Deborah Koff Ross (born June 20, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, Ross was a member of the North Carolina General Assembly, representing the state's thirty-eighth and then thirty-fourth House district, including Wake County, North Carolina. An attorney from Raleigh, North Carolina, Ross served five full terms and one partial term in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

Ross was the Democratic nominee in the 2016 U.S. Senate election in North Carolina, unsuccessfully challenging incumbent Richard Burr in the general election.

Ross was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 20, 1963, and grew up in Connecticut.^[1] She is the daughter of Barbara A. (Klein) and Marvin S. Koff.^[2] Her father served as a physician in the Air Force during the Vietnam era and her mother taught preschool.^[3]

Ross earned her B.A. from Brown University in 1985 and her J.D. from UNC Chapel Hill law school in 1990.^[4]

Following her graduation from law school, Ross worked for Raleigh-based Hunton and Williams as a tax litigator and municipal bond lawyer.^[5] Ross practiced law in North Carolina for 25 years, including civil rights law, constitutional law, infrastructure law, and renewable energy law. She also taught at Duke Law School as a senior lecturing fellow.^[6]

Ross was hired as state director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of North Carolina in 1994. She worked on First Amendment and juvenile justice issues. Alongside Governor Jim Hunt and then State Senator Roy Cooper, she overhauled North Carolina's system for dealing with youth offenders. In response to racial profiling reports, she also successfully encouraged state police agencies to collect race-based statistics for traffic stops. Ross stepped down from her position at the ACLU in 2002 when she launched her state House campaign.^[1][5]

Ross was first elected to the North Carolina General Assembly in 2002 and defeated Wake County Commissioner Phil Jeffreys in 2004 to win a second term. She faced no opposition in the 2006 general election, and in 2007, Ross was first elected as one of the House Democratic Whips.

Ross supported the Equal Pay Act, an unsuccessful bill that would have banned North Carolina employers from paying workers differently based on gender.^[7]

In 2012, Ross compared state coastal protection policies that ignore scientists' sea-level rise forecasts to burying one's "head in the sand." She said she was concerned that increased risk of flooding would lead insurance companies to charge higher premiums for coastal property owners.^[8]

On May 1, 2013, Ross announced she would resign from the legislature in June and return to the private sector to serve as legal counsel for GoTriangle, the triangle area's regional transit agency.^[9] On June 1, 2013, Grier Martin was appointed to succeed her in the House.^[10]

In 2015, Ross resigned from her position as legal counsel at GoTriangle to run for the U.S. Senate in 2016.^[11] Ross won the N.C. Senate Democratic primary in March 2016 with 62.4% of the vote from a field of four candidates.^[12] Ross has been endorsed by EMILY's List, Planned Parenthood, the North Carolina Association of Educators, the North Carolina AFL-CIO, American Association for Justice, End Citizens United, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democracy for America, and the League of Conservation Voters.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]}

In the general election, Ross ran against the incumbent, Republican Richard Burr. Ross raised more money than Burr for three consecutive quarters, but nevertheless had less cash on hand as Burr began the year with $5.3 million in campaign funds. As of October 21, Ross was down 2.8% in the Real Clear Politics average of polls. The race received national attention as Cook Political Report rated the race a toss-up and Democrats view the seat as one they could win.^[22] Burr won with 51% of the vote.^[23]

In March 2017, Ross joined the regional law firm of Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP in Raleigh. Her practice focuses on the economic development, energy, utilities, and infrastructure needs of businesses and government.

Ross and her husband, Steve Wrinn, live in a home they restored in Boylan Heights, a historic neighborhood in Raleigh.^[24]