Danny Ainge’s son running for U.S. Congressional seat in Utah
With a nudge from his father — Celtics GM Danny Ainge — Tanner Ainge is running for U.S. Congress in Utah.
Tanner Ainge, a Republican, is an investment advisor who doesn’t have much experience in politics. But his father encouraged his son to run for the Congressional seat to be vacated by Rep. Jason Chaffetz on June 30.
With vacancy created in the house, I'm encouraging my son Tanner to run. He has the integrity, edu, exp, to rep UT in DC. #AingeforCongress ?
— Danny Ainge (@danielrainge) May 18, 2017
Tanner Ainge had been hinting on LinkedIn about a potential run, and by Monday morning, he had filed paperwork to make his bid official, the Salt Lake Tribune reported . Also, the bios on his social media accounts were changed to say "candidate for U.S. House of Representatives."
In addition to his career in finance, Ainge has directed the African Equity Fund non-profit. He also volunteered in campaign finance for a year of Mitt Romney’s run for president in 2008, although that is the extent of his political background.
Deeper on Ainge’s resume, he speaks five languages, studied Chinese at Cornell University and earned his law degree at Northwestern University.
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While Ainge faces a crowded field in the Nov. 7 special election, BYU political science professor David Magleby told the Tribune, “being the son of a highly recognized and highly regarded local favorite (is an advantage). ...
"His father's jersey hangs in the Marriott Center, and it's a name that's going to be widely known," Magleby added. "... Who can forget that basket-to-basket drive at the end of the Notre Dame game in 1981?"