Clay

@JacksonClay: Indiana's workers have gone too long without a pay raise. Congress should pass the WAGE Act.

Official Twitter Account of Senator Jackson Clay. 

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Name: Jackson Clay

Date of Birth: January 6th, 1977

Place of Birth: Muncie, IN

Current Place of Residence: Muncie, IN

Political Party: Democratic Party

State and Seat: Indiana, Class 3

Family History: 

Parents: Joseph (b.1945) and Maria Clay (b.1950)

Wife: Madeline Kelly (b.1980, m. 2009) 

Educational History: 

Indiana University 1995-99 

Graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Political Science with a History Minor

Indiana University Maurer School of Law 1999-2002

Graduated with a J.D. 

Occupational History:

Junior Associate, Faegre Baker Daniels 2002-2005

Campaign Counsel, Brad Ellsworth for Congress 2005-2006

Chief of Staff, Representative Brad Ellsworth, 2007-2008

Chairman, Indiana Democratic Party, 2008-2009 

Senator from Indiana, 2011-Present

The story of Jackson Clay is one of unlikely victories and questionable career decisions. After receiving his Law Degree in 2002, he managed to finagle a spot as a junior associate at the most prestigious of Indiana Law Firms, but found the path to partnership a grueling and unsatisfactory experience. Seeking to leave the legal world and move into politics, Clay picked up on an opportunity to work for Democratic Congressional hopeful Brad Ellsworth, who in the 2006 wave year won election to Indiana's 8th congressional district, upsetting a 6 term incumbent. As the campaign counsel, legal advisor, and close confidant of the candidate, Clay was the obvious choice to run Ellsworth's congressional office. After about a year, Clay was ready to leave Washington and return to Indiana, seeking to spend more time with his fiancee and perhaps run for an office of his own. Congressman Ellsworth had other plans, and sites on higher office, so he floated Clay's name as a potential chairman of the state party. In the first of Clay's unlikely victories, he won election to the position, and set about reforming the party, seeking to build the party in preparation for what was expected to be a difficult midterm election in 2010. 

As fate would have it, Clay was preparing the party for his own run. Senator Evan Bayh, the scion of the Bayh political dynasty, had been expected to run for re-election, and in many cases was viewed as the only candidate who could possibly hold the seat for the party. For any number of reasons, Bayh decided at the last moment that he would rather not run again, and the choice of a nominee was thrown to the party. Clay tried to get his former boss, Congressman Ellsworth to run for the post, but Ellsworth demurred, figuring it was likely to be a bad election for the Democrats, and not wanting to hurt his hopes for a future chance at higher office. Instead, he suggested that Clay run for the post, given his knowledge of the expanded Democratic machinery from his time running the state party. Clay was not initially eager to take the plunge, but in the face of having no credible candidate, he took up the party on the opportunity and ran for the Senate. 

Clay's Senate prospects were not great at the outset, and his choice to run differently than Senator Bayh, as more of a populist progressive, led Washington oddsmakers to assume he had little chance at the seat. However, the Tea Party movement had hit the state, and Treasurer Richard Murdock, who many expected to wait until 2012, decided to forgo his re-election and put his hat in the ring. Murdock's overly conservative leanings were out of touch with the state, and his penchant for getting himself into trouble with his words made the election closer than it would have otherwise been. In a surprise to political observers in Indiana and across the country, the personal appeal, strong campaign apparatus, and rhetorical foibles of the Murdock campaign allowed Clay to sneak out the most unlikely of victories, winning 51%-49% in an otherwise awful night for Democrats. Having accidentally nabbed himself a Senate Seat, the question now is whether Clay will be able to continue his rebuilding of the party, and his own personal profile, in order to hold onto his seat in 2016. Only time will tell. 

I have quite enjoyed being an owner, but I feel compelled to play in what looks to be an exciting reset. I have resigned as owner, and passed my stake equally up between Anderson and Ironsides. 

I was thinking about it, and I'm not sure that we have a really solid idea of where everyone stands politically, so I thought it'd be nice to have a thread where we could post our test results. 

Here are my ISidewith results: https://www.isidewith.com/profile/3714007953/parties

Here is the regular link! https://www.isidewith.com/

White will Chair ASFAJ now

For the Majority

ASFAJ

Ari Goodman (GA-8) Chair

Andrew Landingham (OH-13)

John White

HELP

Douglas Seymour (SC-3) Chair

Thomas Blackstone (MA-2)

Elizabeth Callaghan 

GOP when HELP tables their Healthcare bill