My Vision for Colorado

Bill Ritter Jr. was elected as Colorado's 41st governor in 2006 -- the first Colorado-born governor in more than 35 years. The sixth of 12 children, Gov. Ritter was raised on a small farm in Arapahoe County. He was a member of the first graduating class of Gateway High School (1974), and earned his bachelor's degree in political science from Colorado State University (1978) and his law degree from the University of Colorado (1981). His first job out of law school was as a deputy district attorney in Denver. In 1987, Ritter and his wife, Jeannie Ritter, left Denver to run a food distribution and nutrition center in Zambia, Africa. They returned home in 1990, and three years later Ritter was appointed as Denver's top prosecutor, a position he held until January 2005.