Ric Keller
| Ric Keller | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 8th district |
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In office January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Bill McCollum |
| Succeeded by | Alan Grayson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Richard Anthony Keller September 5, 1964 Johnson City, Tennessee |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Dee Dee Keller |
| Children | Nick Keller Kristy Keller Kaylee Keller Kate Keller |
| Residence | Orlando, Florida |
| Alma mater | East Tennessee State University, Vanderbilt University |
| Occupation | attorney |
| Religion | Methodist |
Richard Anthony "Ric" Keller (born September 5, 1964) is an American politician, and was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Florida's 8th congressional district.
Keller was defeated in his bid for a fifth term by Democrat Alan Grayson.
Keller was born in Johnson City, Tennessee. He received a bachelor's degree from East Tennessee State University, where he graduated first in his class in 1986, and a law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1992. He was a lawyer in Florida before being elected to the House of Representatives in 2000.
Keller served as the chairman of the House higher education subcommittee. As the only Floridian in Congress to serve on the House Education and the Workforce Committee (now "Education and Labor"), Congressman Keller was the state's point man on education and workforce issues in Washington. Congressman Keller also sat on the House Judiciary Committee, where he was a leading advocate of the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) program to put more law enforcement officers on the streets.
In March 2003, Keller and his wife of 10 years, Cathleen, divorced. He and his ex-wife split the custody of their two children, with his ex-wife being the primary residential parent. He has since remarried; he and his wife Dee Dee live in Orlando. He has four children: Nick, Christy, Kaylee, and Kate.
Keller is now a partner at an Orlando law firm.
In Keller's first run for Congress, he finished in second place in the Republican primary with 31% of the vote, against fellow Republican Bill Sublette, who had 43%, but defeated Sublette in the runoff election, getting 52% of that vote. During the primary campaign, Keller publicly signed a terms limits pledge while Sublette refused to do so, and Keller made his signing a major part of his campaign.
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