Jason Rae (born November 25, 1986) is an American activist and

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

(DNC) member from

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. He was the youngest person ever elected to the DNC in 2004. On February 25, 2017, Rae was elected to serve as secretary of the DNC.and was re-elected to the position in 2021 and 2025. He is also the founder, president, and CEO of the Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Early life and education

Rae was born in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, to John and Lori Rae. He was a student at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

, from which he graduated with a BA in history and political science. He is a partner at Nation Consulting in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

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. He previously served in the MUSG Senate as Senator, student representative to the Faculty Academic Senate, College of Arts & Sciences Committee chair, and Parliamentarian. Rae was the author of a bill passed by the

Student Government to provide domestic partner benefits to faculty. Rae is a member of the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District Board, VISIT Milwaukee, and the United Way Campaign Cabinet. He has previously served is on the Board of Directors for the Rice Lake Boys and Girls Club.

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. 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. Rae defeated a state legislator and the president of the state's firefighters' union were among the losing candidates for the position. During summer 2006, Rae interned at the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. He came out as gay to members of the DNC in February 2007. In spring 2007, Governor Jim Doyle (D-WI) appointed Rae as the youth representative to the Governor's Commission on the United Nations. 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. Rae served as the board president of Fair Wisconsin, a statewide

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

advocacy organization.He has also served as the chair of the Milwaukee County Human Rights Commission and vice chair of the Marquette University Gender & Sexuality Resource Center Advisory Board. In 2017, Rae was elected as the DNC Secretary and was renominated for the position in 2021 with the support of US President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

. He was re-elected again in 2025 and has been serving as the DNC Secretary since. In the 2025 elections, Rae received 338.5 votes against Marilyn Davis's 68.5 votes. During the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Rae called for the roll of the states in a revised nomination process, which was held virtually amid the pandemic of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. He was selected again to call the roll for the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

in 2024. In 2012, Rae established the Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce, an organization with over 600 business members. Since then, he has been serving as its CEO and president. Rae is also a partner at Nation Consulting, a public affairs firm based in

References

External links

Introducing DNC Member Jason RaeDemocratic Party of WisconsinJason Rae in interview with Justin Webb of the BBC
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, Jason 1986 births Living people 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American politicians American gay politicians LGBTQ people from Wisconsin Marquette University alumni People from Rice Lake, Wisconsin Wisconsin Democrats