Gerald Wesley Moran ( murr-AN; born May 29, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who is the senior United States senator from Kansas, a seat he has held since 2011. Previously, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives and the Kansas Senate. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Raised in Plainville, Kansas, Moran graduated from the University of Kansas and the University of Kansas School of Law. He worked in private law and was the state special assistant attorney general (1982–1985) and deputy attorney of Rooks County (1987–1995). He served in the Kansas Senate from 1989 to 1997, serving as majority leader for his last two years. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1996 and spent seven terms there with little electoral opposition. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 after defeating fellow U.S. representative Todd Tiahrt in a contentious primary. He was chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 113th U.S. Congress, leading Republican efforts in the 2014 elections. He was reelected to the Senate in 2016 and 2022.
Moran has been the dean of the Kansas congressional delegation since 2021, when Senator Pat Roberts retired.
Early life, education, and career
Moran was born in Great Bend, Kansas, the son of Madeline Eleanor (née Fletcher) and Raymond Edwin "Ray" Moran. He was raised in Plainville. He 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. While attending the University of Kansas, he worked as a summer intern for U.S. representative Keith Sebelius in 1974, when impeachment proceedings were being prepared against President Richard Nixon.
Moran worked as a banker before receiving his Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1982. He practiced law at Stinson, Mag & Fizzell in Kansas City, and later joined Jeter & Larson Law Firm in Hays, where he practiced for 15 years. In addition to his law practice, he served as the state special assistant attorney general (1982–1985) and deputy county attorney of Rooks County (1987–1995). He also served as an adjunct professor of political science at Fort Hays State University.
Moran served eight years (1989–1997) in the Kansas Senate. He served two years as the vice president and his last two years as majority leader.
Moran was elected to Congress in 1996 and reelected six times, never facing serious opposition in the conservative 1st district. In 2006, his opponent was John Doll, against whom he received almost 79% of the vote—one of the highest totals for a Republican congressional incumbent in that election.
During his time in the House of Representatives, Moran conducted an annual town hall meeting in each of the 69 counties in Kansas's "Big First" Congressional District.
As a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, Moran worked with colleagues to craft legislation to aid Kansas farms and ranches. He was also an active member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, where he served as chair of the Subcommittee on Health.
Slate's David Weigel wrote that, despite his insistence that earmarks are a way to get members of Congress to vote for spending "we can't afford", Moran requested $19.4 million in earmarks in the 2010 budget.
In 2010, Moran won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, defeating fellow Representative Todd Tiahrt 49.8%–44.6%.
In the general election, Moran defeated Democrat Lisa Johnston 70.09%–26.38%.
In 2016, Moran won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, defeating former Osawatomie city councilwoman D. J. Smith 79.09%–20.91%.
In the general election, Moran defeated Democrat Patrick Wiesner 62.18%–32.24%, with Libertarian Robert Garrard receiving 5.58% of the vote.
In 2022, Moran won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, defeating Joan Farr 80.47%–19.53%.
In the general election, Moran defeated Democrat Lisa Johnston 70.09%–26.38%.
Moran was elected chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 113th U.S. Congress on November 14, 2012. He oversaw the Republican gain of nine Senate seats in the 2014 United States Senate elections, resulting in the first Republican Senate majority since 2006.