Stephen Six

Stephen N. Six

Democratic Party

Prior offices

Attorney General of Kansas

---

Education

Bachelor's

Carleton College, 1988

Law

University of Kansas, 1993

Personal

Profession

Attorney

Stephen N. Six (born December 11, 1965) was the Democratic Attorney General of Kansas from 2008 until 2010.

He was appointed to the position by former Governor and Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in 2008 following the resignation of Paul Morrison in the wake of his sex scandal. On June 3, 2010, he launched his campaign to be officially elected to the statewide position. However, Six went on to lose in the general election on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010, after receiving slightly under 42 percent of the vote.

Biography

Education

• Bachelor's degree in economics, Carleton College (1988)
• J.D. degree, University of Kansas (1993)

Career

Shortly after graduating with his law degree, Six worked as a clerk for Judge Deanell Reece Tacha of the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. He served as a partner in the Kansas City-based private practice law firm of Shamberg, Johnson, & Bergman for 11 years beginning in 1994. In January 2005, Six was appointed as judge on the Douglas County Circuit Court by Governor Kathleen Sebelius.

Political career

Attorney General of Kansas (2008-2010)

Six was the Democratic Attorney General of Kansas from 2008 until 2010.

He was appointed to the position by former Governor and Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in 2008 following the resignation of Paul Morrison in the wake of his sex scandal. On June 3, 2010, he launched his campaign to be officially elected to the statewide position. However, Six went on to lose in the general election on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010 after receiving slightly under 42 percent of the vote.

Federal judicial nomination

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: Steve Six
Court: Tenth Circuit
Progress
Returned 283 days after nomination.
ANominated: March 9, 2011
AABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
AHearing: May 24, 2011
QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more)
AReported:
AConfirmed:
AReturned: December 17, 2011

Six was nominated by President Barack Obama on March 9, 2011, to fill a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. Obama said of the nomination, "Steve Six has distinguished himself as a first-rate jurist with unflagging integrity and even-handedness. I am grateful for his service to the state of Kansas and look forward to adding his considerable wisdom and experience to the Tenth Circuit Court."

Six was rated Unanimously Well Qualified by the American Bar Association. He had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 24, 2011, and you can find his Committee Questionnaire available here and his Questions for the Record available here.

Both senators from Six's home state of Kansas announced that they would oppose his nomination to the federal appellate court. Sen. Pat Roberts on June 15, 2011, said that he would not support the nomination, stating, “After thoroughly reviewing Mr. Six’s record and his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will not support his nomination to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. I have urged my colleagues on the committee to vote against his nomination.” Sen. Jerry Moran released a similar statement. Opposition to Six's nomination stemmed from criticisms from abortion opponents on his handling of abortion cases while serving as the Attorney General in Kansas. As a result, the committee during the June 17 meeting opted to hold Six's nomination over for further discussion.

Due to the opposition of both of his home state Senators, the Senate Judiciary Committee decided on July 28, 2011, that they would not take up Six's nomination. The committee's chairman, Patrick Leahy explained that the move was "in deference to the objections of the Kansas senators”.

Six's nomination was returned to the president on December 17, 2011.

Political issues

Healthcare reform

See also: State Attorneys General Against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010

About three weeks after the historic passage of the United States Senate version of the health care reform legislation on Christmas Eve in 2009, State Attorney General Stephen Six wrote a letter to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid requesting the removal of language in the bill that would benefit Nebraska at the expense of other states. The stipulation in question was the back room deal Reid struck with Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson to recruit him as the 60th vote needed to pass the measure, an arrangement "dubbed the "Nebraska Compromise" or the "Cornhusker Kickback" by Republican critics." The agreement gives Nebraska exemption from its share of the Medicaid expansion, "a carve out that is expected to cost the federal government $100 million over 10 years." Six argued that the "special treatment for Nebraska would unfairly require taxpayers in Kansas and other states to share the cost of health care reform."

On the same morning President Barack Obama signed into law his controversial health care reform measure, The Affordable Patient Protection Act of 2009, the one that narrowly passed the United States House of Representatives just two days before, Republican Congressman Lynn Jenkins and State Senator Jim Barnett requested that the state's attorney general join fourteen other states in challenging the constitutionality of the health care reform measure. In addition to the unconstitutionality of the "individual mandate" that would require all citizens to purchase insurance, "the bill’s expansion of Medicaid imposes a fiscal strain on state budgets already hurting from the economic downturn," such as Kansas, which, at the time, was suffering from a $400 million shortfall.

However, after completing a legal review of the health care reform measure, Six declined requests to sue the federal government over the issue after he and his staffers failed to find "any constitutional defects" in the law. Insisting that his decision was "based strictly on the law, not politics," he argued that the suit had little to no chance of success, noting that the United States Supreme Court often refused to overturn legislation "unless a clear and direct constitutional violation is shown." Furthermore, Six stated, he did not feel it was in the best interest of Kansas taxpayers to squander scarce resources during the time of a budget shortfall.

Elections

2010

See also: Kansas Attorney General election, 2010

• 2010 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary

• Stephen Six ran unopposed in this contest

2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Republican Party	a Derek Schmidt	54.9%
	Democratic Party	Stephen Six	41.9%
	Libertarian Party	Dennis Hawver	3.2%
Total Votes			834,704

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Six currently resides in Kansas with his wife, Betsy Brand, and their four children - Emily, Sam, Henry, and Will. He is also a practicing member of the United Church of Christ.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Stephen Six Kansas Attorney General. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Stephen Six - Google News

See also

• Kansas Secretary of State
• Kansas Secretary of State election, 2010

External links

• Biography from Project Vote Smart

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Paul J. Morrison	Kansas Attorney General 2008–2010	Succeeded by Derek Schmidt

Federal judges nominated by Barack Obama
Nominated	Federal judges nominated by Barack Obama