In 2016, Rader was the operations director of the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus, an organization that endorsed and campaigned for
Bernie Sanders's
presidential campaign, as well as various local progressive causes. Rader was elected to an at-large seat of the
Lakewood, Ohio, city council in 2017, He was reelected in 2021. however, he suspended his campaign on April 2. He remained on the ballot, losing to Matthew Diemer, who went on to lose the general election to Republican
Max Miller. In 2024, Democrat
Michael J. Skindell, the representative of the
13th district in the
Ohio House of Representatives, chose not to run for reelection. Rader ran to succeed him. He won the Democratic primary unopposed, and won the general election against Republican Robert E. Dintaman. ==Electoral history==