Brian Douglas Kerns (born May 22, 1957) is an American politician. He served as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Representative from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

's 7th Congressional District from January 3, 2001 to January 3, 2003. Kerns was born in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

. He has both a B.A. and an M.P.A. from

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

. He is the son-in-law of Representative John T. Myers. He is married and has five children. Prior to serving in Congress, Kerns was an administrator at St. Joseph's College, and a television journalist. Kerns also was an aide to Representative

Edward A. Pease Edward Allan Pease (born May 22, 1951) is an American politician and lawyer from Indiana. He is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, serving two terms from 1997 to 2001, Biography Early life and education Pe ...

and served as his chief of staff. Attorney General John Ashcroft meets with Congressman Brian Kerns

Congressional career

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, when Pease retired, Kerns won a 12-way Republican Primary. Kerns went on to win the general election with close to 65% of the vote. During his term in Congress, Kerns took up many social issues including gun rights and working to ban human cloning. He is also responsible for bringing closure to the Lafayette Railroad Relocation Project. Kerns served on the

International Relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees. During his time in congress, Kerns never missed a single vote. After the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

, Kerns' district, which stretched from Terre Haute to

West Lafayette West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister c ...

, was eliminated. Most of Kerns' old territory was placed in the newly created . That district had previously been the 5th, represented by fellow Republican

Steve Buyer Stephen Earle Buyer ( ; born November 26, 1958) is an American former politician who served as the U.S. representative for , and previously the , serving from 1993 until 2011. On July 25, 2022, Buyer was arrested and charged with insider trading ...

. However, Kerns' home in Terre Haute was placed in the

Evansville Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in S ...

-based

8th District 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of the ...

of another Republican,

John Hostettler John Nathan Hostettler (born July 19, 1961) is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1995, to January 3, 2007, representing the Indiana's 8th congressional district. He lost his reelectio ...

. Rather than challenge Hostettler for the Republican nomination in the 8th, Kerns moved to

Hendricks County Hendricks County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 145,448. The county seat is the town of Danville. Hendricks County is the third largest county in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderso ...

to face Buyer and lost.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerns, Brian 1957 births Living people Indiana State University alumni Politicians from Terre Haute, Indiana Journalists from Indiana American male journalists Saint Joseph's College (Indiana) Political chiefs of staff United States congressional aides 21st-century American politicians Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana