Jason David Kander (born May 4, 1981) is an American attorney and politician. A Democrat, he was elected Secretary of State of Missouri in 2012, serving from 2013-17. He had previously served as a state representative in the Missouri House of Representatives.
He was an intelligence officer in the Army National Guard, achieving the rank of captain. He was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate for Missouri in 2016, narrowly losing the 2016 Senate election to Republican incumbent Roy Blunt.
After the Senate election, Kander founded an organization called Let America Vote, a campaign dedicated to ending voter suppression and gerrymandering.
Video Jason Kander
Early life and education
Kander was born on May 4, 1981 in Overland Park, Kansas, the son of Janet (née Secor), a juvenile probation officer, and Steve Kander, a police officer who later ran a small business. His father is Jewish, and Kander himself was raised in a Jewish household which he describes as "Reform but not very observant." Kander was raised in Shawnee, Kansas with his younger brother, Jeff, and several troubled children that his parents fostered.
He graduated from Bishop Miege High School in 1999, where he had been a member of the debate team. He then attended American University, where he studied political science. After the September 11 attacks, he enlisted in the Army National Guard. While earning his law degree at Georgetown University, he earned his commission through the University's ROTC battalion. After completing his law degree in 2005, he volunteered for a tour in Afghanistan, where he served as a lieutenant.
When he returned home, Kander took a position as an instructor at the Missouri Army National Guard's Officer Candidate School at Fort Leonard Wood, where he taught hundreds of soldiers leadership skills in combat. He also worked as an adjunct instructor in political science at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and as an attorney at local law firms. In 2010, Kander was named one of ten finalists for the Army Reserve Association's Maj. Gen. Strom Thurmond Outstanding Junior Officer of the Year Award. He was honorably discharged at the rank of captain in 2011.
Maps Jason Kander
Early political career
Heartland Democrats of America
Heartland Democrats of America (HDA) was a political action committee founded in 2005 in Kansas City, Missouri by Kander and his wife, Diana. Jason Kander served as the treasurer until 2007. HDA raised over one hundred thousand dollars from special interest groups and individuals in support of Democratic candidates and causes. Notable supporters included current and former state and city elected officials, along with national figures, such as former Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman and former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe; professor and author George Lakoff; John Halpin, a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress; and Mark Talisman, an author, Democratic activist, and president of the Project Judaica Foundation.
HDA's mission was to "recognize the need for Democrats to engage in, expand, and ultimately win the 'values debate.' HDA members understand that progress cannot wait for the next campaign season, because Democrats need to start changing minds now. HDA champions strong Democratic values in Missouri and throughout America's Heartland. The era of the apologetic Democrat in middle America is being laid to rest forever - replaced by a unifying values message worthy of the hard-working people of middle America." HDA was officially terminated in 2008.
Missouri House of Representatives
Kander was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2008, representing the 44th district. He easily defeated two other Democrats in the primary election, but was unchallenged in the general election.
In 2010, Kander worked with Republican State Representative Tim Flook to pass the first major ethics reform bill in Missouri since 1991. Later that year, he ran for re-election to his State Representative seat and won 69.6% of the vote to defeat Republican Sally Miller.
During his time in the Missouri House, Kander was the chief sponsor of 28 bills, none of which became law.
Missouri Secretary of State
Kander announced his candidacy for the Missouri Secretary of State after Robin Carnahan announced she would not seek reelection. Kander defeated MD Rabbi Alam in the primary election, winning the Democratic nomination.
In the general election, Kander faced the Speaker Pro Tempore of the Missouri House, State Representative Shane Schoeller. Schoeller ran on a platform of implementing stricter voter identification rules. By contrast, Kander opposed harsher voter identification rules, instead focusing on reforming the state's campaign finance laws.
On November 6, 2012, Kander narrowly defeated Schoeller and was elected Missouri Secretary of State. At 32 years old, he was the youngest statewide elected official in the nation at the time, as well as the first millennial.
