The year was 1979 when ambitious (and somewhat amoral) Ross Marler first came to Springfield to defend Roger Thorpe against a rape charge lodged by his wife, Holly.
Against seemingly impossible odds, Ross managed to make Roger look like a saint.
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But getting a rapist acquitted (he never actually got a chance to find out if his strategy worked, though, as Holly shot Roger before the trial's conclusion) was only the tip of Ross's ambition iceberg. Itching for a political career, Ross struck up a friendship with vulnerable Amanda Wexler, whose wealthy adoptive mother, Lucille, could be his ticket to the big-time.
Unfortunately, Lucille was murdered soon after, leaving Ross, the new Assistant Springfield District Attorney, nothing. But Ross didn't let that stop him. If he couldn't benefit directly from Lucille's death, he could do so in an indirect manner, by cross-examining her alleged killer, Jennifer Richards, so mercilessly on the stand that she confessed to a crime she didn't commit!
Impressed, Henry Chamberlin, Vanessa Chamberlin's father, promised to back Ross in his long-sought-after political career.
In 1983, Ross ran for District Attorney, but Alan Spaulding, cranky because Trish Lewis (Josh and Billy's sister), a woman Alan wanted for himself preferred Ross, decided to derail that attempt by planting cocaine in Ross's car and setting him up to be photographed with a hooker.
Almost a decade later, in 1992, another scandal (this one authentic) derailed Ross' revitalized political career. He was running for the Senate – and having a secret affair with Blake, his girlfriend Holly's daughter! To test Blake's loyalty, her father, Roger (remember him?), lied that there was evidence in lawyer Leo Flynn's office that would help Ross win his election. Blake dutifully broke into Leo's office and Roger got the entire crime on videotape. After Ross won the election, Roger threatened to make the tape public unless Ross agreed to become Roger's kept man of the Senate. Ross refused and, to protect Blake, gave up his spot in the Senate.
In total, Ross Marler has run for political office once every decade. Will the third time be the charm and will he become the new mayor of Springfield?
