Sheldon Whitehouse, born on October 20, 1955, in New York City, is a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island and a leading Democratic voice on climate and dark money issues. He has served since 2007 after his election in 2006, defeating incumbent Republican Lincoln Chafee, and has been reelected in 2012, 2018, and 2024. A Democrat, he is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chairs the Senate Budget Committee. He is a vocal advocate focused on climate action, finance, and dark money reform in politics, known for his work on climate change and leading efforts against dark money and climate denial, including investigations into fossil fuel industry influence.

He grew up in a Foreign Service family, living abroad in countries including Vietnam, Cambodia, South Africa, Congo, Guinea, Laos, and Thailand due to his father Charles Sheldon Whitehouse's diplomatic career, which included ambassadorships to Laos and Thailand. This international upbringing instilled in him a deep appreciation for American democracy and public service. After returning to the United States, Whitehouse pursued higher education, earning a bachelor's degree in architecture from Yale University in 1978 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1982.

He began his legal career clerking for Justice Richard Neely on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia from 1982 to 1983, before moving to Rhode Island, where he worked in the Attorney General's office from 1985 to 1990 in various roles, including special assistant attorney general and chief of the Regulatory Unit. His political career in Rhode Island accelerated in the early 1990s. He served as executive counsel and policy director under Governor Bruce Sundlun, managing the state's response to the banking crisis and workers' compensation issues, and was appointed Director of Business Regulation in 1992. In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed him U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island, a position he held until 1998, during which he prosecuted organized crime, corruption cases, and secured compensation for environmental damage from the Narragansett Bay oil spill.

Elected Rhode Island's Attorney General in 1998, serving from 1999 to 2003, Whitehouse notably sued lead paint manufacturers for child poisoning and founded the Rhode Island Quality Institute to improve healthcare. After an unsuccessful gubernatorial run in 2002, he won election to the U.S. Senate in 2006. He is married to marine biologist Sandra Thornton, with whom he has two children, and resides in Newport, Rhode Island.