State Wide – NewDEAL

Jena Griswold

Rachel Walsh — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:00:41 +0000

Jena Griswold

Secretary of State | Colorado

Jena Marie Griswold is Colorado’s 39th Secretary of State. She was first elected in 2018 as the youngest elected Secretary of State in the United States. She was reelected to the office in 2022. Secretary Griswold grew up in a working-class family in rural Colorado and was the first person in her family to attend a four-year college and then law school. Since taking office, Secretary Griswold has overseen 10 statewide elections, protected Coloradans Constitutional right to vote and supported the State’s business community by cutting red tape and the cost of starting a business.

During her time in office, Secretary Griswold has launched statewide systems so that every Colorado voter can track their ballot and fix signature or ID discrepancies with ease; increased mail ballot drop boxes statewide; passed automatic voter registration reform, which has registered hundreds of thousands of eligible Coloradans to vote; established a unit within the Secretary of State’s office focused specifically on protecting Colorado’s elections from cyber-attacks, foreign interference, and disinformation campaigns; and guaranteed drop boxes and voting centers on college campuses and Tribal lands to make it easy for all eligible Coloradans to cast a ballot.

Juliana Stratton

Rachel Walsh — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:00:18 +0000

Juliana Stratton

Lieutenant Governor | Illinois

Juliana Stratton is proud to serve as the 48th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. She believes the best policy making is done in partnership with communities closest to the problem.

Juliana’s compassionate and visionary leadership has led to groundbreaking legislation to expand Alzheimer’s disease screening in Illinois and numerous statewide initiatives. She launched “We Thrive,” a trailblazing effort to empower women on their journey to financial wellness and is spearheading efforts to advance a diverse pipeline in agriculture technology and innovation. She loves to uplift small businesses across the state and has bolstered the Illinois Main Street Partnership to revitalize local economies.

Juliana is a champion for the rights of women and girls and is a strong voice for rural affairs, military economic development, and opioid recovery.

Juliana resides on the south side of Chicago with her husband Bryan and they have four daughters. While she no longer has time to train for marathons and triathlons, she still loves to run and hike. Perhaps most importantly, she is always the first one on the dance floor.

Austin Davis

Andrea Cruz — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 04:00:18 +0000

Austin Davis

Lieutenant Governor | Pennsylvania

Lt. Gov. Austin Davis is the youngest Lieutenant Governor in the country and the first Black Lieutenant Governor in Commonwealth history. Inspired by the history-makers who came before – leaders like Pennsylvania House Speaker K. Leroy Irvis and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Nix Jr. – Austin is determined to motivate a new generation of public servants to break even more barriers.

Austin’s path to the second-highest office in the Commonwealth started in McKeesport, a former steel town in western Pennsylvania. Growing up, he watched his mom – a hairdresser for more than 40 years – juggle raising a family with putting food on the table, and he watched his dad work hard as a union bus driver.

At the age of 16, Austin was living in McKeesport when gun violence came to their doorstep. After a shooting in his neighborhood, he got involved in his community, starting a youth advisory council with the mayor and a youth gun violence prevention program at his high school.

Austin went on to study political science at the University of Pittsburgh, becoming a first-generation college graduate before pursuing a career in public service. He returned to McKeesport to work for the Allegheny County executive. In that role he helped create the first violence prevention office within the Allegheny Department of Health.

By the age of 21, he had earned praise from the Tribune-Review, which called him “a veteran at the politics of helping others.”

In 2018, Austin successfully ran for the state House of Representatives to represent the Mon Valley and his hometown of McKeesport, becoming the first African American to represent his legislative district.

As Lieutenant Governor, Austin presides over the Pennsylvania Senate, chairs the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, leads the Local Government Advisory Committee, and is the chair of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council. Gov. Josh Shapiro has also appointed Austin to chair the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

While serving as lieutenant governor, Austin is focused on combating the epidemic of gun violence, supporting small and minority-owned businesses, advocating for working-class Pennsylvanians and being a champion for communities that feel like they’ve been left behind.

Austin currently resides in Allegheny County with his wife, Blayre Holmes Davis. They’ve recently welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Harper.

Maggie Toulouse Oliver

Rachel Walsh — Wed, 03 May 2023 01:00:13 +0000

Maggie Toulouse Oliver

Secretary of State | New Mexico

Maggie Toulouse Oliver has called New Mexico home since the age of 3 and is New Mexico’s 26th Secretary of State. She has served the people of New Mexico in this role since first being elected in 2016.

She was first appointed to public office in 2007 when she became County Clerk in New Mexico’s largest county, Bernalillo County. Elected to her first full term in 2008, Secretary Toulouse Oliver served 2 1/2 terms as County Clerk until she was elected as Secretary of State in 2016. Overseeing elections in the state’s largest county gave Secretary Toulouse Oliver detailed, on-the-ground expertise in election administration that has helped to guide her current work overseeing elections statewide.

