Jake Auchincloss

Jacob Daniel Auchincloss ( ; born January 29, 1988) is an American politician, businessman, and military officer serving as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a member of the Newton City Council from 2015 to 2021.

Born in Newton, Massachusetts to a wealthy New England family, Auchincloss graduated with a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 2010. Commissioning into the United States Marine Corps that same year, he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 and to Panama in 2014. He currently serves in the Marine Corps Reserve with the rank of major.

Returning home from the military, Auchincloss ran for Newton city council in 2015. After his election victory, he earned his MBA from MIT and was re-elected in 2017 and 2019. In 2020, he was elected to the United States Congress at age 32, succeeding Joe Kennedy III. Re-elected unopposed in 2022 and 2024, Auchincloss voted with President Joe Biden 100% of the time.

Early life and education

Jacob Daniel Auchincloss was born on January 29, 1988, in Newton, Massachusetts, to Laurie Glimcher and Hugh Auchincloss. Both of his parents are physician-scientists. His father, who is a surgeon, briefly served as acting director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), after Anthony Fauci resigned. His mother is a scientist and the former president and CEO of Dana–Farber Cancer Institute who was at the center of several controversies prior to stepping down from her leadership role. Auchincloss's maternal grandfather, Melvin J. Glimcher, was a physician who pioneered the development of artificial limbs and the robotic arm, and was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences. Auchincloss's grandfather was first cousin once removed of Hugh D. Auchincloss Jr., "a member of one of Newport, Rhode Island’s most historically prominent families" and step-father of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (wife of President John F. Kennedy).

Auchincloss was raised in Newton with his sister Kalah and brother Hugh G. and attended Newton North High School. He is matrilineally Jewish and was raised in his mother's faith. His father is of Scottish ancestry.

Auchincloss studied government and economics at Harvard University, graduating with honors. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps then returned to school and earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in finance from the Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Career

Military service

After graduating from Harvard College, Auchincloss joined the United States Marine Corps, earning his commission through Officer Candidates School in Quantico, Virginia. He commanded infantry in Helmand Province in 2012 and a reconnaissance unit in Panama in 2014. In Helmand, he led combat patrols through villages contested by the Taliban. In Panama, his team of reconnaissance Marines partnered with Colombian special operations to train the Panamanian Public Forces in drug-interdiction tactics.

Auchincloss completed both infantry training in Quantico and the Marine Corps's reconnaissance training in California, profiled in Nate Fick's '' One Bullet Away''. He graduated from the Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) school in Maine and was an honor graduate from the Basic Airborne Course in Georgia. He remained in the Individual Ready Reserve after leaving active duty and was promoted to major on September 1, 2020.

Local government

After returning home from the military, Auchincloss ran for Newton city council on a platform of full-day kindergarten and expanded pre-K offerings. He was elected in 2015, defeating the incumbent councilor. He was reelected to the Newton City Council in 2017 and 2019. He chaired the transportation and public safety committee. In office, he supported progressive immigration and housing policies, sustainable transportation and co-docketed the successful Sanctuary city ordinance.

When the Newton City Council debated a pay raise for elected officials, Auchincloss voted no. Auchincloss was the first elected official to endorse Ruthanne Fuller for mayor of Newton.

Business

While serving on the Newton City Council and attending MIT, Auchincloss was the director of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. He also worked at a cybersecurity startup as a product manager and at Liberty Mutual as a senior manager at its innovation arm, Solaria Labs.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2020

On October 2, 2019, Auchincloss announced his candidacy for the open Massachusetts's 4th congressional district to succeed Joe Kennedy III, who unsuccessfully ran for the Senate against incumbent Democrat Ed Markey.

Auchincloss raised the most money during the primary election in both the fourth quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020 and earned endorsements from the National Association of Government Employees, VoteVets, ''The Boston Globe'' and James E. Timilty. He earned the support of several Newton politicians, including the president and vice president of the city council and the chair and vice chair of the school committee. He earned additional endorsements throughout the district, including from state representative Paul Schmid of Fall River.

