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Tom Arpke
Tom Arpke (b. February 6, 1952) is a former Republican member of the Kansas State Senate, representing District 24 from 2013 to 2017. Arpke served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013.
Biography
Arpke earned his B.S. in Microbiology from Florida State University in 1974. His professional experience includes working as an account manager for Nalco and the United States Water Services.[1]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Arpke served on the following committees:
| Kansas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Education, Vice Chair |
| • Local Government |
| • Ethics and Elections |
| • Ways and Means |
| • Natural Resources |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Arpke served on the following committees:
| Kansas committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Education, Vice chair |
| • Natural Resources |
| • Ways and Means |
2011-2012
Arpke served on the following committees in the 2011-2012 legislative session:
| Kansas committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Agriculture and Natural Resources |
| • Education Budget |
| • Transportation |
Campaign themes
2012
Arpke's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[2]
- Excerpt: "I favor lowering the tax burden on Kansas families and businesses."
- Excerpt: "[I] feel that family values and respect for life are core elements that need to be supported in all legislative activities."
- Excerpt: "I have participated in this process of getting back to the people, to listen to their thoughts, discover their dreams, and renew within them a sense of hope in the legislative process."
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
- 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.
Randall Hardy defeated Donald Merriman in the Kansas State Senate District 24 general election.[3][4]
| Kansas State Senate, District 24 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Randall Hardy |
59.06% | 16,195 | |
| Democratic | Donald Merriman | 40.94% | 11,228 | |
| Total Votes | 27,423 | |||
| Source: Kansas Secretary of State | ||||
Donald Merriman ran unopposed in the Kansas State Senate District 24 Democratic primary.[5][6]
| Kansas State Senate, District 24 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Donald Merriman (unopposed) | |
Randall Hardy defeated incumbent Tom Arpke and John Price in the Kansas State Senate District 24 Republican primary.[5][6]
| Kansas State Senate, District 24 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Randall Hardy |
46.34% | 4,307 | |
| Republican | Tom Arpke Incumbent | 41.79% | 3,884 | |
| Republican | John Price | 11.87% | 1,103 | |
| Total Votes | 9,294 | |||
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. Tom Arpke was one of 14 Republican incumbents who were defeated in the 2016 primary.
2012
- See also: Kansas State Senate elections, 2012
Arpke won election in the 2012 election for Kansas State Senate District 24. Arpke defeated Pete Brungardt in the August 7 Republican primary and defeated Janice Norlin (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[7][8]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Tom Arpke |
56.5% | 15,112 | |
| Democratic | Janice Norlin | 43.5% | 11,650 | |
| Total Votes | 26,762 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Tom Arpke |
55.4% | 5,413 |
| Pete Brungardt Incumbent | 44.6% | 4,354 |
| Total Votes | 9,767 | |
2010
Arpke defeated incumbent Deena Horst in the Republican primary on August 3, 2010 by a margin of 1,205-898.[9] Horst was seeking her ninth term. Arpke defeated Gerrett Morris (D) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[10]
| Kansas House of Representatives, District 69 General Election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Tom Arpke (R)
|
3,733 | |||
| Gerrett Morris (D) | 2,106 | |||
2009
Arpke was elected to the Salina city commission in 2009.
One of the major issues of the campaign was a near-total smoking ban enacted by the city commission in January. Arpke said he wouldn't have voted for it but supported putting it up to the public. "I think the fewer laws we have telling people how to run their businesses, the better off we are," he stated.[11]
Arpke received a total of 2,386 votes, winning by 332.
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.[12]
2013
Tom Arpke received a score of 69.0% in the 2013 index.[13]
Endorsements
2016
In 2016, Arpke's endorsements included the following:[14]
- Governor Sam Brownback
- National Rifle Association of America
- Kansans for Life
- The Kansas Chamber
- National Federation of Independent Business
- Kansas State Rifle Association
2012
Gov. Sam Brownback (R) endorsed Arpke over incumbent Pete Brungardt.[15]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Arpke and his wife, Beth, have five children.[1]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Tom + Arpke + Kansas + House"
See also
- Kansas State Senate
- Senate Committees
- Joint Committees
- Kansas state legislative districts
- Kansas State Legislature
External links
- Kansas Legislature - Senator Tom Arpke
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Arpke for Senate, "About Tom," accessed March 29, 2014
- ↑ Arpke for Senate, "Kansas Issues," accessed March 29, 2014
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "Candidate list," accessed August 23, 2016
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "2016 General Election official results," accessed December 19, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Kansas Secretary of State, "Candidate list," accessed June 3, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 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 29, 2014
- ↑ Salina Journal, "Horst ousted," August 4, 2010
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State, "2010 General Election - Official Vote Totals," accessed March 29, 2014
- ↑ Salina Journal, "Candidates take positions on smoking ban," February 25, 2009
- ↑ Kansas Policy Institute, "Freedom Index," accessed March 31, 2014
- ↑ Ballotpedia, "2013 Kansas Policy Index," accessed March 10, 2015
- ↑ Tom Arpke for Senate, "Endorsements," accessed June 15, 2016
- ↑ LJ World, "End may be coming for GOP moderates," July 22, 2012
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Pete Brungardt (R) |
Kansas State Senate District 24 2013–2017 |
Succeeded by Randall Hardy (R) |
| Preceded by Deena Horst (R) |
Kansas House of Representatives District 69 2011-2013 |
Succeeded by J.R. Claeys (R) |