While in office, Kander made ethics reform one of his top priorities. Kander admitted this could be "an uphill battle' given that Missouri has had some of the weakest ethics laws in the country and Republicans had supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature. "I am realistic about the fact that it is not easy to get any legislative body to police itself. There is no interest group in Jefferson City called Big Ethics. I just remind legislators of both parties that this is something that the public expects of all of us," he said in 2014.
2016 U.S. Senate election
On February 19, 2015, Kander entered the race to represent Missouri in the United States Senate against Roy Blunt, the Republican incumbent. He won the Democratic primary against three other candidates on August 2, 2016. During the campaign, Kander positioned himself as a Washington outsider and touted his experience as an Army Intelligence officer. He accused Blunt of being well connected to DC lobbyists (Blunt's wife and three children are in fact lobbyists). Blunt in turn accused Kander of being too liberal.
Kander's campaign released an ad in September that showed the blindfolded senatorial candidate assembling an AR-15 rifle while explaining his support of background checks. The ad quickly went viral, and as of November 2016 the original YouTube video had earned over 1.3 million views. Initially, Kander was well behind in the race, but polls started to show a tightening in the fall. Kander was also a national co-chair for Hillary Clinton. He was endorsed by the Sierra Club as well as Planned Parenthood's Action Fund.
Kander was narrowly defeated by Blunt in the general election, receiving 46.4% of the vote to Blunt's 49.2%.
Subsequent career
In 2017, Kander became a CNN contributor. He hosts the Crooked Media podcast Majority 54 with Jason Kander, where he and his guests explore how Democrats can talk to Trump voters about divisive issues. In 2018, Kander authored his first memoir Outside the Wire: 10 Lessons I've Learned in Everyday Courage, reflecting on his time in the military, to launching his first political campaign, to where the Democratic Party should go following the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Let America Vote
Let America Vote is a political action organization founded by Kander in 2017. Its mission is to end voter suppression and gerrymandering across the country. The group raised approximately $2.4 million in its first year. Notable members of its advisory board include human rights activist Martin Luther King III, actor Bradley Whitford, and former White House officials Josh Earnest, Jon Favreau, and Dan Pfeiffer. In his capacity as president of Let America Vote, Kander also serves as chairman of the DNC's Commission on Protecting American Democracy from the Trump Administration. Congresswoman Terri Sewell serves as vice chair.
Potential political future
He has been in demand as a speaker at Democratic Party events around the country. He has been repeatedly mentioned as possible contender for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Political positions
Kander supports improving the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He has proposed changing the 30-hour workweek used to define full-time employees, allowing cheaper plans for people who don't need medical care, and repealing the long-delayed Cadillac tax. He is in favor of a public health insurance option, but also supports single-payer healthcare.
In 2009, Kander voted against a bill that would have extended to renters the Castle Doctrine (a doctrine that allows a homeowner to use deadly force against a perceived intruder). The bill would have also lowered the age requirement for a concealed carry permit and would have removed a ban on carrying a gun on a college campus. The National Rifle Association gives Kander an "F" rating and spent nearly $1 million against him in 2016 (the most money against any candidate that year outside of Ohio).
Kander has also cited overturning Citizens United v. FEC as a political priority.
Kander is pro-Israel and has called on Congress to stop the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
Personal life and family
Kander married his high school sweetheart, entrepreneur and author Diana Kander (née Kagan) in 2003. Diana and her family emigrated from the Soviet Union in 1989. The couple have one son named True, who was born in September 2013.
Kander is the grand-nephew of composer John Kander. He is a distant relative of Lizzie Black Kander, author of The Settlement Cookbook. Kander is an avid fan of the Kansas City Royals
Bibliography
References
External links
- Jason Kander official website
- Let America Vote official website
- Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander homepage (Archived)
- Interest Group Ratings
- Campaign Finance Information
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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