Sean Eldridge

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Sean Eldridge
Sean-Eldridge.jpg
Born (1986-07-31) July 31, 1986 (age 35)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Citizenship
  • Canada
  • United States
EducationDeep Springs College (AA)
Brown University (BA)
Columbia University
Known forFreedom to Marry
Stand Up America
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2012)​

Sean Eldridge (born July 31, 1986)[1] is a Canadian-born American political activist, former congressional candidate, and the founder and president of Stand Up America, a progressive advocacy community. Eldridge previously served as political director of Freedom to Marry,[2] the campaign to win recognition of same-sex marriage nationwide.

Early life and education[]

Eldridge was born in Montreal, Quebec, and became a U.S. citizen in 2006.[3] He grew up in the suburbs of Toledo, Ohio, and attended public school in Ottawa Hills, a village in Lucas County that is a bedroom community and suburb of Toledo. Both of his parents are medical doctors; his father, Steve Eldridge, is a radiologist, and his mother, Sarah Taub, is a family physician.[4][5][6] His mother was born in Petah Tikva, Israel, to Jewish refugee parents, and his father converted to Judaism.[7][8] Eldridge held Israeli citizenship.[9]

Eldridge studied at Deep Springs College in Deep Springs, California and graduated with a degree in philosophy from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island,[10] where he helped organize the national Students for Barack Obama campaign in 2007. Eldridge enrolled at Columbia Law School in New York City but withdrew to join Freedom to Marry after the New York State Senate voted against legalizing same-sex marriage in New York in December 2009.[4]

Career[]

Early work[]

After the New York Senate failed to legalize same-sex marriage in New York State in 2009, Eldridge joined Freedom to Marry, the campaign to win marriage equality nationwide. He served initially as communications director and then as political director, a role in which he helped lead the successful 2011 effort to legalize same-sex marriage in New York.[11]

Following the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York State, Eldridge founded the investment fund Hudson River Ventures in 2011 to address the growing issue of access to capital for small businesses in the Hudson Valley[12] and founded the Hudson Valley Advanced Manufacturing Center at SUNY New Paltz in 2013, which trains students and workers on the use of 3-D printing technology.[13]

Since 2011, Eldridge has served on the board of directors of Scenic Hudson, "the largest environmental group focused on the Hudson Valley" and is a significant supporter of their climate change and waterfront protection programs.[14][15] Eldridge has also served as a Planned Parenthood board member.[16]

In 2012, he launched Protect Our Democracy PAC and New York Leadership for Accountable Government (NY LEAD), a bipartisan group of business and civic leaders advocating for campaign finance reform in New York State.[17][18][19][20]

2014 congressional campaign[]

In early 2013, Eldridge filed paperwork to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014, challenging Republican incumbent Chris Gibson in New York's 19th congressional district.[21] The district has been described as "the quintessential swing district".[22] RealClearPolitics reported that "Eldridge's formidable strengths as a well-financed, eloquent messenger with powerful friends in the Democratic Party [were] obvious."[21]

Despite losing the election, Eldridge was praised for making campaign finance reform "a key part of his platform, advocating for more transparency in the system, greater enforcement of the existing rules, and a small-dollar matching-funds system for congressional races."[21]

Founding Stand Up America[]

In the weeks after the 2016 election, Eldridge started Stand Up America, a progressive advocacy organization that which began as a Facebook page and quickly grew to a community of over two million progressives.

During the Trump administration, the group was a key player in the fights to impeach Donald Trump, secure funding for election security, and pass democracy reforms like the For the People Act. In the first months of the Biden administration, Eldridge's group has focused on protecting the right to vote, expanding access to the ballot across the country, and passing sweeping anti-corruption legislation through Congress.[23]

The group boasts having registered 100,000 voters, driven over 1.4 million constituent calls to federal and state lawmakers, and mobilized tens of thousands of protestors.

Personal life[]

Eldridge attended U.S. president Barack Obama's first state dinner with Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes in 2009.[24] The couple was featured on the cover of The Advocate magazine's "Forty Under 40" issue in May 2011, and they were profiled in the New York Times in May 2012.[25][26]

Eldridge and Hughes announced their engagement in January 2011 at a reception in support of Freedom to Marry.[27] They married on June 30, 2012.

Electoral history[]

US House election, 2014: New York District 19[28]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sean S. Eldridge 60,533 28.8%
Working Families Sean S. Eldridge 11,937 5.7%
Total Sean S. Eldridge 72,470 34.5%
Republican Chris Gibson 102,118 48.5%
Conservative Chris Gibson 20,420 9.7%
Independence Chris Gibson 9,056 4.3%
Total Chris Gibson (Incumbent) 131,594 62.6%
None Blank/Void/Write-In 6,287 2.9%
Total votes 210,351 100%

References[]

  1. ^ Official Facebook page
  2. ^ "Sean Eldridge profile: Freedom to Marry". freedomtomarry.org. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  3. ^ "Facebook co-founder hubby's brazen run".
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Reindl, JC (February 27, 2011). "Former Ottawa Hills resident to wed Facebook co-founder". The Blade. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  5. ^ Hernandez, Raymond (July 10, 2013). "Young, Rich and Relocating Yet Again in Hunt for Political Office". New York Times. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  6. ^ "Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge". New York Times. July 1, 2012.
  7. ^ "The Complex Power Coupledom of Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge". June 4, 2015.
  8. ^ Taylor, Matt. "Congressional Candidate Sean S. Eldridge Wants You To Know the 'S' Stands for 'Simcha'". Tablet. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  9. ^ Lizza, Ryan (December 12, 2014). "Inside the Collapse of The New Republic". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  10. ^ Holson, Laura (May 4, 2012). "A Powerful Combination". New York Times. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  11. ^ "Freedom to Marry Staff Bios". Freedom to Marry. Archived from the original on May 9, 2012.
  12. ^ "Scenic Hudson has new board members". The Journal News. December 9, 2011.
  13. ^ "SUNY New Paltz will be home to 3-D printing initiative". Daily Freeman. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  14. ^ "International Business and Social Media Leaders Add to Heft of Scenic Hudson Board". December 7, 2011.
  15. ^ "Scenic Hudson gets $100K for flood control efforts in Kingston, other waterfront communities". Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  16. ^ Hamilton, Matthew (August 25, 2014). "Sean Eldridge says independence, not wealth, is key to campaign". Times Union. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  17. ^ "Wealthy Donors Join Effort to Improve Campaign Finance System". New York Times. February 15, 2012.
  18. ^ "Group Forms to Aid Campaign Finance Reform Push". Politics on the Hudson. February 15, 2012.
  19. ^ "With Cuomo, a New Group Will Push for Publicly Financed Elections". New York Times. June 25, 2011.
  20. ^ "Sean Eldridge Wants to Curb the Influence of Big Donors—Like Himself". Mother Jones.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b c Fama, Jilian. "Sean Eldridge, Husband of Facebook Co-Founder, Running for Congress". abcnews.go.com. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
  22. ^ "It's a Close Race Down to the Wire in NY's 19th Congressional District".
  23. ^ "About". Stand Up America. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  24. ^ Staff (November 24, 2009). "A Place at the State Dinner Table". The Advocate. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  25. ^ "Forty Under 40: Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge". The Advocate. May 2011. Archived from the original on April 14, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  26. ^ "A Powerful Combination". New York Times. May 4, 2011.
  27. ^ "Engaging News of Facebook". NY Post. January 15, 2011.
  28. ^ "NYS Board of Elections" (PDF). NYS Board of Elections. Retrieved January 26, 2018.

External links[]

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