Washington DC (Washington Insider Magazine) — Gerald Wesley Moran is an American lawyer and politician. He has been the senior United States senator from Kansas since 2011. A Republican Party member, Moran served as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 113th U.S. Congress. During his tenure, he spearheaded Republican efforts in 2014 that resulted in the first GOP Senate majority since 2006. Before his Senate term, he was part of the United States House of Representatives representing Kansas’s 1st congressional district.
Early Life And Education
Moran was born on May 29, 1954, in Great Bend, Kansas. He was born to Madeline Eleanor (née Fletcher) and Raymond Edwin “Ray” Moran. He experienced being raised in Plainville and attended both Fort Hays State University and the University of Kansas. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in economics in 1976.
Following the completion of his education, Moran held positions such as banker and state special assistant attorney general (1982–85). He also served as the deputy county attorney of Rooks County (1987–95). Jerry worked for Stinson, Mag & Fizzell law firm in Kansas City and Jeter & Larson Law Firm in Hays. He went on to practice law for 15 years there.
Political Career
Hailing from Plainville, Kansas, Moran attended the University of Kansas and its law school before practicing private law. In 1982 he served as the state’s special assistant attorney general, and the deputy attorney of Rooks County (1987–95). He was elected to the Kansas Senate in 1989.
There he became majority leader for two terms before his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996. He also ran for subsequent reelections until 2010 and won a contested primary. Moran took the seat in the U.S. Senate which he has held since then. On Senator Pat Roberts’ retirement in 2021, he became senior senator of the Kansas congressional delegation.
US House Of Representative
Elections
Despite never facing serious opposition in the conservative 1st district, Moran was elected to Congress in 1996 and reelected six times. His opponent in 2006 was John Doll, who received almost 79% of the vote.
Term Of Office
During his tenure as a Representative in the House, Moran cultivated the habit of convening an annual town hall meeting. He held the meeting in the “Big First” Congressional District’s 69 counties, which he continues to do for all 105 counties as Senator. Additionally, he mobilized the House Agriculture Committee to pass legislation aiding farms and ranches across Kansas.
Moran chaired the Health Subcommittee for both the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Despite maintaining earmarks being too expensive for Americans to bear, Weigel pointed out that in 2010 Moran requested $19.4 million in earmarks.
US Senate
Elections
During the Republican primary, the United States Senator Moran defeated Representative Todd Tiahrt with a 50 percent to 45 percent voting pattern. He became the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Kansas in 2010. With 70% of the vote, Moran defeated Democrat Lisa Johnston, Libertarian Michael Dann, and Reform Party candidate Joe Bellis in the United States Senate election.
Tenure
Jerry Moran was elected chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 113th U.S. Congress on November 14, 2012. His leadership during this period led to the Republicans gaining nine Senate seats in the 2014 United States Senate elections. Jerry declared that he would vote to certify the 2021 Electoral College vote count which took place the following day.
During its proceedings, a violent attack occurred at the US Capitol and Moran released a statement on Twitter condemning “the violence and destruction…in the strongest possible terms [as] completely unacceptable and unpatriotic.” He earned an “F” rating from the nonpartisan Lugar Center’s Congressional Oversight Hearing Index for his chairmanship of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee during the 116th Congress.
Agriculture
In March 2019, Moran joined 37 other senators in signing a letter to the United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. The warning cited dairy farmers’ lack of market stability and difficulty enduring the fourth year of low prices. They urged Perdue’s department to strongly encourage these farmers to enroll in the Dairy Margin Coverage program.
Then, in May 2019 Moran cosponsored the Transporting Livestock Across America Safely Act. This was a bipartisan bill proposed by Ben Sasse and Jon Tester that granted livestock haulers more flexibility to take breaks during their trips. Furthermore, loading and unloading times would be exempt from this calculation.
Health Care
Moran firmly rejected the Medicare reform package of 2003. Despite the stance of other representatives from rural districts, he continued with the mission. Moreover, he imposed a ‘no’ vote on the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). As for legislative efforts, in May 2011 he proposed S. 1058, otherwise known as the Pharmacy Competition and Consumer Choice Act of 2011.
Throughout his time in Congress, he played the roles of co-chair of the House Rural Health Care Coalition and co-founder of the Congressional Community Pharmacy Coalition. In July 2017 Senate health care bill, Moran voiced his disapproval. He remarked on the opacity in composing this legislation and criticized its lack of complete ACA repeal.
Personal Life
Moran resided in Hays for the majority of his political career. In 2012 he shifted to Manhattan due to the closer proximity to a major airport – lessening his travel time back to Kansas at weekends.
On 28th September 2013 he was accepted into Alpha Tau Omega while studying at Kansas State University. He has dedicated himself to a variety of community organizations. He served as a former trustee of the Eisenhower Foundation, a board member of the Fort Hays State University Endowment Association, and an Executive Committee member of the Coronado Area Council for Boy Scouts of America.
In 2008 Moran served as Honorary Chair for Kansas Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run. Jerry Moran is married to wife Robba, and they have two daughters Kelsey and Alex. His daughter Kelsey graduated from Kansas State University in 2010 and Georgetown University Law Center in 2015. She is now employed as an attorney at Hogan Lovells. His daughter Alex completed her studies at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2016.
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Net Worth
Jerry Moran’s estimated net worth is $1759539. His source of income is his political career.
