JARED POLIS (ne Jared Schutz) who was born on this date, is an American politician, entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist, serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since January 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007, and five terms as the United States representative from Colorado’s 2nd congressional district from 2009 to 2019. He was the only Democratic member of the libertarian conservative Liberty Caucus, and was the third-wealthiest member of the United States Congress, with an estimated net worth of $122.6 million. He was elected governor of Colorado in 2018 and reelected in a landslide in 2022.

Polis co-founded American Information Systems (AIS), Inc., while still in college. AIS was an internet access provider and was sold in 1998. In 1996, he co-founded a free electronic greeting card website, bluemountain.com, which was sold to Excite@Home in 1999 for $430 million in stock and $350 million in cash.

In 1998, Polis founded ProFlowers, an online florist, in La Jolla, California. In December of that year, economist Arthur Laffer began advising Polis and joined ProFlowers as a Director. ProFlowers, later renamed Provide Commerce, Inc., went public on NASDAQ as PRVD in December 2003. In 2005, Provide Commerce was acquired by media conglomerate Liberty Media Corporation for $477 million. Polis and other investors founded TechStars in Boulder, Colorado, in 2006.

During his tenure in Congress, Polis was among its wealthiest members; his net worth was estimated at over $300 million.

As an out gay man, Polis has made history several times through his electoral success. In 2008, he became the first openly gay man and second out LGBT person (after Tammy Baldwin) elected to the United States Congress as a non-incumbent. In 2011, he became the first gay parent in the United States Congress. In 2018, he became the first out gay man and second openly LGBT person (after Kate Brown) elected governor of a state in the United States. He is also the first Jewish person elected governor of Colorado. In 2021, he became the first governor of a state in the United States in a same-sex marriage. In 2022, he became the first gay man and the first governor of a state in the United States in a same-sex marriage elected to a second term in office.

At the time of his departure from Congress, Polis was one of seven openly gay members of the 113th Congress, and caucused in the LGBT Equality Caucus. He pushed for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, and praised the Obama Administration’s decision for the Justice Department to no longer defend DOMA, saying, “Section 3 of the law is unconstitutional.” In a statement Polis said, “I applaud the Administration for finally recognizing what my colleagues and I have long criticized, to deny people the ability to officially acknowledge their relationship and feel welcomed as partners only for being LGBT is absurd and today’s decision confirms this”. Polis also credited Obama for openly endorsing gay marriage, calling it “welcome news to American families.”

Polis was an original cosponsor of H.R. 116, the Respect for Marriage Act. H.R. 116 repeals DOMA, allowing marriage recognition for gay and lesbian couples in the US, the District of Columbia, and US territories.

Polis was also the leading sponsor of the Student Non-Discrimination Act with Senator Al Franken, who introduced the act in the Senate. SNDA would establish a comprehensive federal non-discrimination prohibition in all public and elementary and secondary schools based on sexual orientation and gender identity, expanding Title IX of the Education Amendments Act to LGBT students. In a statement, Polis said “education is the right of every student” regardless of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. “The alarming increase in teen suicides has shown us just how far we are from making our children’s schools safe spaces.” The SNDA has 167 co-sponsors in the House, with only two Republicans signing on. SNDA is also supported by the ACLU and Change.org.

Polis voted for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which prohibited openly gay and lesbian members of the Military from serving. In a letter to Obama, Polis and 67 other House members urged for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The letter cited a California district judge’s ruling that DADT was unconstitutional and that the 14,000 service members who had been discharged from the military since its passage had been discharged unjustly.

Polis was also a supporter and cosponsor of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, giving adequate funding and ability to federal authorities to investigate hate crimes, and advocated for protections for LGBT victims of domestic violence to be included in the Violence Against Women Act.

In September 2014, Polis filed a discharge petition to bring the LGBT Employment Non-Discrimination Act to the floor of the House of Representatives for a proper vote. Representatives Garamenedi, Holt, and Connolly joined Polis in support in filing the petition. The revised legislation includes narrow religious exemptions.

Polis urged Obama to reconsider the inclusion of Malaysia and Brunei in a Trans-Pacific Partnership because of their negative record on LGBT rights.

In April 2022, Polis said he opposed the repeal of the Reedy Creek Improvement Act and said he would welcome Disney if they left Florida and moved to Colorado. 

In September 2021, Polis married his longtime partner, Marlon Reis, in a small Jewish Renewal ceremony with family and a few friends at a synagogue in Boulder.