Jesse Mullen

Jesse James Mullen (born April 14, 1984) is an American business owner of newspapers and bookstores and politician. He is the founder of Mullen Newspaper Company, a media company headquartered in Deer Lodge, Montana. Mullen Newspaper Company owns community newspapers in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, and Washington.
== Early life and education ==
Jesse Mullen was born on April 14, 1984, in Sioux City, Iowa to Tom and Ann (Wells) Mullen. He is the oldest of four siblings, Louis (brother), Emily (sister), and Lloyd (brother). His father is a newspaper owner and playwright, his mother is a nurse and business owner. His sister Emily died of meningitis at the age of one in 1988.
Mullen graduated from Newcastle High School, in Newcastle, Wyoming, in 2002, where he was an accomplished high school swimmer. Mullen studied Architectural Engineering, Fine Art, and Journalism at the University of Wyoming.
== Career in Journalism ==
Mullen began his newspaper career with Stevenson Newspapers at the Saratoga Sun, in Saratoga, Wyoming, working as a sports reporter and advertising sales representative. He was promoted to editor of the Philipsburg Mail, in Philipsburg, Montana. He was then promoted to Publisher of the Seaside Signal in Seaside, Oregon. Mullen won numerous awards for editorial excellence.
Mullen returned to the University of Wyoming to continue his education and was hired as the night editor of The Boomerang, in Laramie, Wyoming. He was promoted to editor of the Rawlins Daily Times, in Rawlins, Wyoming.
Mullen returned to Stevenson Newspapers as the general manager of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, in Shelton, Washington. He was recruited to Civitas Media in 2013 to become the Director of Pagination and Copy Editing and was tasked with the consolidation of editorial workflows for the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Times Leader; Alton, Illinois Telegraph; Sedalia (Missouri) Democrat; Lima (Ohio) News; Mt. Airy (North Carolina) News; and Lumberton, North Carolina Robesonian. Over the course of five years Mullen rose quickly at the company, becoming the senior executive in charge of editorial operations and advertising design before Civitas Media was dissolved.
In 2014, at age 29, he was named one of Editor & Publisher’s 25 most influential executives in the newspaper industry.
In 2015, the Mullen was featured in the Smithsonian National Postal Museum exhibit “America’s Mailing Industry.”
Mullen led the transition of consolidated hub workflows to six other companies and ensured his more than 100 direct employees had new employment lined up before leaving.
He purchased the Philipsburg Mail and Silver State Post (Deer Lodge, Montana|Deer Lodge, Montana) in 2018 and formed Mullen Newspaper Company.
== Mullen Newspaper Company ==
Mullen founded Mullen Newspaper Company in 2018, shortly after purchasing the Philipsburg Mail and Silver State Post. In 2020, he purchased the Bitterroot Star. In 2021, he purchased the St. Maries (Idaho) Gazette-Record. In late 2021, he brought his brother Lloyd in as a partner. The two went on to purchase the Johnson Newspaper Group in Nebraska and Colorado, Kavanagh Newspaper Group in Montana, and Nor’West Publications in Kansas, including the daily newspaper Colby Free Press. Lloyd is part-owner of the Port Townsend (Washington) Leader.
As of 2023, Mullen Newspaper Company manages 20 publications in six Western states.
== Politics ==
Mullen initially registered as a Republican at age 18, in order to vote for a family friend for sheriff. Following that election, Mullen became an Independent and remained one until 2016. Mullen claims the election of Donald Trump convinced him to formally identify as a Democrat. In 2020, he began organizing a Democratic Central Committee in Powell County, Montana, which had been without a central committee since 1975. Citing a lack of support from the Montana State Democratic Party, he was unable to organize the committee until two years later in 2022. Shortly after Mullen organized the Powell County Democratic Central Committee, Senate District 39 Democratic Senator Mark Sweeney died of a heart attack. Mullen was nominated during a special convention to be the Democratic Party nominee to fill the remainder of Sweeney’s term, defeating Jessica Wicks, and former state Rep. Gordon Pierson. Mullen lost the special election to Republican nominee and Deer Lodge County Commissioner Terry Vermeire despite receiving a larger share of the vote than Senator Sweeney had received in his winning election in 2020.
Jessica Wicks was appointed by the Deer Lodge County Commissioners to briefly fill the vacant senate seat until the election could take place in November.
In March 2023, Mullen was elected party chair of the Powell County Democratic Central Committee.
== Personal Life ==
Mullen has five children. Three daughters are from his first marriage and he also has another daughter and son. Mullen married Sasha (Allen) Mullen in 2018. He is a Rotarian and was President of the Philipsburg Rotary Club from 2022-2023.
Mullen owns the Montana bookstore chain, Browsing Bison Books.
Category:American people
Category:1984 births
Category:American politicians