Jack Gardner
From Usgovsimulation
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| Democratic Party | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | ||||
| Began Present Office: 2021 | ||||
| State | Washington | |||
| Class | Northwest-? | |||
| Region and Superregion | Northwest, The West | |||
| Previous Offices | King County Executive | |||
| Born | October 23, 1988 Astoria, Oregon | |||
| Spouse | Unmarried, living with partner | |||
| Religion | Religious Society of Friends | |||
| Residence | Seattle, Washington | |||
| Occupation | Executive director of the West Seattle Food Bank | |||
| Education | Reed College, Oregon | |||
James Leonard "Jack" Gardner (born October 23, 1988) is a member of the United States Senate, representing the region of The Northwest. He previously served as County Executive for King County, Washington. He was appointed to the Senate in 2021 by Governor Amanda Renzetti. Prior to entering politics, he served as executive director of the West Seattle Food Bank.
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Before politics
Born in rural Astoria, Oregon, the son of a barber and a realtor, Jack Gardner graduated second in his class from Astoria High School and enrolled at the prestigious Reed College in Portland. He graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts, having majored in Classics and minored in Political Science. After two years as a staff assistant in the office of Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR), he relocated to Seattle, Washington, where he was appointed executive director of the West Seattle Food Bank. In this role, he expanded the Food Bank's operations considerably, bringing in and distributing between 500 and 750 tons of food annually from 2013 to 2016, up from less than 400 tons before his tenure.
County government
In 2017, he made his first run for elective office, seeking the post of King County Executive. Running against two regional legislators and three county councilmen, he was at first dismissed as the most minor of all the candidates, with no chance to even place, let alone win. His charisma and keen grasp of the issues quickly impressed local politics watchers, however, and his fiery commitment to progressive views won him a devoted following among Seattle's burgeoning student, GLBT, union, and environmentalist communities. In the nonpartisan primary election, he placed a surprise second behind County Councilwoman Marlene Williams, taking 23% of the vote. With the endorsements of Seattle Weekly, The Stranger, The Facts, Seattle Gay News, and Real Change, Seattle's alternative newspapers, as well as the Sierra Club and the SEIU, he was able to subsequently ride a wave of progressive sentiment that also brought three new, left-wing members to the County Council. The final tally was 54% for Gardner and 46% for Williams.
As County Executive, he has pushed through a living wage law indexed to inflation, required that businesses making use of county subsidies provide health insurance and paid leave for their employees, created a countywide bicycle rental system modeled on Paris' Vélib' program, decriminalized marijuana possession, enacted new "smart growth" planning policies, created an independent Office of Public Integrity to run ethics investigations of county government officials, committed King County to the Kyoto Protocol, funded a groundbreaking program to convert the county dump into a source of renewable alternative energy, passed legislation returning the County Council to partisan elections and providing a system of proportional representation, and authored a "buy local, buy union" policy for county government. In 2021, he was re-elected with 73% of the vote.
U.S. Senate
Shortly following his successful re-election, he was approached by Governor Amanda Renzetti to fill the U.S. Senate vacancy left by the resignation of Karen Dayton Devereaux. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed by the Governor to fill the seat.
As a member of the Senate, he has quickly established himself as a strong advocate for equal rights for GLBT Americans and protection of the right to life, which he feels begins at conception and ends only at natural death. He currently serves as the junior Democratic member of Foreign Relations, Intelligence, and Defense Committee.
Personal life
Jack Gardner resides in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. He lives with his longtime partner, actor Jason Rivers. Although the two are committed to each other, they are barred from marriage by the laws of their region. Gardner is a lifelong member of the Friends General Conference, a segment of the Religious Society of Friends (better known as "Quakers"). He currently attends unprogrammed worship with the Olympia Friends Meeting.
