Jerry Moran, who also goes by Gerald Wesley Moran, is an American lawyer and politician who is the senior US senator from Kansas. He has held the seat since 2011.
Moran was born on May 29, 1954, in Great Bend, Kansas. He is the son of Madeline Eleanor and Raymond Edwin “Ray” Moran.
He was raised in Plainville and attended Fort Hays State University before enrolling at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics in 1976.
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While attending the University of Kansas, he worked as a summer intern for US Representative Keith Sebelius in 1974. This was the time when impeachment proceedings were being prepared against then-President Richard Nixon.
A member of the Republican Party, Moran served eight years (1989–1997) in the Kansas Senate. Moran was elected to Congress in 1996 and reelected six times without facing serious opposition in the conservative 1st district.
In 2006, his opponent was John Doll, against whom he received almost 79% of the vote. Moran was elected chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 113th U.S. Congress on November 14, 2012.
He was chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 113th U.S. Congress, during which he led successful Republican efforts in the 2014 election.
He was elected to the US Senate in 2010 after defeating fellow US Representative Todd Tiahrt in a contentious primary. He was reelected to the Senate in 2016.
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Moran became the senior senator and dean of the Kansas congressional delegation in 2021 when Pat Roberts retired from the Senate. He is running for re-election to the US Senate to represent Kansas.
On May 28, 2021, he voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the 2021 Capitol attack.
Moran and his wife, Robba, have two daughters, Kelsey and Alex.