1. Reince R. Priebus was born on March 18, 1972, in Kenosha, Wis., to Dimitra and Roula Priebus, a former electrician who works in real estate.
2. Priebus graduated cum laude in 1994 with a political science and English degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he was study body president.
3. Before attending law school, Priebus served as committee clerk for the Wisconsin State Assembly Education Committee. In 1998, he graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law, where he was president of the Student Bar Association.
4. After law school, Priebus joined the Milwaukee firm Michael Best & Friedrich, and he later became a partner in the litigation practice group and co-chair of the firm's government and public policy group.
5. Priebus married his wife, Sally, in 1999. The couple, who first met in high school and went to prom together, have two children and live in Kenosha.
6. In 2004, Priebus ran an unsuccessful bid to challenge Democratic state Sen. Robert Wirch, despite having raised more money than his opponent.
7. In 2007, Priebus was elected chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party. The position granted him membership to the Republican National Committee.
8. Priebus was named by the Milwaukee Business Journal as one of the city's "40 under 40" in 2008.
9. In 2009, Priebus managed former RNC head Michael Steele's campaign for the chairmanship. [See 10 things you didn't know about Michael Steele.]
10. Priebus said he and his family will move to Washington to be near the RNC headquarters.
- See an Opinion slide show of the Republican Party's five rising stars.
- Check out a roundup of this month's best political cartoons.







Reader Comments Read all comments (13)
Marilyn of WI 12:26AM January 24, 2013
Marilyn of WI 1:57AM January 23, 2013
Matty Fatty of OR 9:55PM September 14, 2012