Barry Grissom | |
---|---|
![]() | |
United States Attorney for the District of Kansas | |
In office August 20, 2010 –April 15, 2016 | |
President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Lanny Welch (acting) |
Succeeded by | Stephen McAllister |
Personal details | |
Born | Lebanon,Kentucky,U.S. | April 12,1954
Political party | Democratic |
Education | University of Kansas (BS) Oklahoma City University (JD) |
Barry Ray Grissom (born April 12,1954) [1] is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Kansas from 2010 to 2016. [2] [3] On July 1,2019,Barry Grissom officially launched his campaign for the Democratic Party nomination for U.S. Senate. [4] On October 17,2019,he dropped out of the race,and endorsed former Kansas state Senator Barbara Bollier for the race. [5]
Grissom graduated from Willowbrook High School in 1972 [6] and went to Johnson County Community College and then the University of Kansas where he earned a bachelor's degree in Science in 1977. He then studied law at Oklahoma City University,earning a JD in 1981. At OCU,he was a member of the Law Review,the Moot Court Board and the Order of the Barristers.
Returning to Kansas,he began a private practice in 1983,focused on representing victims of negligence,on civil rights and labor issues,including Fair Labor Standards Act cases. From 1986 to 2010 he was a member of the board of governors for the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association. He was appointed the U.S. Attorney for Kansas by President Barack Obama in 2010,serving until April 2016,after which he joined the national Polsinelli law firm. He had been a member of Eric Holder's Attorney General's Advisory Committee, [7] as well as becoming a panelist on the Brennan Center's Blue Ribbon Panel on the redefinition of federal prosecution priorities. [8] The panel's report emphasized both targeting violent offenders at the same time addressing issues of over-incarceration.
In April 2018,he founded the Grissom Law Group which additionally focused on public policy advocacy. In 2018,he became the Senior Vice President of Electrum Partners. [9]
As the U.S. Attorney for Kansas,Barry Grissom focused on civil rights enforcement and community outreach. [10] During his tenure,Grissom founded the Kansas Civil Rights Symposium (which promoted efforts to improve community relations with law enforcement),the District's first Human Trafficking Working Group (which coordinated the work of NGO's with law enforcement to curb human trafficking),directed the District's Project Safe Neighborhood program (which targeted felons who unlawfully possessed firearms),and oversaw the District's Project Safe Childhood program (which targeted child sex offenders). [10]
During his tenure as US Attorney,various subordinates kept recordings of attorney-client phone calls of inmates in a detention facility. The US District Court found the office to be in contempt of court. A number of convictions and/or cases have been reversed or abandoned due to this unconstitutional activity. Grissom claimed to be unaware. [11]
On July 1, 2019, Grissom announced he would run for the U.S. Senate in Kansas. [12]
He dropped out of the race on October 17, 2019, and endorsed state Senator Barbara Bollier. [13]
Kris William Kobach is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the attorney general of Kansas since 2023. He previously served as the 31st secretary of state of Kansas from 2011 to 2019. A former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, Kobach rose to national prominence over his support for anti-immigration advocacy, including involvement in the implementation of high-profile anti-illegal immigration ordinances in various American cities. Kobach is also known for his calls for stronger voter ID laws in the United States. He has made claims about the extent of election fraud in the United States that some studies have shown to be unsubstantiated.
Brian E. Frosh is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of Maryland from 2015 to 2023. He also served five terms in the Maryland State Senate, representing Maryland's District 16 in Montgomery County. Prior to serving in the Senate, Frosh represented District 16 in the Maryland House of Delegates, serving two four-year terms.
Derek Larkin Schmidt is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Kansas Attorney General from 2011 to 2023. A Republican, Schmidt was first elected to office serving in the Kansas Senate, where he represented the 15th district from 2001 to 2011, and served as Agriculture Committee chairman and Senate majority leader. Schmidt became the state attorney general in 2011, after he defeated incumbent Democrat Stephen Six.
Laura Jeanne Kelly is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 48th governor of Kansas. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented the 18th district in the Kansas Senate from 2005 to 2019. Kelly was elected governor in 2018, defeating Republican nominee Kris Kobach. She was reelected in 2022, narrowly defeating Republican nominee Derek Schmidt.
Eric Stephen Schmitt is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Missouri since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Schmitt served as the 43rd Missouri Attorney General from 2019 to 2023.
Jeffrey William Colyer is an American surgeon and politician who served as the 47th governor of Kansas from January 31, 2018, to January 14, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 49th lieutenant governor of Kansas from 2011 to 2018. Colyer served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 2007 to 2009 and the Kansas Senate from 2009 to 2011. He assumed the governorship when Sam Brownback resigned to become United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. Colyer ran for a full term as governor in 2018, but narrowly lost the Republican primary to Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach, who in turn lost the general election to Democratic nominee Laura Kelly.
Barbara Goolsbee Bollier is an American physician and politician. From 2017 to 2021, she was a member of the Kansas Senate representing the 7th district, which includes Mission Hills, Kansas in Johnson County. Bollier is a member of the Democratic Party, after having left the Republican Party in 2018. Bollier was the Democratic nominee in the 2020 United States Senate election in Kansas, losing in the general election to Republican congressman Roger Marshall.
The 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Kansas was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, to elect the four U.S. representatives from the state of Kansas, one from each of the state's four congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including the 2014 Kansas gubernatorial election.
Chad Taylor is an American politician and attorney, who served as the District Attorney of Shawnee County, Kansas from 2009-17. He was nominated to run for United States Senate in the 2014 election for the Democratic Party, but withdrew from the race on September 3, 2014.
The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Kansas were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the four U.S. representatives from the state of Kansas, one from each of the state's four congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on August 2.
The 2020 United States Senate election in Kansas was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Kansas, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Joshua David Hawley is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Missouri, a seat he has held since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Hawley served as the 42nd attorney general of Missouri from 2017 to 2019, before defeating two-term incumbent Democratic senator Claire McCaskill in the 2018 election.
The 2018 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Kansas. Incumbent Republican Governor Sam Brownback was term-limited and could not seek a third consecutive term.
The 2018 United States Senate election in Nevada took place November 6, 2018, to elect one of two U.S. senators from Nevada. Incumbent Republican senator Dean Heller lost re-election to a second full term, being defeated by Democratic nominee Jacky Rosen.
Roger Wayne Marshall is an American politician, physician, and former military officer serving as the junior United States senator from Kansas since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he served from 2017 to 2021 as the U.S. representative for Kansas's 1st congressional district, a mostly rural district covering much of the western and northern parts of the state.
The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Kansas were held on November 6, 2018, to elect the four U.S. representatives from the state of Kansas, one from each of the state's four congressional districts.
Steven Charles Watkins Jr. is an American politician and former military officer. He served as the U.S. representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 2019 to 2021. He is a member of the Republican Party, and was succeeded by Jake LaTurner. He earned degrees from the United States Military Academy at West Point, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), and Harvard.
The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Kansas were held on November 3, 2020, to elect the four U.S. representatives from the state of Kansas, one from each of the state's four congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections.
The 2022 United States Senate election in Missouri was held on November 8, 2022, concurrently with elections for all other Class 3 U.S. senators and elections for the U.S. House of Representatives, to select a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Missouri. Incumbent senator Roy Blunt, a Republican, did not seek a third term in office. Republican Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt won the open seat, defeating Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine.
Ethan Corson is an American politician and attorney who currently represents the 7th district in the Kansas Senate. Elected in 2020, he assumed office on January 11, 2021. He is a member of the Democratic Party.