Sam Brownback

Sam Brownback
Official portrait, 2018
5th United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
In office
February 1, 2018 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byDavid Saperstein
Succeeded byRashad Hussain
46th Governor of Kansas
In office
January 10, 2011 – January 31, 2018
LieutenantJeff Colyer
Preceded byMark Parkinson
Succeeded byJeff Colyer
United States Senator
from Kansas
In office
November 7, 1996 – January 3, 2011
Preceded bySheila Frahm
Succeeded byJerry Moran
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Kansas's 2nd district
In office
January 3, 1995 – November 7, 1996
Preceded byJim Slattery
Succeeded byJim Ryun
Secretary of Agriculture of Kansas
In office
September 18, 1986 – July 30, 1993
GovernorJohn W. Carlin
Mike Hayden
Joan Finney
Preceded byHarland Priddle[1]
Succeeded byPhilip Fishburn[2]
Personal details
Born
Samuel Dale Brownback

(1956-09-12) September 12, 1956 (age 68)
Garnett, Kansas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Mary Stauffer
​
(m. 1982)​
Children5
EducationKansas State University (BA)
University of Kansas (JD)
Signature
Sam Brownback's voice
Sam Brownback on the death of his Senate colleague, Robert Byrd
Recorded June 30, 2010

Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011 and as the 46th governor of Kansas from 2011 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, Brownback also served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom during the administration of President Donald Trump and was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 2008.

Born in Garnett, Kansas, Brownback grew up on a family farm in Parker, Kansas. He graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in agricultural economics in 1978 and received a J.D. from the University of Kansas in 1982. He worked as an attorney in Manhattan, Kansas, before being appointed Secretary of Agriculture of Kansas in 1986 by Democratic governor John W. Carlin. Brownback ran for Congress in 1994 and defeated Carlin in the general election in a landslide. He represented Kansas's 2nd congressional district for a single term before running in a 1996 special election for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Bob Dole. He won the election and was reelected by large margins in 1998 and 2004. Brownback ran for president in 2008, but withdrew before the primaries began and endorsed eventual Republican nominee John McCain.[3][4][5]

Brownback declined to run for reelection in 2010, instead running for governor. He was elected governor of Kansas in 2010 and took office in January 2011. As governor, Brownback signed into law one of the largest income tax cuts in Kansas history, known as the Kansas experiment.[6] The tax cuts caused state revenues to fall by hundreds of millions of dollars and created large budget shortfalls.[7] A major budget deficit led to cuts in areas including education and transportation.[8][9] In a repudiation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, in 2013 Brownback turned down a $31.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to set up a public health insurance exchange for Kansas.[10] Also in 2013, he signed a bill that blocked tax breaks for abortion providers, banned sex-selection abortions, and declared that life begins at fertilization.[11] In the run-up to the 2014 gubernatorial election, over 100 former and current Kansas Republican officials criticized Brownback's leadership and endorsed his Democratic opponent, Paul Davis.[12][13][14] Despite this, Brownback was narrowly reelected.[15] In June 2017, the Kansas Legislature repealed Brownback's tax cuts, overrode Brownback's veto of the repeal, and enacted tax increases.[16] Brownback left office as one of the least popular governors in the country.[17]

On July 26, 2017, the Trump administration announced that Brownback would be nominated as the new U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.[18] Brownback was confirmed in January 2018 in a party-line vote; Vice President Mike Pence cast the necessary tie-breaking votes to end a filibuster and to confirm his nomination.[19] Brownback resigned as governor of Kansas effective January 31, 2018,[20] and was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom on February 1, 2018.[21] His ambassadorial tenure ended in January 2021.

  1. ^ "Harland E. Priddle". Kansas Memory. Kansas Historical Society. Archived from the original on March 22, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  2. ^ "Philip A. Fishburn - Kansas Memory". www.kansasmemory.org. Archived from the original on January 24, 2018. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  3. ^ "Election 2010: Kansas Governor – Rasmussen Reports". Rasmussenreports.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  4. ^ "Election 2010". CQ Politics. Archived from the original on August 25, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  5. ^ "The Cook Political Report – Charts – 2010 Governors Race Ratings". Cookpolitical.com. February 4, 2010. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  6. ^ "Kansas small-business owners say elimination of income tax is a big help". The Wichita Eagle. May 24, 2012. Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  7. ^ Casselman, Ben; Koerth-Baker, Maggie; Barry-Jester, Anna Maria; Cheng, Michelle (June 9, 2017). "The Kansas Experiment Is Bad News For Trump's Tax Cuts". FiveThirtyEight. Archived from the original on October 5, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  8. ^ "Kansas Legislature approves budget deal, after lawmakers deliver blistering critiques of state finances," Archived October 4, 2017, at the Wayback Machine May 2, 2016, Topeka Capital-Journal
  9. ^ "Kansas Republicans Sour on Their Tax-Cut Experiment" Archived October 4, 2017, at the Wayback Machine February 24, 2017, The Atlantic
  10. ^ "Kansas returns $31.5M exchange grant – Jason Millman and Kate Nocera". Politico. August 9, 2011. Archived from the original on November 26, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  11. ^ "Brownback signs sweeping anti-abortion bill". Associated Press. April 19, 2013. Archived from the original on April 21, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  12. ^ "Paul Davis secures endorsement of more than 100 former and current Republican officials," Archived November 27, 2017, at the Wayback Machine July 15, 2014, Wichita Eagle
  13. ^ "Some in Kansas GOP Break With Gov. Brownback, Endorse Democratic Opponent," Archived January 31, 2018, at the Wayback Machine July 15, 2014, The Wall Street Journal
  14. ^ Eligon, John (September 14, 2014). "Conservative Experiment Faces Revolt in Reliably Red Kansas". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 15, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  15. ^ Sam Brownback prevails over Paul Davis for second term as Kansas governor Archived July 28, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Wichita Eagle, Byron Lowry & Suzanne Perez Tobias, November 4, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference theatlantic_tax_experiment_dead_2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Koranda, Stephen (July 27, 2017). "Kansas Governor Ends Tenure As One Of Least Popular In Country". NPR. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  18. ^ Smith, Mitch; Fortin, Jacey (July 26, 2017). "Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas Will Be Nominated as Religious Ambassador". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on August 11, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  19. ^ Conradis, Brandon (January 24, 2018). "Pence ends filibuster on Brownback nomination". The Hill. Archived from the original on January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  20. ^ Pappas, Alex (January 25, 2018). "Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback resigns to take Trump administration role". Fox News. Archived from the original on January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  21. ^ Dulle, Brian (February 1, 2018). "Brownback sworn in as U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom". KSNT. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2018.