Jason Rae
Secretary of the Democratic National Committee
Assumed office
February 25, 2017
ChairTom Perez
Jaime Harrison
Preceded byStephanie Rawlings-Blake
Chair of the Democratic National Committee Youth Council
Assumed office
2007
Personal details
Born (1986-11-25) November 25, 1986
Rice Lake, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpousePhillip Bailey
EducationMarquette University (B.A.)

Jason Rae (born November 25, 1986) is an American activist and Democratic National Committee (DNC) member from Wisconsin. He is the youngest person ever elected to the DNC.[1] On February 5, 2017, he was elected to serve as secretary of the DNC.[2]

Early life and education

Rae was born in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, to John and Lori Rae.[3] He was a student at Marquette University, from which he graduated with a BA in history and political science. He is an associate at Nation Consulting in Milwaukee.[4]

College activism

Rae was the chair of the Marquette University chapter of College Democrats and was elected Chair of the College Democrats of Wisconsin in 2008. Within Marquette University Student Government (MUSG), he was Legislative Vice President, in which he formed of the Ad Hoc Committee on Funding of Student Activities.[5][6] He previously served in the MUSG Senate as Senator, student representative to the Faculty Academic Senate, College of Arts & Sciences Committee chair, and Parliamentarian.[7][8] Rae was the author of a bill passed by the Marquette University Student Government to provide domestic partner benefits to faculty.[9]

At Marquette, Rae received the 2008 Outstanding Class Member Award for the junior class.[10] Rae is on the Board of Directors for the Rice Lake Boys Club.[11]

Political involvement

In 2004, Rae was vice chair of the Barron County Democratic Party and was appointed to Senator Russ Feingold's re-election steering committee.[12]

Rae was elected to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in June 2004. At the time of his election to his leadership role within the party, he was 17, making him the youngest person ever elected to the DNC.[13] The party election garnered much press coverage, as a state legislator and the president of the state's firefighters' union were among the losing candidates for the position.

Rae's election to the DNC was unexpected.[14]

Wisconsin gets to elect two men and two women to serve on the Democratic National Committee. I put my name into the race and gave it my all. I had my friends get together to make signs; I produced flyers for all the chairs; I had stickers made; I greeted every convention delegate. By the time the vote tallies were counted, I discovered that I had received the most votes out of the three candidates.

— Jason Rae, PBS Newshour[14]

Rae attended the 2004 Democratic National Convention as a guest of the Wisconsin delegation. He was a superdelegate for the 2008 convention in Denver. Rae is chair of the DNC's Youth Council. In this position, he has worked on increasing youth involvement in politics and seeing that candidates address issues of importance to young people. He has spoken at DNC meetings to members of Kids for Democracy and Y-Press.

In spring 2007, Governor Jim Doyle (D-WI) appointed Rae as the youth representative to the Governor's Commission on the United Nations. From June 23–30, 2007, Rae participated in a delegation of 10 DNC members to Taiwan, where they met with various elected officials in the Taiwanese government to better understand the present situation with China.

Rae worked on the Allen Thomell campaign for the Georgia State House and the Herb Kohl for United States Senate campaign. He has also interned at People for the American Way.[15] In the summer of 2006 he interned at the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. He came out as gay to members of the DNC in February 2007, which he discussed in an interview in The Advocate in February 2008.[16]

On February 21, 2008 Rae announced his support of Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.[17]

Rae's ultimate goal in politics is to become President himself.[18]

Rae currently serves as the Board President of Fair Wisconsin, a statewide LGBT advocacy organization.[19]

Rae attended the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia as a superdelegate, where he pledged support to Hillary Clinton.

Media appearances

Rae has appeared on television news shows including MSNBC's Live with Dan Abrams and CNN's Anderson Cooper 360°, on radio, and in news reports about his experiences.[20][21][22][23] He recounted meeting with Michelle Obama, having breakfast with Chelsea Clinton, and receiving calls from Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Madeleine Albright, and others.[20][21] BBC TV's North America editor briefly interviewed Rae in a report on the 2008 Democratic Party primaries on 10 O'clock News on April 21, 2008. Jason Jones interviewed Rae on The Daily Show.

Rae is included on a list of openly gay politicians in The Advocate's "Forty under 40" issue of June/July 2009.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Annysa Johnson, Annysa (February 26, 2017). "Milwaukee Democrat Jason Rae elected DNC secretary". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  2. ↑ "DNC". Twitter. 2017.
  3. ↑ "About Jason Rae". Jasonrae.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Home". Nation Consulting.
  5. ↑ "Marquette University Student Government - Legislative". Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
  6. ↑ "We Are Marquette". We Are Marquette.
  7. ↑ "First MUSG meeting for new leaders - News". Archived from the original on August 4, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
  8. ↑ "Learning the ropes - News". Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
  9. ↑ Eric Lombardi (April 2, 2007). "MUSG recommends partner benefits". Marquette (Wisconsin) Tribune. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
  10. ↑ Marquette University Division of Student Affairs. Student Leadership Award Past Recipients.
  11. ↑ Wisconsin, APG of. "Rice Lake Chronotype". APG of Wisconsin.
  12. ↑ "Wisconsin State Journal/The Capital Times - Historical Newspapers".
  13. ↑ Graeme Zielinski (July 5, 2004). "He's elected but can't yet vote: Rice Lake boy, 17, going to Boston on Democratic National Committee". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Archived from the original on May 13, 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
  14. 1 2 "Young People Who Feel Included Will Vote". PBS. July 26, 2004. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
  15. ↑ [xclusive_detail_ektid52256.asp | title=Gay Superdelegate Breaks the Mold | author=Kerry Eleveld | publisher=The Advocate | date=]
  16. ↑ "Jason Rae Interview". The Advocate. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
  17. ↑ Greg J. Borowski (February 21, 2008). "Another super delegate to Obama". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Retrieved February 21, 2008.
  18. ↑ Paulson, Michael; Schweitzer, Sarah (July 25, 2004). "From near, far, the delegates descend on Hub". The Boston Globe.
  19. ↑ "Fair Wisconsin Board of Directors". July 9, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  20. 1 2 "Transcript of February 11, 2008 Live with Dan Abrams". NBC News. February 11, 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
  21. 1 2 "Transcript of February 12, 2008 Anderson Cooper 360°: Superdelegates". CNN. February 12, 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
  22. ↑ E.g., on KGO 810 radio, on the Karel program during the 9:00PM PST hour on February 17, 2008.
  23. ↑ Karen Travers (February 11, 2008). "College Junior Breakfasts With Chelsea Clinton". ABC News. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
  24. ↑ Forty Under 40: Politics Archived May 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
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