Dave Obey

Dave Obey
Chair of the House Appropriations Committee
In office
January 3, 2007  January 3, 2011
Preceded byJerry Lewis
Succeeded byHal Rogers
In office
March 29, 1994  January 3, 1995
Preceded byWilliam Natcher
Succeeded byBob Livingston
Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee
In office
January 3, 1995  January 3, 2007
Preceded byJoseph M. McDade
Succeeded byJerry Lewis
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Wisconsin's 7th district
In office
April 1, 1969  January 3, 2011
Preceded byMelvin Laird
Succeeded bySean Duffy
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 2nd Marathon County district
In office
January 7, 1963  April 1, 1969
Preceded byPaul A. Luedtke
Succeeded byTony Earl
Personal details
Born
David Ross Obey

(1938-10-03) October 3, 1938
Okmulgee, Oklahoma, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Joan Obey
(m. 1962; died 2023)
Children2
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison (BS, MA)

David Ross Obey (/ˈb/ OH-bee; born October 3, 1938) is an American lobbyist and former politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Wisconsin's 7th congressional district from 1969 to 2011. The district includes much of the northwestern portion of the state, including Wausau and Superior. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and served as Chairman of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations from 1994 to 1995 and again from 2007 to 2011. Until he was surpassed by Jim Sensenbrenner in 2020, Obey was the longest-serving member ever of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Wisconsin. Obey remains the longest Democratic Representative from Wisconsin.