Secretary Toulouse Oliver has been involved in politics and public policy for over two decades and has made public service the focus of her career. Her work has focused on increasing voter access, running efficient, secure, and fair elections, and bringing more transparency and increased ethical standards to government.

Secretary Toulouse Oliver worked her way through college and graduate school. While earning her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Political Science from the University of New Mexico, Secretary Toulouse Oliver worked for U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman in his DC Office and on his re-election campaign in 2000. She also gained activism and organizing experience working with Native American tribes in New Mexico, fighting for reproductive justice, and protecting the Environment as the NM State Director for the League of Conservation Voters.

Since becoming Secretary of State she has implemented increased transparency rules for financial disclosure and campaign finance reporting, modernized the online campaign finance system, helped craft and pass good government legislation like same-day voter registration, automated voter registration, and the state’s newly-formed Ethics Commission.

In addition to her elected position, Secretary Toulouse Oliver is the immediate Past President of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), and has previously served NASS as President, President-Elect, Treasurer, and chair of the elections committee. She serves as a board member of New Mexico’s Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA), the New Mexico Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, and the state Commission on Records and Archives. She is currently a member of the University of Southern California Annenberg Center’s Voter Communication task force, and an advisory board member for the Election Official Legal Defense Network co-founded by national election law experts Benjamin Ginsburg and Bob Bauer. She is also a Ph.D. Student in Political Science at the University of New Mexico and is a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network Fellowship alumna. Most importantly, she is the proud mother of two sons, Christian and Max.

Molly Gray

Ben Moore — Thu, 06 May 2021 13:43:27 +0000

Molly Gray

Former Lieutenant Governor | Vermont

Former Vermont Lt. Governor Molly Gray now serves as the Executive Director of the Vermont Afghan Alliance, a non-profit working to support and assist Afghans resettling in Vermont.

Previously, Molly served as Vermont’s 82nd Lt. Governor, completing her term in January 2023. From 2018 to 2020, she served as a Vermont Assistant Attorney General while also teaching international human rights law as an adjunct professor at Vermont Law and Graduate School. Before that, Molly worked in Geneva, Switzerland for the International Code of Conduct Association, an international initiative aimed at overseeing the compliance of security contractors with human rights.

Molly launched the Association’s human rights monitoring program and led monitoring
missions into East Africa, Nigeria and Iraq. Gray also previously worked for the International
Committee of the Red Cross where she managed relations with Congress and led field missions to Haiti, Uganda, Georgia, the Western Balkans and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Molly began her career as an aide to U.S. Representative, now Senator, Peter Welch (D-VT).
Molly was born and raised in Newbury, Vermont on her family’s vegetable and dairy
farm. Molly holds an LL.M in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, a J.D. from Vermont Law School, and a B.A. from the University of
Vermont. After graduating law school Molly served as a law clerk to the Honorable Peter W.
Hall on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Molly lives in Burlington with her husband, new baby and two step sons.

Denny Heck

Ben Moore — Thu, 06 May 2021 13:06:20 +0000

Denny Heck

Lieutenant Governor | Washington

Denny Heck is humbled to serve as Washington’s 17th Lieutenant Governor. First elected in 2020, Lieutenant Governor Heck brings to the office a lifetime of experience in the public, private, and non-profit sectors.

As Lieutenant Governor, he is the President of the Washington State Senate and Chair of the Senate Rules Committee. He also serves as Acting Governor whenever Governor Inslee is out of the state. In addition to these constitutional duties, the Lt. Governor is designated other duties in state law.

Lieutenant Governor Heck previously served as the first United States Representative from Washington’s 10th Congressional District. While in Congress, he served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Financial Services Committee, and the Joint Economic Committee.

Prior to his service in Congress, Lieutenant Governor Heck successfully grew several small businesses in Washington State. One of those small businesses, which specializes in workplace education, started in Olympia with only two employees and grew to more than 300 people throughout the United States. Lieutenant Governor Heck was also an original investor in Real Networks, the digital entertainment company that pioneered streaming media on the Internet.

A strong advocate of open government, in 1993 Lieutenant Governor Heck cofounded TVW to provide the people of Washington State greater accessibility to their state government. TVW has grown into the nation’s preeminent statewide public affairs network. While at TVW, the Lieutenant Governor hosted the renowned public affairs program Inside Olympia and won an Emmy for a documentary he wrote, produced, and directed.

Early in his career, Lieutenant Governor Heck served his community in the State House of Representatives. Elected to five terms, he was chosen by his colleagues to serve as House Majority Leader before retiring in 1986. While in the State House, Lieutenant Governor Heck was one of the prime authors of the state’s historic Basic Education Act. After his time in the Legislature, he served as Chief of Staff to Governor Booth Gardner during his second term.

Lieutenant Governor Heck was born in Vancouver, Washington and graduated from The Evergreen State College in 1973. He has been married for 44 years to Paula Fruci Heck, an educator who began her career as a teacher and retired as principal at Jefferson Middle School in Olympia. He and Paula have lived in Olympia for 35 years. They have two sons, Bob and Trey, and are grandparents of Maleah.

