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

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

(DNC) member from Wisconsin. He is the youngest person ever elected to the DNC. On February 5, 2017, he was elected to serve as secretary of the DNC.

Early life and education

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

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in Milwaukee.

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 Marquette University Student Government to provide domestic partner benefits to faculty. At Marquette, Rae received the 2008 Outstanding Class Member Award for the junior class. Rae is on the Board of Directors for the Rice Lake Boys 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. 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. Rae attended the 2004 Democratic National Convention as a guest of the Wisconsin delegation. He was a

superdelegate In American politics, a superdelegate is an unpledged delegate to the Democratic National Convention who is seated automatically and chooses for themselves for whom they vote. These Democratic Party superdelegates (who make up slightly under 15 ...

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 th
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

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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. 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 An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

'' in February 2008. On February 21, 2008 Rae announced his support of Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Rae's ultimate goal in politics is to become President himself. Rae currently serves as the Board President of Fair Wisconsin, a statewide LGBT advocacy organization. Rae attended the

2016 Democratic National Convention The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the majo ...

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. He recounted meeting with Michelle Obama, having breakfast with Chelsea Clinton, and receiving calls from Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Madeleine Albright, and others. 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 ''

'''''s'' "Forty under 40" issue of June/July 2009.Forty Under 40: Politics

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 politicians Gay politicians LGBT people from Wisconsin LGBT politicians from the United States Marquette University alumni People from Rice Lake, Wisconsin Wisconsin Democrats