A native of La Crosse, Wisconsin, Ron Kind has represented the people of western Wisconsin's Third Congressional District since 1996. Ron currently is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and Natural Resources Committee.

Ron was born and raised in western Wisconsin. He is the third of five children born to Greta and Elroy Kind, and the fifth generation to live in the district. Greta formerly worked as the Assistant Director of Personnel in the La Crosse School District. Elroy had a 35-year career as a telephone repairman and union leader at the La Crosse Telephone Company.

Ron attended public schools in La Crosse and became a standout student athlete at Logan high school in both football and basketball. He accepted an academic scholarship to Harvard University where he graduated with honors in 1985. While attending Harvard, Ron played quarterback on the football team and worked during the summer with Senator William Proxmire in Washington. In Proxmire's office he helped investigate wasteful abuses of taxpayer money, which provided the basis for some of the Senator's famous Golden Fleece awards.

Ron went on to receive his Master's Degree from the London School of Economics and his Law Degree from the University of Minnesota. He practiced law for two years at the law firm of Quarles and Brady in Milwaukee and then returned to La Crosse where he served as a special prosecutor on cases in numerous counties throughout western Wisconsin.

The Third Congressional District includes nineteen counties in western Wisconsin along the Mississippi River. It stretches from the Illinois border in the South to the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburbs in the North. The major cities in the district include La Crosse and Eau Claire.

Serving in Congress, Ron has focused his attention on issues of workforce development, education, agriculture reform, healthcare, conservation, and an Innovation Agenda for our country. In addition to his Committee responsibilities, Ron is a Deputy Whip, co-chair of the New Democrat Coalition and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, as well as a co-founder of the Upper Mississippi River Congressional Caucus and National Wildlife Refuge Caucus.

Ron and his wife Tawni continue to live in his hometown of La Crosse. Tawni is an official court reporter for the state of Wisconsin. The Kind's have two sons, Johnny (1996) and Matthew (1998).