Jared Polis

Jared Polis
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Colorado's 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2009
Preceded by Mark Udall
At-large member of the
Colorado State Board of Education
In office
January 2001 – January 2007
Preceded by Ben Alexander
Succeeded by District eliminated[citation needed]
Personal details
Born Jared Schutz Polis
(1975-05-12) May 12, 1975 (age 37)
Boulder, Colorado
Political party Democratic
Domestic partner Marlon Reis[1]
Children Caspian Julius[2]
Residence Boulder, Colorado
Alma mater Princeton University
Occupation Congressman
Religion Judaism[3]
Website polis.house.gov

Jared Schutz Polis (born May 12, 1975) is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and U.S. Representative for Colorado's 2nd congressional district, serving since 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life and education

Polis is the son of Stephen Schutz and Susan Polis Schutz. He attended the La Jolla Country Day School in San Diego, California. He received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Princeton University.

Business career

Polis has founded a number of companies and is one of the 10 richest members of the United States Congress estimated to be worth at least $65.91 million.[4] He founded American Information Systems, an internet access, web hosting and application service provider.

He, with his parents, also co-founded bluemountainarts.com, an online greeting card website, which he sold to Excite@Home three years later in a deal worth $780 million.[5][6] In 1998, he launched the online florist company ProFlowers that expanded to become Provide Commerce, Inc., acquired in 2006 by Liberty Media Corporation.

Philanthropy career

In 2000, Polis founded the Jared Polis Foundation, whose mission is to "create opportunities for success by supporting educators, increasing access to technology, and strengthening our community."[7] Its main programs are the annual Teacher Recognition Awards;[8] the Community Computer Connection program,[9] which refurbishes and donates more than 3,500 computers a year to schools and non-profit organizations; and the semi-annual Jared Polis Foundation Education Report. Polis has also founded two charter schools for at-risk students. In 2004, he established the New America School, which primarily serves older immigrant youth ages 16–21 and has three campuses in the Denver Metro area and one in New Mexico.[10] Polis serves as Superintendent. In 2005, he co-founded with Urban Peak the Academy of Urban Learning[11] in Denver to serve youth struggling with homelessness or unstable living conditions.

Polis was named Outstanding Philanthropist for the 2006 National Philanthropy Day in Colorado. He is a recipient of many awards, including the Boulder Daily Camera’s 2007 Pacesetter Award in Education;[12] the Kauffman Foundation Community Award;[13] the Denver consul general of Mexico “Ohtli”;[14] the Martin Luther King, Jr. Colorado Humanitarian Award; and the Anti-Defamation League’s inaugural Boulder Community Builder Award.

Early political career

State Board of Education

Polis campaigning during the 2008 Democratic primary in the 2nd District

In 2000, Polis was elected at-large as a member of the Colorado State Board of Education, and served for a single six-year term, until January 2007. His election was one of the closest in Colorado history. He defeated incumbent Ben Alexander by 90 votes out of 1.6 million cast.[15] Polis served as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education during his term.[16][17]

Ballot measures

In 2006, Polis served as co-chair of Coloradans for Clean Government, a committee that supported Amendment 41, a citizen-initiated ballot measure to ban gifts by registered lobbyists to government officials, establish a $50 annual restriction on gift-giving from non-lobbyists, create an independent ethics commission, and establish a two-year cooling-off period before former state legislators and statewide elected officials can begin lobbying. In November 2006, 62.3 percent of Colorado voters approved the "Ethics in Government" constitutional amendment.[18]

In 2007, he co-chaired the "Building for our Future" campaign that supported ballot question 3A in the Boulder Valley School District to issue $296.8 million in bonds for the improvement and modernization of aging school facilities—the largest capital construction bond issue in the district’s history and the largest school bond proposal in Colorado that year. In November 2006, 58 percent of Boulder Valley School District voters approved 3A.[19]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2008
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, 2008#District 2

Polis won a heavily-contested primary election, which virtually assured him of victory in this heavily Democratic district. In the general election held on November 4, 2008, he won comfortably and took office on January 3, 2009, succeeding Mark Udall.

2010

Polis won re-election to the House of Representatives on November 2, 2010.[20]

Tenure

Polis is the first openly gay man elected to the House as a freshman[21] and the first gay parent in Congress.[2][22][23][24][25][26] (The other openly gay male Representatives currently serving in the House are Barney Frank, who did not make his orientation public until after he was first elected, and Rep. David Cicilline, the second openly gay man to be elected as a freshman, who took his seat in the 112th Congress in 2011. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay person elected as a freshman, took her seat in 1999.)

Polis is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and co-chair of the Mexico Caucus and the Nepal Caucus. He was also appointed by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the Board of Visitors of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs on which he chairs the Academic Subcommittee.

Polis has spoken out against the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act.[27]

Committee assignments

Personal life

Polis and his partner, Marlon Reis, are the parents of a son, Caspian Julius, born on September 30, 2011, making Polis the only openly gay member of Congress who is a parent.[1] Polis enjoys computer games such as League of Legends.[28]. He is a member of the Jewish faith and resides in Boulder, Colorado.

