Chris Clark (politician)


Christopher Ryan Clark is an American politician and former Mayor of Mountain View, California. He was first elected to the Mountain View City Council in 2012 at age 29, making him the youngest and first openly LGBT elected official in the city’s history. Clark was subsequently elected mayor in January 2014 and is one of the youngest mayors in the United States.

Biography

Clark grew up on a farm in Rozetta, Illinois and later served as a Page for the US House of Representatives. He attended Stanford University and earned a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Economics. While Vice Mayor, In 2013, Clark completed program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a Leadership Fellow.

Career

Clark ran unsuccessfully for city council in 2008 and subsequently served on the Human Relations and Environmental Planning Commissions before winning his 2012 election bid. He was the highest non-incumbent vote-getter and elected vice mayor by the council soon after taking office in January 2013.
Prior to city council, Clark worked at Loopt, an early Y-Combinator startup co-founded by Sam Altman. He also held management positions at AT&T where he helped the company launch the iPhone in 2007.