When Ethan Corson was a child growing up in Overland Park, baseball was his passion. George Brett was his hero.
His biggest desire was to play baseball for his high school team, the Shawnee Mission South Raiders. He never participated in student government. He went to college, then to law school and now he is involved in politics as the executive director of the Kansas Democratic Committee, a job he started in August 2017.
While baseball and politics may seem wildly different, Corson sees similarities between the two.
“I think for me, what I was attracted to is that government is the biggest force for social change at scale. You have to have a role in government to impact social change. Politics also appealed to my competitive side like baseball. You are on a team. You are out there making your argument. Just like in baseball and football, you try to execute your play. The other side is also doing this. Someone wins, and someone loses. You present your case, and it gets decided with clarity.”
Because baseball was still his main focus following high school graduation in 2001, he attended Garden City Community College on a baseball scholarship. After two years in Garden City, it was on to Washington University in St. Louis to finish his degree. While there, his political interests began to germinate.
His first entry into politics was as an intern for Congressman Richard Gephardt in his St. Louis office. Then during his winter break in 2004 he went to Iowa as a volunteer for the Iowa Caucus, specifically for John Edwards.
“I really enjoyed that,” Corson said. “The entire political world descends on Iowa. You see so many national figures in this small state. It was a great experience. It got me hooked.”
After he completed his undergrad degree, he stayed at Wash U to attend law school. His last semester of law school was spent as a legal fellow in Sen. Claire McCaskill’s D.C. office, focusing on military and defense policy. During that time, he witnessed the hearings where Gen. David Petraeus testified about the Iraq War.
“Being in the hearing, and seeing all the photographers and the flashbulbs, you felt you were in the middle of an historic moment,” Corson said. “You feel like you are at the center of the events that are going on, and everyone is watching.”
During all this, politics was still not the career Corson envisioned. His plan was to be a trial lawyer. His favorite classes were evidence and trial practice.
“I thought I would be Clarence Darrow,” he said. “But I found out that the reality of legal practice is there are very few jury trials today. Most cases settle.”
As an attorney, he said he did “some exciting pro bono work” including working with the team of lawyers who challenged the Wisconsin Voter ID law. This led to him to volunteering for the Obama campaign in 2012 in the area of voter protection. Since then he has worked on voter rights from many different angles.
He soon left his law firm job and served in the Obama administration as a senior adviser for former Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. He eventually became the chief of staff for the International Trade Administration, a bureau of the Department of Commerce. Here his duties were to enforce trade laws and violations of trade agreements and to promote trade between countries.
“I felt really proud of the work I did,” he said. “I felt that I played a small part in the success of the administration.”
Corson met his wife, Jenna Brofsky, at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration in January 2013. Both were lawyers in Washington, D.C., brought together by a friend with whom Corson had worked with on Obama’s re-election campaign in Wisconsin. Their walk to the inauguration led to a walk down the aisle five years later in September 2017. They did invite President Obama, but he did not attend.
When Obama’s term was complete, Corson and his then-finance decided to move to Kansas.
“I wanted to come back to Kansas because I was worried about what was happening,” he said. “I felt I had a unique experience in law and politics on the highest level. I knew I wanted to make a difference in the direction of Kansas.”
The job as executive director of the Kansas Democratic Committee (KDC) came open, and Corson felt it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Corson said it been interesting overseeing the KDC.
“As a party we are neutral in primaries,” he said. “But for the first time we have very competitive primaries. We are keeping an open line of communication with all the campaigns. No campaign gets even a perceived view of getting any extra help.”
One issue that is important for him is how Israel is viewed by the parties. He visited Israel in 2016 with his wife and her family.
“I think it is bad for Israel and bad for the United States for Israel to been seen as a partisan issue,” Corson said. “Since President Truman recognized Israel, Israel has benefitted from bipartisan support. When people try to make that a political football, I think it hurts both countries.”
“During the Obama administration, military-to-military aid with Israel was never better,” he continued. “This was evidenced through joint military efforts like Iron Dome. But not all people in either party will agree on all decisions for Israel. So, it is best to keep it bipartisan.”
Corson, who became a Bar Mitzvah at Congregation Beth Shalom in 1995, said his Jewish identity has also led to his commitment to the political system and social justice.
“My Jewish values influenced my decision to go into politics and government in a big way. There is the communal aspect of Judaism and compassion,” he said. “I think the Jewish religion has a large sense of empathy. My life is poorer if others do not have access to things like health care. In Judaism there is a sense that we are all in this together. It is not just about my child, it is about everyone’s child.”
Corson and his wife belong to Congregation Kol Ami. They like the social justice focus of the congregation and the work that Rabbi Doug Alpert is doing.
“The Jewish social action component spoke to Jenna and me,” Corson said.
Corson enjoys being home in Kansas where his parents, Niles and Judy Corson, live and where he grew up with his younger twin brothers, Andrew and Michael. He and Jenna look forward to continuing to be engaged in the Jewish community. They have joined the Tribe KC, and Jenna has joined the young professional board of Jewish Vocational Services, as well as chairing the Kansas City advisory council of Avodah.
“When I moved back, I became more involved in the Jewish community,” Corson said. “It has been a really great welcoming community for Jenna and me. We are blown away with the warmth and kindness. It is really an awesome experience to move back. I see it so differently as an adult, as to how meaningful it is and what a good community to be in.”