References

  1. ^ a b Terkel, Amanda (September 30, 2011). "Jared Polis Announces Birth Of Son, Becoming First Openly Gay Parent In Congress". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/jared-polis-openly-gay-parent_n_989422.html. Retrieved December 16, 2011. 
  2. ^ a b Parkinson, John. "House Democrat Jared Polis Becomes First Openly Gay Parent in Congress". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/09/house-democrat-jared-polis-becomes-first-openly-gay-parent-in-congress/. Retrieved 30 September 2011. 
  3. ^ "Three New Jewish Members of Congress". The Jewish Federations. http://www.jewishfederations.org/page.aspx?id=189354. Retrieved December 16, 2011. 
  4. ^ "The 50 Richest Members of Congress (2011)". Roll Call. http://www.rollcall.com/50richest/the-50-richest-members-of-congress-112th.html. Retrieved December 16, 2011. 
  5. ^ Susan Glairon (January 20, 2006). "After 35 Years, Card Company Still on Top". Associated Press. 
  6. ^ Larry Dignan (October 25, 1999). "Excite@Home buys Bluemountainarts.com for $780m". zdnet.co.uk. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,2074653,00.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-07. 
  7. ^ "Welcome". Jared Polis Foundation. http://jaredpolisfoundation.org/. Retrieved January 21, 2012. 
  8. ^ "2012 Jared Polis Foundation Teacher and School Recognition Awards". Jared Polis Foundation. http://jaredpolisfoundation.org/updates/2012-jared-polis-foundation-teacher-recognition-awards. Retrieved January 21, 2012. 
  9. ^ "Welcome". Community Computer Connection. http://www.c3-colorado.org/wordpress/. Retrieved January 21, 2012. 
  10. ^ "New America School". The New America School. http://newamericaschool.org/. Retrieved January 21, 2012. 
  11. ^ "About Academy of Urban Learning". http://www.academyofurbanlearning.net/about.html. Retrieved 2007-03-01. 
  12. ^ "Education: Jared Polis". Daily Camera. 2007-01-28. http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/jan/28/education-jared-polis/. Retrieved 2007-01-28. [dead link]
  13. ^ "Ground Floor Media". Archived from the original on 2006-11-01. http://web.archive.org/web/20061101103435/http://www.groundfloormedia.com/buzz0609od.html. Retrieved 2007-03-01. 
  14. ^ "City receives Amistad Award: Mexican government honors cultural, social accomplishments". Steamboat Pilot & Today. 2006-11-21. http://www2.steamboatpilot.com/news/2006/nov/21/city_receives_amistad_award/. Retrieved 2006-11-21. 
  15. ^ "Recount confirms Polis won seat on ed board; Republican Alexander won't contest second tally". Denver Post. 2000-11-29. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DP&p_theme=dp&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF459CABD30DF0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. 
  16. ^ Colbert, Stephen (2009-08-17). "Even Better-er Know a District – Colorado's 2nd". Better Know a District. The Colbert Report. http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/246939/august-17-2009/even-better-er-know-a-district---colorado-s-2nd---jared-polis. Retrieved 2009-08-18. 
  17. ^ "Polis on Politics". Boulder Weekly. 2008-06-26. http://www.boulderweekly.com/20080626/coverstory.html. Retrieved 2008-08-13. 
  18. ^ "Gift law spurs major battle". Rocky Mountain News. 2007-01-24. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5301171,00.html. Retrieved 2007-01-24. [dead link]
  19. ^ "Bonds will pump new money into aging schools". Daily Camera. 2006-11-10. http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2006/nov/10/no-headline-10zbvsd/. Retrieved 2006-11-10. [dead link]
  20. ^ "Election Results - cbs4denver.com". http://elections.cbslocal.com/cbs/kcnc/20101102/race3.shtml. Retrieved 3 November 2010. 
  21. ^ Phillips, Kate (2009-01-06). "New Voices in Congress Will Change the Tone of the Democratic Majority". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/us/politics/07frosh.html?em. Retrieved 2008-01-07. 
  22. ^ Andrew Harmon, 'Fatherhood for Congressman Jared Polis', in The Advocate, September 30, 2011 [1]
  23. ^ Amanda Terkel, 'Jared Polis Announces Birth Of Son, Becoming First Openly Gay Parent In Congress', on The Huffington Post, 9/30/11
  24. ^ 'Gay congressman announces birth of new son', in The Sacramento Bee, Sep. 30, 2011
  25. ^ 'Gay congressman announces birth of new son', in Forbes, 09.30.11 [2]
  26. ^ 'Congressman Jared Polis and partner proud parents of baby boy', in The Denver Post, September 30, 2011 [3]
  27. ^ Augustine, Josh (January 11, 2012). "U.S. Congressman joins League of Legends developer in urging fans to oppose SOPA/PIPA". pcgamer. http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/01/11/u-s-congressman-joins-league-of-legends-developer-in-urging-fans-to-oppose-sopapipa. Retrieved January 11, 2012. 
  28. ^ Augustine, Josh (January 11, 2012). "U.S. Congressman joins League of Legends developer in urging fans to oppose SOPA/PIPA". pcgamer. http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/01/11/u-s-congressman-joins-league-of-legends-developer-in-urging-fans-to-oppose-sopapipa. Retrieved January 11, 2012. 

External links

Educational offices
Preceded by
Ben Alexander 		At-large member of the
Colorado State Board of Education
2001–2007		 District eliminated
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Mark Udall 		Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Colorado's 2nd congressional district
2009–present		 Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by
Chellie Pingree
D-Maine 		United States Representatives by seniority
322nd		 Succeeded by
Bill Posey
R-Florida
Senators
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