Whitehouse has stood as a staunch defender of Social Security and Medicare, and has made improving care and reducing costs in our health care system a hallmark of his career. To counteract the corrosive effects of special interests in our democracy, Whitehouse has championed efforts to root out dark money from our elections and make Congress and the courts accountable to the American people.

"While fighting in Washington against corporate interests and their influence on the political process" wrote the Providence Journal, "Senator Whitehouse has not forgotten the people back home." A graduate of Yale University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Sheldon served as Rhode Island's U.S. Attorney and state attorney general before being elected to the Senate, where he serves on the Finance Committee, the Judiciary Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee, and the Budget Committee. He and his wife Sandra, a marine biologist and environmental advocate, live in Newport. They have two grown children.