John Yarmuth has dedicated his life to public service so that he can make a difference for others.
Since 2007, Yarmuth, a Democrat, has been a congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives serving Kentucky’s 3rd congressional district. Yarmuth was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s challenge to young people to get involved in public service. After college, he worked on Capitol Hill on the staff Republican U.S. Senator Marlow Cook from 1971 to 1975.
Yarmuth spent time in the publishing industry before life as a congressman. After working for Senator Cook, Yarmuth returned to Louisville and launched his publishing career by founding the Louisville Today magazine, which operated from 1976 to 1982. In 1990, Yarmuth founded the Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO), a weekly newspaper for which he wrote a generally progressive political column. In 2003, Yarmuth sold LEO but remained as a columnist and consultant until January 2006, when he put his column on hiatus to run for Congress.
Yarmuth graduated from Yale University, majoring in American studies.