Kevin Yoder
Encyclopedia
Kevin W. Yoder is the U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 for . He is a member of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

. He was the Kansas State Representative
Kansas House of Representatives
The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kansas Legislature, the legislative body of the U.S. State of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for crafting and voting on...

 for the 20th district from 2002 until 2011.

Early life, education, and career

Yoder is a 5th generation Kansan who grew up on a grain and livestock farm in Yoder, Kansas, a small farming town outside of Hutchinson, Kansas. Yoder graduated from Hutchinson High School.

Yoder graduated from the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...

 in 1999 with degrees in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

. He served as KU Student Body President, President of the Kansas Union Memorial Corporation Board of Directors, and a member of the KU Athletics Corporation Board of Directors and became a member of Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha is one of the largest men's secret general fraternities in North America, having initiated more than 280,000 members and held chapters at more than 300 universities. It is a member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference and was founded by Warren A. Cole, while he was a...

. While at the University of Kansas, Yoder interned with the Kansas State Legislature. Yoder received his Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 degree from the University of Kansas Law School in 2002, where he served for two years as Student Bar Association President.

Yoder worked as a law clerk for Payne and Jones from 2000 to 2001, then as a Special Assistant in the U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Counternarcotics in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 in 2001. He later joined Speer and Holliday LLP in Olathe as an Associate, becoming a Partner in 2005. He is a member of the American Council of Young Political Leaders and Kansas Bar Association
Kansas Bar Association
The Kansas Bar Association is a voluntary, non-profit bar association for the state of Kansas with the headquarters located at 12th and Harrison St. in Topeka. The KBA has approximately 7,000 members and was founded in 1882.- Membership :...

, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Johnson County Bar Association.

Elections

Yoder was first elected to the Kansas House of Representatives (20th district) in 2002, then re-elected three times. The district includes portions of Overland Park and Leawood.

Tenure

As chair of the House Appropriations Committee, he had the responsibility to balance the state’s budget and allocate over $13 billion in state revenue to public schools, universities, prisons, social services and highways. In March 2010, Yoder's Appropriations Committee introduced its budget plan. The plan was soundly defeated by a bipartisan group of moderate republicans and democrats in May 2010. He also served on the Judiciary Committee from 2003 through 2010.

In 2010, Yoder received the "Guardian of Small Business Award" from the National Federation of Independent Business.

2010 election

On December 15, 2009, Rep. Kevin Yoder announced his intention to run for the open seat. On August 3, 2010, Yoder won the Republican primary with 45% of the vote, running against former State Representative Patricia Lightner, Dave King, Gerry B. Klotz, Daniel Gilyeat, Jerry M. Malone, Craig McPherson, John Rysavy and Jean Ann Uvodich.

During the campaign, Yoder set up a website in Stephene Moore's, his Democratic opponent's, name at stephenemoore.com. The site was used to raise questions about her campaign and issue stances. Moore's campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Committee about the website. An "unauthorized committee" is not allowed to use the name of a candidate in the title of a special project or message if it "clearly and unambiguously" shows opposition to the named candidate. The FEC dismissed the complaint against Yoder.

Yoder also created controversy when he released a commercial depicting him and his wife walking through a field with three children that, presumably, were their children. In fact, Yoder does not have any kids. This controversy was similar to one from one of his campaigns for the Kansas Legislature. In that election, Yoder issued a campaign ad with photos of him, his wife, two kids, and a dog. Neither the kids nor the dog were Yoder's.

Yoder won against Democratic nominee obstetrics
Obstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...

 nurse Stephene Moore
Stephene Moore
Stephene Ann Moore is a project coordinator for the University of Kansas and was the 2010 Democratic Party nominee for , losing the race to Republican Kevin Yoder. The seat had been held by her husband, Dennis Moore, for six terms before his retirement in 2010.-Early life and education:Moore is...

 and Libertarian nominee Jasmin Talbert with 59% of the vote. Yoder outperformed prior Republican election year results in heavily Democratic Wyandotte and Douglas counties by 50 percent and took voter-rich, Republican-leaning Johnson County with a resounding 65 percent of the vote. Yoder's win returned the 3rd district to the GOP after a 12-year hold by retiring Democratic incumbent Dennis Moore
Dennis Moore
Dennis Moore is a former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1999 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party...

, the husband of Stephene Moore.

2009 traffic stop

In February 2009, Yoder plead guilty to refusing a roadside preliminary Breathalyzer
Breathalyzer
A breathalyzer or breathalyser is a device for estimating blood alcohol content from a breath sample...

 test, following a 2:31 a.m. traffic stop on the K-10 expressway
K-10 (Kansas highway)
K-10 is a 38 mile state highway in the U.S. state of Kansas. It was originally designated in 1929. It is mostly a controlled-access freeway, linking Lawrence to Lenexa. It provides an important toll-free alternate route to Interstate 70...

. Yoder was pulled over for speeding and, after declining the officer's request to take a roadside breath test, Yoder took and passed a field sobriety test. The officer cited Yoder for speeding and for refusing to take the breathalyzer test, and then the officer let Yoder drive himself home. The speeding charge was later dropped as part of a plea agreement. Yoder pleaded guilty to refusing law enforcement's request for a breath test and paid a $165 fine.

Tenure

On August 31, 2011 it was announced that Yoder has been appointed by Speaker of the House John Boehner, to serve on the Gallaudet University Board of Trustees. Chartered in 1864 by President Abraham Lincoln, Gallaudet University is the world’s only liberal arts university for the deaf and hard of hearing that offers a bilingual learning environment in American Sign Language and English. The university is located in Washington, D.C., within walking distance of the U.S. Capitol.

Yoder participated in the recitation of a redacted version of the U.S. Constitution by members of congress on Thursday, January 6, 2011. The event marked the first time the text of the nation's founding document had ever been read on the House floor.

In 2011, Yoder was named one of Kansas City's "40 Under 40" by Ingram's Kansas City Business Magazine.

In early 2011, Yoder was rated as one of the "Hottest Freshmen in Congress" by both MSNBC's BLTWY blog and Gawker.com.

Committee assignments

  • Committee on Appropriations
    United States House Committee on Appropriations
    The Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is in charge of setting the specific expenditures of money by the government of the United States...

    • Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
      United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
      The United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies is a standing committee of the U.S. House subcommittees and is within the United States House Committee on Appropriations.-Members, 112th Congress:...

    • Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
      United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
      U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Service and General Government is a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations. It was created in 2007 align the operations of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees...

    • Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies

Electoral history

2002 election for state legislature

Kevin Yoder (R) 55%
Kirk Perucca (D) 45%

2004 election for state legislature

Kevin Yoder (R) 67%
Max Skidmore (D) 33%

2006 election for state legislature'

Kevin Yoder (R) 58%
Alex Holsinger (D) 42%

2008 election for state legislature

Kevin Yoder (R) 65%
Gary Glauberman (D) 35%

2010 election for U.S. House of Representatives

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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