Mary Sorteberg
Mary Sorteberg is the lovely wife of politician Jeff Merkley –the democrat is currently serving his second term as Oregon senator.
Mary’s husband recently announced he will seek re-election in 2020 to serve a third Senate term, opting out of the crowded Democratic field for president.
Prior to the Senate, Jeff served five terms in the Oregon House of Representatives for the state’s 47th district. He was also Speaker of the Oregon House. He has served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from the state of Oregon since 2009.
The woman behind him is, longtime wife, Mary –with whom he has been married for over two decades.
Mary Sorteberg met her future husband back in the 80’s, while she was working as a volunteer with Lutheran Volunteer Corp at a homeless shelter in Washington, DC, where he lived. The couple tied the knot in 1992 and are longtime residents of East Portland, they’ve lived in the same house since 1996.
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Together they are the proud parents to one son, Jonathan, and one daughter, Brynne. Brynne appeared in a few campaign ads in 2008, she is studying environmental science at Cornell University and will graduate in 2020.
The wife and mom of two has been very supportive of her husband’s career. According to Jeff, “I said to Mary, ‘Maybe I should quit my day job. And Mary said, ‘Either way you go, I’m behind you.’
Mary is also a career woman, according to the Seattle Times, she spent four months in 1990 in Calcutta, working with Mother Teresa’s order in a hospice for the destitute and dying. It inspired her to pursue a career in nursing. In fact, it was Mary with her nursing job, who supported the family when her husband began his political job.
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