During the campaign, questions arose about his party affiliation. Auchincloss was originally a Democrat but was a registered Republican from 2013 to 2014 while working for Charlie Baker's gubernatorial campaign. He continued to vote in Republican primaries as an independent until late 2015 before becoming a Democrat again.

The Democratic primary occurred on September 1, 2020. In a race with eight other candidates, Auchincloss won with 22.4% of the vote. It took the Associated Press three days to call the race because nearly one million votes were cast through mail-in ballots due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the November general election, Auchincloss defeated Republican nominee Julie Hall. He assumed office on January 3, 2021.

Tenure

On January 6, 2021, after the 2021 attack on the United States Capitol, Auchincloss tweeted his agreement with lawmakers' calls to remove President Donald Trump from office, either through the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution or impeachment. Auchincloss voted to certify the results of the 2020 United States presidential election in the early morning of January 7, 2021. On January 21, he voted to approve the congressional waiver for General Lloyd Austin, President Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of Defense.

On June 16, 2022, seven people affiliated with ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'', including Robert Smigel, were arrested by U.S. Capitol Police and charged with unlawful entry into the complex. According to a letter from Jim Jordan and Rodney Davis, the Colbert crew was let back into the building with the help of Auchincloss and Adam Schiff, leading to the unlawful entry charges. In a statement released by an Auchincloss spokesperson, Matt Corridoni said of the incident, "We do not condone any inappropriate activity and cannot speak to anything that occurred after hours."

In Congress, Auchincloss voted with President Joe Biden 100% of the time according to FiveThirtyEight. This gives him a Biden Plus/Minus score of +1 with higher support for Biden than would be expected given the makeup of his district. Auchincloss backed Biden to run for re-election in 2024 and urged Democrats to more aggressively defend him despite concerns about his age and health, including on right wing media.

On January 25, 2023, Auchincloss delivered a one-minute speech on the House floor entirely generated using ChatGPT, making it the first speech in Congress to be written with artificial intelligence programs. The speech was about creating a U.S.–Israel research facility centered on artificial intelligence.

Syria

In 2023, Auchincloss was among 56 Democrats to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21 which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.

Israel

Auchincloss voted to provide Israel with support following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. In October 2023, Auchincloss rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, saying that "Israel did not ask America to de-escalate on September 12, 2001."

Committee assignments

* Committee on Energy and Commerce
** Subcommittee on Energy
** Subcommittee on Environment
** Subcommittee on Health

Caucus memberships

Source:

* Armenian Caucus
* Congressional Blockchain Caucus
* Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations
* Congressional Jewish Caucus
* Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus
* Congressional YIMBY Caucus
* Native American Caucus
* Portuguese American Caucus
* Pro-Choice Caucus
* Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus
* ALS Caucus
* Autism Caucus
* Diabetes Caucus
* Friends of Australia Caucus
* Gun Violence Prevention Task Force
* HIV/AIDS Caucus
* Rare Disease Caucus
* Teleheath Caucus
* Defense Spending Reduction Caucus
* Sustainable Energy and Environment Caucus

Electoral history

Personal life

On July 28, 2017, Auchincloss married his wife Michelle. They have three children, a son and two daughters. They live in Newtonville, Massachusetts.

See also

* List of Harvard University politicians
* List of Jewish members of the United States Congress

References

External links

Representative Jake Auchincloss
official U.S. House website

Jake Auchincloss for Congress
*

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Auchincloss, Jake
1988 births
Living people
21st-century American Jews
21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives
21st-century United States Marines
Auchincloss family
Businesspeople from Massachusetts
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts
Harvard College alumni
Jewish American people in Massachusetts politics
Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives
Massachusetts city council members
Massachusetts independents
Massachusetts Republicans
MIT Sloan School of Management alumni
Military personnel from Massachusetts
Politicians from Newton, Massachusetts