Willard Mitt Romney, the Governor of Massachusetts, was born March 12th, 1947 in Detroit. He is a Republican, and the son of former Michigan Governor George Romney. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brigham Young University in 1971, and a MBA and JD from Harvard in 1975. He’s also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before being elected as Governor of Massachusetts, he was a partner in the Boston-based private equity firm Bain Capital; the CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and was also a member of the board at office supplier Staples, Inc.

Romney’s success as governor of Massachusetts is a topic of debate today. While his supporters claim that he has made progress in eliminating governmental waste and achieving a balanced budget, his opponents argue that he gives preferential treatment to big business over his constituents and spends too much time traveling the country to further his political career, as he did in New Hampshire and Michigan in 2004 in support for George W. Bush. He is also criticized for allegedly ignoring funding approvals for Massachusetts regions populated mostly by Democrats.

During the same-sex marriage debate of 2003, Gov. Romney tried to block the Massachusetts Supreme Court’s November ruling legalizing gay marriage, by convincing the state legislature to pass an amendment prohibiting it. He was also successful in keeping gay out-of-state residents from marrying in Massachusetts if the union would be illegal in their home state, by citing a 1913 law originally enacted to prevent interracial marriages. He also testified in front of Congress in support of the Federal Marriage Amendment.

In December 2004, Romney planned to file a bill that would reinstate the death penalty for terrorists, cop killers, and serial killers. Later, in May 2005, the governor stated he had changed his position on abortion from pro-choice to pro-life, and vetoed a stem-cell research bill he once supported later that month. Recent reports speculate that Governor Romney will forego re-election in 2006 in order to seek a nomination for President in 2008.