Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
Craig McPherson
Craig McPherson is a former Republican member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing District 8 from 2013 to 2017. He was defeated in the August 2016 election.
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, McPherson served on the following committees:
| Kansas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • General Government Budget, Vice Chair |
| • Judiciary |
| • Energy and Environment |
| • Special Claims Against the State |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, McPherson served on the following committees:
| Kansas committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Judiciary |
| • General Government Budget |
| • Energy and Environment |
Campaign themes
2014
In 2014, McPherson's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[1]
- Defending Kansas Small Business
- Cut burdensome regulations to allow businesses to grow
- Supported tax relief for small businesses to allow them to hire
- Fought frivolous lawsuits that hurt small businesses
- Streamlined business filings to make it easier for Kansans to start a business
- Defending Educational Opportunity
- Fought to give control back to parents and local schools
- Enabled school districts to employ experts in STEM fields as educators
- Created a scholarship program to broaden opportunities for low income students
- Supported the Innovative School District Initiative to foster a climate of creativity in our schools
- Defending State Sovereignty
- Led the fight to overturn Obamacare
- Authored a bill that protects your privacy by prohibiting the illegal search and seizure of your electronic communication
- Opposed the Obama Administration’s excessive EPA regulations that damage Kansas small businesses and job creation
- Supported numerous bills that protect the 2nd Amendment rights of Kansas hunters and sportsmen
- Defending Your Pocketbook
- Resisted efforts to raise the income tax in Kansas
- Led efforts to eliminate wasteful spending
- Opposed costly government mandates
- Fought for new transparency measures in property taxes
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2016
Elections for the Kansas House of Representatives were held in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2016.
Patty Markley defeated Ben Chociej in the Kansas House of Representatives District 8 general election.[2][3]
| Kansas House of Representatives, District 8 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Patty Markley |
72.78% | 9,493 | |
| Democratic | Ben Chociej | 27.22% | 3,550 | |
| Total Votes | 13,043 | |||
| Source: Kansas Secretary of State | ||||
Ben Chociej ran unopposed in the Kansas House of Representatives District 8 Democratic primary.[4][5]
| Kansas House of Representatives, District 8 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Ben Chociej (unopposed) | |
Patty Markley defeated incumbent Craig McPherson in the Kansas House of Representatives District 8 Republican primary.[4][5]
| Kansas House of Representatives, District 8 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Patty Markley |
58.08% | 1,546 | |
| Republican | Craig McPherson Incumbent | 41.92% | 1,116 | |
| Total Votes | 2,662 | |||
Primary election
In the primary elections held on August 2, 2016, six incumbents were defeated in the state Senate, while nine incumbents were defeated in the state House. Outside of the one incumbent Democrat who was defeated in the House, moderates defeated 14 conservative Republican incumbents in the primary. Before the 2016 primary, moderate Republicans had been losing ground in the state legislature since the 2010 election of Gov. Sam Brownback (R), shifting from a more moderate Republican-controlled state legislature to a more conservative one after the 2012 elections. Eighteen Republican incumbents were defeated in the conservative wave in 2012. Craig McPherson was one of 14 Republican incumbents who were defeated in the 2016 primary.
2014
Elections for the Kansas House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election was held on August 5, 2014, and a general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 2, 2014. Jodie Dietz was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Incumbent Craig McPherson defeated Stacey Schlimmer in the Republican primary. McPherson defeated Dietz in the general election.[6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Craig McPherson Incumbent |
66.6% | 5,435 | |
| Democratic | Jodie Dietz | 33.4% | 2,723 | |
| Total Votes | 8,158 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Craig McPherson Incumbent |
55.7% | 1,272 |
| Stacey Schlimmer | 44.3% | 1,010 |
| Total Votes | 2,282 | |
2012
McPherson won election in the 2012 election for Kansas State Senate District 8. McPherson defeated Sheryl Spalding in the August 7 Republican primary and ran unopposed in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[8][9]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Craig McPherson |
61.5% | 1,385 |
| Sheryl Spalding Incumbent | 38.5% | 868 |
| Total Votes | 2,253 | |
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
Kansas Freedom Index
The Kansas Policy Institute, Kansas’s "first free market think tank," releases its legislator scorecard as a part of its Kansas Freedom Index for Kansas state representatives and senators once a year. The Score Card gives each legislator a score from 1%-100% based on how they voted in the prior legislative term on specific issues which the Kansas Policy Institute thought were pro-limited government policies.[10]
2013
Craig McPherson received a score of 86.0% in the 2013 index.[11]
Endorsements
2014
In 2014, McPherson's endorsements included the following:[12]
- Kansas Chamber PAC
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Craig + McPherson + Kansas + Legislature
See also
- Kansas House of Representatives
- House Committees
- Joint Committees
- Kansas state legislative districts
- Kansas State Legislature
External links
- Kansas Legislature - Representative Craig McPherson
- Profile from Open States
- Campaign Contributions: 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ Official campaign website, "Defending Liberty," accessed June 24, 2014
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "Candidate list," accessed August 23, 2016
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "2016 General Election official results," accessed December 19, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Kansas Secretary of State, "Candidate list," accessed June 3, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Kansas Secretary of State, "2016 Official Kansas Primary Election Results," accessed September 12, 2016
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "2014 Primary Election - Official Vote Totals," accessed September 15, 2014
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "2014 General Election - Official Vote Totals," accessed April 17, 2015
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "2012 Primary Election - Official Vote Totals," accessed March 31, 2014
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "2012 General Election - Official Vote Totals," accessed March 31, 2014
- ↑ Kansas Policy Institute, "Freedom Index," accessed March 31, 2014
- ↑ Ballotpedia, "2013 Kansas Policy Index," accessed March 10, 2015
- ↑ Official campaign website, "Media Release," accessed June 24, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jerry Williams (D) |
Kansas House of Representatives District 8 2013–2017 |
Succeeded by Patty Markley (R) |
