Clarenbach eventually served nine terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly. He represented the 78th Assembly District in Madison from 1975 to 1993 as a Democrat. Clarenbach did not seek re-election in 1992 but ran for Congress in Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district. David E. Clarenbach was born September 26, 1953 in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of National Organization for Women co-founder Kathryn F. Clarenbach. He was educated in Madison public schools, and studied politics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1971 to 1976. He was elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors in 1972, at age 18. In 1974, he was elected a Madison alderman, before being elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly that same year at the age of 21. He was succeeded in the assembly by Tammy Baldwin, who ran as the first openly gay legislative candidate in Wisconsin history. After three terms, Baldwin vacated the seat to mount a successful bid for Congress in 1998 and was succeeded by Mark Pocan who, like Clarenbach and Baldwin, is gay and is a former member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors. Clarenbach served as executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund from 1996 to 1997. He now works as a political consultant and lives in Madison, Wisconsin.