Jason Stanford ‘92

Jason Stanford

Class of 1992
Austin, Texas

Jason Stanford, BA ’92, was born in Washington D.C. and raised in Port Angeles, Washington, a small coastal town on the Olympic Peninsula. Stanford got into politics because he wanted to be a spy. He majored in Russian at Lewis & Clark College. Unfortunately, (well, just for his career), the Cold War ended while he was in college, and the job market for Russian-speaking spies dried up. So in 1992 Jason spent his last semester in Moscow and landed two jobs in journalism. In one, he led a partially successful strike of foreign workers against a Russian boss. In the other, for the Moscow bureau of the Los Angeles Times, he uncovered the diversion of U.S. economic aid to Boris Yeltsin’s political party.

After two years of long, bitter winters and odd career choices, Jason moved to Texas and went to work for Gov. Ann Richards’ re-election campaign against George W. Bush. Stanford is now the owner and operator of a political consulting company Stanford Campaigns. His clients have included 25 Members of Congress, three Governors, Fortune 500 corporations, the AFL-CIO, and the National Abortion Rights Action League, among many others. At last count, only two of his clients have lost their elective offices due to embarrassing sex scandals. In business since 1996, Jason described his company’s goal as “beating Republicans.” He also has written a book about Texas Governor Rick Perry and now writes a nationally syndicated column on politics.

At Lewis & Clark, Jason majored in Russian studies, belonged to the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, rowed on the crew team, and studied abroad in Russia. This is Jason’s second term of service for the Board of Alumni; he was a member from 2001 to 2006. He is also an avid fan of the Baltimore Orioles.

Jason’s previous service to the board is going to provide more in-depth institutional memory and history of the alumni association. His professional background in policy, fundraising, leadership, public relations, writing and consulting is a great addition as the board continues to grow and improve their outreach to the alumni and student communities.