# Ellen Rosenblum

Ellen F. Rosenblum (born January 6, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 17th Oregon Attorney General from June 2012 to December 2024. She is the first female state attorney general in Oregon's history, and previously was a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals from 2005 to 2011.

## Early life

Rosenblum was born in Berkeley, California, one of eight children of Jewish parents Victor and Louise Rosenblum. The family moved to Evanston, Illinois, where her father was a law professor at Northwestern University for 40 years; he was also president of Reed College from 1968 to 1970. She graduated from Evanston Township High School and attended Scripps College before earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon in 1971, where she also earned a J.D. degree in 1975.

## Law and judicial career

In 1975, Rosenblum became an associate at the Eugene law firm of Hammons, Phillips and Jensen, and later became a partner in the firm. In 1980, she became an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, specializing in financial crimes. In 1989, she was appointed by Governor Neil Goldschmidt as a judge to the Multnomah County District Court where she presided until 1993, when Governor Barbara Roberts appointed her as a judge on the Multnomah County Circuit Court. In 2005, Governor Ted Kulongoski appointed her to fill a vacancy on the Oregon Court of Appeals, and she was elected to a full six-year term in 2006, and retired as a judge in May 2011.

## Attorney General

After Attorney General John Kroger decided not to seek another term, Rosenblum in January 2012 started her campaign for the Democratic nomination for the position. U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton also entered the race, and held an early fundraising advantage with the support of most of the state's law enforcement community. Rosenblum focused on social issues, and when Holton criticized the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, Rosenblum gained the support of Oregon marijuana legalization supporters by pledging to "make marijuana enforcement a low priority, and protect the rights of medical marijuana patients." In the May Democratic primary, she went on to defeat Holton by nearly 30 percentage points to move on to the general election.
In 2012, Kroger announced his resignation effective June 29, 2012, to become President of Reed College, and Governor John Kitzhaber named Rosenblum to replace Kroger effective that same day. Coincidentally, Rosenblum's father, Victor Rosenblum, had served as President of Reed from 1968 to 1970. Rosenblum became Oregon's first female Attorney General. She served in the appointed position until January and won the general election in November for a full term. Though no Republican filed in the primary, Portland attorney James Buchal received enough write-in votes to qualify for the November ballot as a Republican.
Rosenblum was re-elected to another term as attorney general in November 2016, defeating Republican candidate Daniel Crowe. She also served on the Executive Committee of the Democratic Attorneys General Association.
In July 2020, Rosenblum filed a lawsuit against the federal government, accusing it of unlawfully detaining protesters, after footage emerged of agents in unmarked vehicles (but not unmarked police officers) appearing to forcefully seize protesters.
On September 19, 2023, Rosenblum announced she would not seek a 4th term as attorney general in the 2024 election. During her last year in office, Rosenblum served as President of the National Attorneys General Association

## Personal

Rosenblum is married to Richard Meeker, who until 2015 was the publisher and co-owner of the Willamette Week newspaper in Portland. The couple have two adult children.

## Electoral history

2006 Judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals, Position 9 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Nonpartisan | Ellen F. Rosenblum | 802,565 | 98.3 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 13,606 | 1.7 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 816,171 | 100% |
2012 Oregon Attorney General Democratic Primary election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Democratic | Ellen Rosenblum | 202,935 | 64.53 |
| Democratic | Dwight Holton | 110,891 | 35.26 |
| Democratic | Write-ins | 657 | 0.21 |
2012 Oregon Attorney General election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Ellen Rosenblum | 917,627 | 56.2 |
| | Republican | James L Buchal | 639,363 | 39.1 |
| | Constitution | James E Leuenberger | 45,451 | 2.8 |
| | Progressive | Chris Henry | 28,187 | 1.7 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 2,975 | 0.2 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,633,603 | 100% |
2016 Oregon Attorney General election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Ellen Rosenblum | 1,011,761 | 55.0 |
| | Republican | Daniel Zene Crowe | 766,753 | 41.7 |
| | Libertarian | Lars D H Hedbor | 58,609 | 3.2 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 3,507 | 0.2 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,840,630 | 100% |
2020 Oregon Attorney General election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Ellen Rosenblum | 1,264,716 | 56.0 |
| | Republican | Michael Cross | 934,357 | 41.3 |
| | Libertarian | Lars D H Hedbor | 52,087 | 2.3 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 8,490 | 0.4 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,259,650 | 100% |