suburb of Arbutus, Maryland, the son of Nancy (Bottorf), a legal secretary, and Robert Leroy Ehrlich, a commission car salesman. After attending Gilman School, he graduated from Princeton University (1979), where he attended on a partial scholarship and was captain of the football team and a member of the Cap and Gown Club. He continued on to law school, graduating from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1982.