Garlin Gilchrist

join.us — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 14:43:25 +0000

Garlin Gilchrist

Lieutenant Governor | MI

Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist has dedicated his career to fixing problems for hardworking families. From spearheading campaigns for equality and justice to harnessing technology to solve everyday problems for Detroiters, his focus has consistently remained on serving the public by getting things done.

Bringing Michigan’s state government fully into the 21st century is a top priority for Lt. Governor Gilchrist. He brings a lifetime of experience to the task, receiving his first computer at age five and setting up a computer lab in the community recreation center using computers that he built himself at age 16. Lt. Governor Gilchrist studied computer engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan, graduating with honors, and later had a successful career as a software engineer at Microsoft, helping to build SharePoint into the fastest growing product in the company’s history.

During his time in Seattle, Gilchrist served as Social Media Manager for the 2008 Obama campaign in Washington, where he helped launch a national text message program to recruit volunteers. He later served as the first Director of New Media at the Center for Community Change in Washington, D.C., and spent three years as National Campaign Director at MoveOn.org, where he spearheaded equity and justice campaigns, including fighting to expand Medicaid in states with Republican governors, like Michigan.

This eventually led to his serving as the first ever Director of Innovation & Emerging Technology for the city of Detroit, where he used public data and technology to address every day concerns the community was facing – including an app to report issues such as broken fire hydrants, potholes and broken street lights. This mindset of harnessing technology to solve problems will play a critical role in finding solutions to improve the lives of people across the state.

Zach Conine

join.us — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 15:05:14 +0000

Zach Conine

Treasurer | Nevada

Zach Conine currently serves as Nevada’s 23rd State Treasurer. As an entrepreneur and business leader, Zach knows that responsible financial management is the key to ensuring long-term growth for the State. Zach has worked to increase the role of the Treasurer’s Office, advocating for sound fiscal policies that will empower workers, diversify the economy, and increase access to higher education for all Nevadans.

Prior to serving as State Treasurer, Zach built a successful business career in the gaming, finance and consulting sectors. Over the course of his career, he has helped dozens of small and medium sized businesses expand, assisting in the creation and preservation of more than 3,000 good paying jobs in Nevada.

Since being elected in 2018, Zach has worked to establish himself and his Office as a trusted source of innovation in government. In his first year as Treasurer, Nevada received two bond rating increases, the first since 2006; generated the highest investment returns for the State since the recession of 2008; and returned the largest amount of unclaimed property back to Nevadans since the inception of the program. Zach is currently launching a first-in-the-nation pilot program to help bank the State’s legal marijuana industry. As the federal prohibition over marijuana has left small businesses and their employees under banked, Zach has stepped up to find innovative ways to promote public safety, while allowing the industry to grow and thrive.

Zach has also worked to establish College Savings Navigator Initiative, modeled after the Affordable Care Act, to assist underserved communities navigate and understand their options for pursuing higher education affordably.

Zach graduated with a B.A. from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and holds a J.D. from the from UNLV’s William S. Boyd School of Law. He and his wife Layke are happily raising their six-year-old daughter Ruby, two-year old twin sons Rutherford and Theodore, and two dogs, Democracy and Liberty.

Ross Miller

actualize — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 11:30:07 +0000

Ross Miller

Former Secretary of State | Nevada

Ross Miller was the former Secretary of State of Nevada from 2007 to 2015. Elected at the age of 30, he was the youngest secretary of state in the history of Nevada and the youngest secretary of state in the country at the time of his election.

Miller earned his undergraduate degree at Stanford University, during which time he worked as an intern for President Bill Clinton. He later received dual advanced degrees in Law and a master’s in business administration from Loyola Marymount University. Miller became a deputy district attorney in Clark County, Nevada.

Mr. Miller currently serves as vice president and general counsel for Fine Entertainment Management, the parent company of a portfolio of business interests that includes restaurants and bars, home and business security systems, marketing and advertising, and software development.

Born in Las Vegas and raised in Carson City, Ross is the son of former Nevada Governor Bob Miller and First Lady Sandy Miller. Ross met his wife Lesley when they were both law students at Loyola Marymount. Ross and Lesley have two daughters, Cameron, 8, Geneva, 6, and son Reece, 4.

Fiona Ma

actualize — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 11:30:06 +0000

Fiona Ma

Treasurer | California

Fiona Ma served as a member of the California Board of Equalization from 2015 to 2019. Ma served in the California State Assembly from 2006 to 2012 and on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors 2002 to 2006.

Fiona Ma received a bachelor’s degree in Accounting at Rochester Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in Taxation from Golden Gate University, and a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University. She is a CPA and member of the Aspen Institute’s 2009 Class of Aspen-Rodel Fellows.

Currently Ma, a Certified Public Accountant, has been serving as the California State Treasurer since January 7, 2019. She was elected to this post on November 6, 2018, with more votes than any other candidate for Treasurer in the state’s history.