Elisabeth Jensen is an education advocate and the Democratic Party nominee for Kentucky's 6th congressional district in the

United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky, 2014 The 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the state of Kentucky, one from each of the state's six congressional districts. The elections ...

Early life and career

Elisabeth Jensen was born in Indiana and graduated from Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis after attending

Aiglon College Aiglon College is a private co-educational boarding school in Switzerland, broadly modelled on British boarding school lines. It is an independent, non-profit school located in the Swiss Alps. It is located 60 km from Lausanne in the alpine vil ...

. Jensen earned a degree in design and merchandising from the Wood Tobé-Coburn School and attended the

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. ...

. Jensen was an executive for

Disney Consumer Products Disney Consumer Products, Inc. is the retailing and licensing subsidiary of the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products segment of The Walt Disney Company. Previously, Consumer Products was a segment of Disney until 2016, then a unit of Disney Co ...

but, as a lifelong horse enthusiast, decided to move to Kentucky in order to work with

Thoroughbreds The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are con ...

. In 2000, Jensen became the manager of Tracy Farmer's stables and later managed public relations for

WinStar Farm WinStar Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding and racing farm near Versailles, Kentucky, owned by Kenny Troutt. It won the 2010 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Owner and 2016 Outstanding Breeder. WinStar Farm owned 2018 Triple Crown ...

. In 2002, Jensen co-founded The Race for Education, an organization that provides services such as scholarships and financial literacy training to students with financial needs. The Race for Education has provided over $5 million in scholarships and education programs and has earned recognition from the

White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, formerly the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) is an office within the White House Office that is part of the Executive Office of the President ...

. Jensen founded another organization in 2009 called Starting Gate, an after-school organization for middle school students that is currently offered in Fayette and Bourbon counties. She has also been involved in an organization called Unique that provides support for families with children that have unique and chromosome disorders. Jensen graduated from Emerge Kentucky, a political-training program for women. She has served as a volunteer for several political campaigns, including Gov. Steve Beshear and U.S. Rep.

Ben Chandler Albert Benjamin Chandler III (born September 12, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States representative for from 2004 to 2013. A Democrat, Chandler was first elected to Congress in a 2004 special election. He ...

, and was an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2012. In 2011, Gov. Steve Beshear appointed Jensen to the Kentucky Department of Education's State Advisory Panel for Exceptional Children.

2014 Congressional campaign

In December 2013, Jensen filed to run for the Democratic nomination for Kentucky's 6th congressional district in the

. Jensen was seen as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination and was endorsed by Adam Edelen, Jack Conway,

Jerry Abramson Jerry Edwin Abramson (born September 12, 1946) is an American Democratic politician who was the 55th lieutenant governor of Kentucky. On November 6, 2014, Governor Steve Beshear announced that Abramson would step down from his position as lieute ...

John Yarmuth John Allan Yarmuth ( ; born November 4, 1947) is an American politician and former newspaper editor serving as the U.S. representative for since 2007. His district encompasses the vast majority of the Louisville Metro Area. Since 2013, he has ...

Emily's List EMILY's List is an American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "Early Money ...

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the ...

UFCW The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hosp ...

, AFGE, NALC, Pam Miller, Reggie Thomas,

Sannie Overly Sannie Louise Overly (born July 2, 1966) is an American lawyer, engineer, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Overly served in the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing the 72nd district. She was the Democratic caucus ch ...

, and Susan Westrom. In March 2014, Jensen received endorsements from the AFL-CIO,

United Automobile Workers The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) ...

, and the Kentucky Building and

Trades Council A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of labour unions or union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, region, or provincial or ...

. In May 2014, Jensen was endorsed by Governor Steve Beshear and The Lexington Herald-Leader. Jensen won the Democratic nomination in the primary with 61% of the vote. After the primary, Jensen's campaign received attention from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee which placed her campaign on their "Emerging Races" initiative. Jensen's campaign received national attention due to Jensen's decision to campaign based on the success of Kynect, Kentucky's

health insurance marketplace In the United States, health insurance marketplaces, also called health exchanges, are organizations in each state through which people can purchase health insurance. People can purchase health insurance that complies with the Patient Protectio ...

created in accordance with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. On May 12, 2014, Jensen appeared on ''

All In with Chris Hayes ''All In with Chris Hayes'' is an American news television program that airs weekdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on MSNBC. It is hosted by Chris Hayes, who previously hosted ''Up with Chris Hayes'' on MSNBC weekends. The show premiered on April 1, 2013. ...

'' to discuss Kynect. Barr defeated Jensen in the general election by 60% to 40%.

References

External links

Official campaign siteOfficial FacebookOfficial TwitterThe Race for Education
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Elisabeth Kentucky Democrats Living people Women in Kentucky politics Disney executives American political activists Education activists People in horse racing Fashion Institute of Technology alumni Politicians from Fort Wayne, Indiana Politicians from Lexington, Kentucky Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Aiglon College