Stephen Morris (politician)

Stephen Morris
President of the Kansas Senate
In office
2005 – January 13, 2012
Preceded byDave Kerr
Succeeded bySusan Wagle
Member of the Kansas Senate
from the 39th district
In office
January 11, 1993 – January 14, 2013
Preceded byLeroy Hayden
Succeeded byLarry Powell
Personal details
Born (1946-01-04) January 4, 1946 (age 78)
Garden City, Kansas, U.S
Political partyRepublican
SpouseBarbara Morris
Children3
Alma materKansas State University, Manhattan

Stephen Morris (born January 4, 1946) is a former Republican member of the Kansas Senate, representing the 39th district from 1993 to 2013. He was Senate president from 2005 to 2013. From 1977 to 1993, he served as the vice-president, then president of the Kansas Unified School District 210, Board of Education. He is a farmer from Hugoton.

Committee assignments

Morris served on these legislative committees:[1]

  • Interstate Cooperation (chair)
  • Joint Committee on Legislative Coordinating Council (chair)
  • Organization, Calendar and Rules (chair)
  • Joint Committee on Pensions, Investments and Benefits (vice-chair)
  • Agriculture
  • Federal and State Affairs
  • Natural Resources

Major donors

Some of the top contributors to Morris's 2008 campaign, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics:[2]

Kansas for Quality Mental Health Services, Astrazeneca, Kansas Association of Realtors, Westlink Communications, Heavy Constructors Association. Financial, insurance and real estate companies were his largest donor group.

Elections

In 1992, Morris defeated incumbent Democrat Leroy Hayden, by 15,178 to 7,456 votes.[3] Seven of eight moderate state senate Republicans, including Morris, targeted by the Koch brothers, were defeated in the 2012 Republican primary, giving incumbent Governor Sam Brownback the margin he needed to effectively restructure state taxation, exempting "S" status filers such as Koch Industries from income taxes.[4] Morris lost to Larry Powell by a 5,106-4,737 margin in the primary on Aug. 7, 2012.[5][6] In 2014, Morris, as a member of Republicans for Kansas Values, supported Democratic State Senator Paul Davis for governor, over Brownback.[7]

References

  1. ^ Profile from the Kansas Legislature
  2. ^ Stephen Morris, 2008 campaign contributions
  3. ^ General Election 1992, Kansas Secretary of State, November 1992. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  4. ^ The great Kansas Republican Purge of 2012, Slate magazine, Dave Weigel, August 8, 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  5. ^ Kansas Secretary of State, "Candidates for the 2012 Primary (official)," retrieved March 4, 2013.
  6. ^ Kansas Secretary of State, Official 2012 Primary Results
  7. ^ More area Republicans show support of Davis, Garden City Telegram, Scott Aust, October 18, 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2017.