Jerry Moran

Jerry Moran (born May 29, 1954, Great Bend, Kansas, U.S.) is an American politician who was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate in 2010 and began representing Kansas the following year. He previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1997–2011).

Moran was raised in Plainville, a small town in north-central Kansas. He attended Fort Hays State University (FHSU) before transferring to the University of Kansas (KU), from which he received a bachelor’s degree (1976) in economics. He worked in banking for a few years before returning to KU to study law, earning a doctorate in jurisprudence in 1981. He then worked as a state and county attorney and taught political science at FHSU. Around that time, Moran married, and he and his wife, Robba, later had two children.

In 1988 Moran won a seat in the Kansas Senate. He took office in 1989 and later served as majority leader (1995–97). In 1996 he successfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives from the largely rural 1st congressional district, which encompassed more than half the state. He served from 1997 to 2011, eventually becoming a senior member of the House Committee on Agriculture. In 2010 he ran for the U.S. Senate, winning by a commanding majority in a four-way race.

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As a senator, Moran continued to be involved in agricultural affairs. He also dealt with national security and military matters as well as issues tied to technology, becoming known for championing technological innovation and measures to ease visa procedures for well-qualified applicants from foreign countries. At the same time, he was a vocal opponent of the administration of Pres. Barack Obama in most matters, strongly contesting provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion, and other health care initiatives; resisting efforts to regulate the sale of automatic weapons; and opposing same-sex marriage. He cosponsored legislation to ban all federal funding for abortions and proposed a constitutional amendment requiring that the federal government maintain a balanced budget.