Terry Bruce
Terry Bruce is a former Republican member of the Kansas State Senate, representing District 34 from 2005 to 2017. He was defeated in the August 2016 primary.
Biography
Bruce's professional experience includes working as an assistant district attorney for Reno County.[1]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Bruce served on the following committees:
| Kansas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Confirmation Oversight, Chair |
| • Interstate Cooperation, Vice Chair |
| • Organization, Calendar and Rules, Vice Chair |
| • Judiciary |
| • Legislative Coordinating Council |
| • Assessment and Taxation |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Bruce served on the following committees:
| Kansas committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Confirmation Oversight, Chair |
| • Interstate Cooperation, Vice chair |
| • Organization, Calendar and Rules, Vice chair |
| • Judiciary |
| • Assessment and Taxation |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Bruce served on these committees:
| Kansas committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Agriculture |
| • Assessment and Taxation |
| • Corrections and Juvenile Justice Oversight |
| • Judiciary |
| • Legislative Post Audit |
| • Natural Resources |
| • Special Claims Against the State |
| • Utilities |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Bruce served on these committees:
| Kansas committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Legislative Post Audit, Chair |
| • Agriculture |
| • Corrections and Juvenile Justice Oversight |
| • Judiciary |
| • Natural Resources |
| • Special Claims Against the State |
| • Utilities |
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.
Campaign themes
2016
Bruce's campaign website highlighted the following issues:[2]
Government spending
- Excerpt: "I believe core functions of government should be properly funded. However, at the end of the day, every day Kansans know how to manage and utilizes their money better than the government."
Life
- Excerpt: "As a father, I believe life begins at conception and every unborn child deserves every protection under the law."
Second Amendment
- Excerpt: "I believe every Kansan has the right to defend themselves and their families from those who disregard our system of laws."
Education
- Excerpt: "I believe a quality education is one of the keys to our state’s future prosperity. Therefore, we must give every student the opportunity to succeed and give teachers the tools they need to be successful."
Taxation
- Excerpt: "I support a common sense, pro-growth tax policy that increases economic freedom while also providing property tax reform."
States' rights
- Excerpt: "I am a proponent of our state re-asserting our 10th Amendment Rights under the Constitution of the United States whenever and wherever possible."
Obamacare
- Excerpt: "I am proud to say that I have worked diligently with my colleagues in the Kansas Senate to protect Kansans from the most draconian provisions of Obamacare. This is a long-term battle I hope will ultimately result in a repeal of Obamacare."
Judicial selection
- Excerpt: "I support reforming the selection process to give the people of Kansas a louder voice in the judicial process."
2016 presidential endorsement
✓ Bruce endorsed Marco Rubio for the Republican primary in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[3]
- See also: Endorsements for Marco Rubio
Elections
2016
- See also: Kansas State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the Kansas State Senate took place 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.
Edward Berger defeated Homer Gilson in the Kansas State Senate District 34 general election.[4][5]
| Kansas State Senate, District 34 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Edward Berger |
82.21% | 21,559 | |
| Democratic | Homer Gilson | 17.79% | 4,664 | |
| Total Votes | 26,223 | |||
| Source: Kansas Secretary of State | ||||
Homer Gilson ran unopposed in the Kansas State Senate District 34 Democratic primary.[6][7]
| Kansas State Senate, District 34 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Homer Gilson (unopposed) | |
Edward Berger defeated incumbent Terry Bruce in the Kansas State Senate District 34 Republican primary.[6][7]
| Kansas State Senate, District 34 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Edward Berger |
57.19% | 6,279 | |
| Republican | Terry Bruce Incumbent | 42.81% | 4,701 | |
| Total Votes | 10,980 | |||
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. Terry Bruce was one of 14 Republican incumbents who were defeated in the 2016 primary.
2012
- See also: Kansas State Senate elections, 2012
Bruce won election in the 2012 election for Kansas State Senate District 34. Bruce was unopposed in the August 7 Republican primary and defeated Mark R. Treaster (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[8][9]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Terry Bruce Incumbent |
59.9% | 16,007 | |
| Democratic | Mark R. Treaster | 40.1% | 10,711 | |
| Total Votes | 26,718 | |||
2008
- See also: Kansas State Senate elections, 2008
On November 4, 2008, Bruce was re-elected to the 34th District Seat in the Kansas State Senate, defeating David A. Inskeep (D).[10] Bruce raised $104,719 for his campaign, while Inskeep raised $80,684.[11]
| Kansas State Senate, District 34 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Terry Bruce (R)
|
15,927 | 61.1% | ||
| David A. Inskeep (D) | 10,115 | 38.8% | ||
Endorsements
2016
In 2016, Bruce's endorsements included the following:[12]
- Kansans for Life
- National Rifle Association
- Kansas Farm Bureau
- Kansas Chamber of Commerce
- National Federation of Independent Businesses
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 Economic Freedom Index
The Kansas Economic Freedom Index is a project of Bob Weeks, creator of the blog Voice For Liberty in Wichita. The purpose of the Index "is to identify Kansas legislators who vote in favor of economic freedom — and those who don’t."[13] Legislators receive a rating from 0-100 percent based on their votes on bills promoting economic freedom.
2010
Terry Bruce received a rating of 87% on the 2010 Kansas Economic Freedom Index.[14]
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.[15]
2013
Terry Bruce received a score of 63.8% in the 2013 index.[16]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Bruce is married to his wife, Sarah.[1]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Terry + Bruce + Kansas + Senate
See also
- Kansas State Senate
- Senate Committees
- Joint Committees
- Kansas state legislative districts
- Kansas State Legislature
External links
- Kansas Legislature - Senator Terry Bruce
- Profile from Open States
- Vote Kansas Profile
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006,2004
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Project Vote Smart, "Terry Bruce's Biography," accessed March 29, 2014
- ↑ Senator Terry Bruce, "On the Issues," accessed June 15, 2016
- ↑ Topeka Capital-Journal, "Kansas Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan, 18 state legislators endorse Marco Rubio," March 2, 2016
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "Candidate list," accessed August 23, 2016
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "2016 General Election official results," accessed December 19, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kansas Secretary of State, "Candidate list," accessed June 3, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Kansas Secretary of State, "2016 Official Kansas Primary Election Results," accessed September 12, 2016
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "2012 Primary Election - Official Vote Totals," accessed March 29, 2014
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "2012 General Election - Official Vote Totals," accessed March 31, 2014
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "2008 General Election - Official Vote Totals," accessed March 29, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Kansas 2008 - General Election Results," accessed March 29, 2014
- ↑ Senator Terry Bruce, "Endorsements," accessed June 15, 2016
- ↑ Kansas Economic Freedom Index, "Homepage," accessed January 13, 2012
- ↑ Kansas Economic Freedom Index, "2010 Kansas Economic Freedom Index," May 18, 2010
- ↑ Kansas Policy Institute, "Freedom Index," accessed March 31, 2014
- ↑ Ballotpedia, "2013 Kansas Policy Index," accessed March 10, 2015
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Dave Kerr |
Kansas State Senate District 34 2005–2017 |
Succeeded by Edward Berger (R) |
 |
State of Kansas Topeka (capital) |
|---|---|
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