Douglas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Lawrence. As of the 2020 census,the county population was 118,785,making it the fifth-most populous county in Kansas. The county was named after Stephen Douglas,a U.S. Senator from Illinois and advocate for the popular sovereignty choice in the Kansas slavery debate.
Kathleen Sebelius is an American politician who served as the 21st United States Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services,Sebelius was instrumental in overseeing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Before becoming secretary,she served as the 44th governor of Kansas from 2003 to 2009,the second woman to hold that office. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Sebelius was the Democratic respondent to the 2008 State of the Union address and is chair-emerita of the Democratic Governors Association. She is CEO of Sebelius Resources LLC.
Susan Wagle is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Kansas Senate,representing the 30th district from 2001 to 2021. She was elected Kansas Senate President in 2013 and was reelected in 2017. She is the first woman to hold this position.
Ann Leila Kirkpatrick is an American politician and retired attorney who served as the U.S. representative for Arizona's 2nd congressional district from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party,she represented Arizona's 1st congressional district from 2009 to 2011,and again from 2013 to 2017. Kirkpatrick was a member of the Arizona House of Representatives from 2005 to 2007.
Sandy Praeger is a former politician from the U.S. state of Kansas who served as the Kansas Insurance Commissioner from 2003 to 2015. Prior to her term as insurance commissioner,she was a member of the Kansas Senate and Kansas House of Representatives,and served as mayor of Lawrence,Kansas. Although she won her elections as a Republican,she disagreed with the more conservative faction in her party,eventually leading her to endorse a Democrat to succeed her as insurance commissioner.
David B. Haley is a Democratic member of the Kansas Senate,representing the 4th district since 2001. From 1995 to 2001,he was a Kansas Representative. He ran unsuccessfully for Kansas Secretary of State in 2002 and 2006.
Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda is an American politician and lawyer from Florida. She is a former member of the Florida House of Representatives,in which she represented the 9th District,which includes most of Leon County,from 2008 to 2016. In addition to her legislative career,Rehwinkel Vasilinda is an attorney and has been a professor of Legal Studies and Applied Ethics at Tallahassee Community College since 1989.
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.
Troy Findley is an American politician who served as the 48th lieutenant governor of Kansas from 2009 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party,he was appointed by newly-installed Governor Mark Parkinson. Findley previously served as the Kansas State Representative for the 46th district from 1995 to 2003 and Chief of Staff to the governor of Kansas from 2005 until 2009.
Barbara W. Ballard is a Democratic member of the Kansas House of Representatives,representing the 44th district. Born in Petersburg,Virginia,she has served since 1993.
Mary Pilcher-Cook is a former Republican member of the Kansas Senate,representing the 10th district from 2009 to 2020. She was a representative on the Kansas House of Representatives from 2000 to 2002 and from 2004 to 2006. She was elected to the Kansas Senate 2008 and re-elected in 2012 and 2016. On December 27,2019,she announced that she would resign from the Senate effective January 16,2020,a year before her term expired.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of Kansas have federal protections,but many face some legal challenges on the state level that are not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Kansas under the US Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas,although the state legislature has not repealed its sodomy laws that only apply to same-sex sexual acts. The state has prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment,housing and public accommodations since 2020. Proposed bills restricting preferred gender identity on legal documents,bans on transgender people in women's sports,bathroom use restrictions,among other bills were vetoed numerous times by Democratic Governor Laura Kelly since 2021. However,many of Kelly's vetoes were overridden by the Republican supermajority in the Kansas legislature and became law.
Diana DiZoglio is an American politician who is the current Massachusetts State Auditor. A member of the Democratic Party,DiZoglio had previously represented the 1st Essex District in the Massachusetts Senate from 2019 to 2023. The district included her home city of Methuen as well as Newburyport,Haverhill,Merrimac,Amesbury,Salisbury,and four of eight precincts in North Andover.
John Wilson was a Democratic member of the Kansas House of Representatives representing the 10th district,which encompasses parts of Lawrence and all of southeastern Douglas County. First elected in 2012,Wilson resigned his seat in 2017 to focus on his work and family.
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.
Michelle M. DuBois is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. She was elected in November 2014 to represent the 10th Plymouth District and was sworn in on January 7,2015. Rep. DuBois was re-elected to a second term on November 8,2016,after running uncontested. Rep DuBois won her third term in 2018 against John F. Cruz and won her fourth election in 2020 against Jack Lally.
Mike Amyx is the incumbent member of the Kansas House of Representatives for the 45th district,which covers Northwestern Douglas County,including western Lawrence. He has served since 2019. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He had previously been the mayor of Lawrence for six terms,1985–86,1987–88,2006–07,2010–11,2014–15,and 2015–17. He served a four-year term as a Douglas County Commissioner.
Jennifer Day is an American politician who served as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives representing the 48th district in Johnson County,Kansas,from June 3,2020,to June 30,2021. She was appointed to the seat on May 24,2020,by Democratic Party committee members to complete the term of Democratic Rep. David Benson,who resigned. Representative Day was appointed after the Kansas Legislature adjourned the 2020 legislative session. She was sworn in on June 3,2020,by Secretary of State Scott Schwab for a term ending in January 2021. Representative Day's legislative service started on the first day of a special legislative session called by Gov. Laura Kelly.
The 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 8,2022,to elect the governor of Kansas,with primary elections taking place on August 2,2022. Governor Laura Kelly ran for re-election to a second term,facing Republican State Attorney General Derek Schmidt in the general election.
Christina Haswood is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Kansas House of Representatives from the 10th district. Haswood represents southeastern Douglas County,including Baldwin City and part of Lawrence.
