Brian Joseph Moran (born September 9, 1959) is an American politician and a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. He served as Virginia Secretary of Public Safety from 2014 to 2022, and was a member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

from 1996 until 2008, representing Northern Virginia's 46th district. Moran was a primary candidate for

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, hoping to succeed fellow Democrat

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgini ...

, but on June 9, 2009, he lost the Democratic Party nomination to

Creigh Deeds Robert Creigh Deeds (; born January 4, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a member of the Senate of Virginia representing the 25th district since 2001. Previously, he was the Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Virgi ...

, a member of the Virginia Senate.

Early life

Moran was born in

Natick, Massachusetts Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part of the Greater Boston area. ...

, the youngest of seven children in a Roman Catholic family of Irish descent. His father is former professional football player James Moran Sr. At age 13, he took the train to Washington, D.C. to watch the Watergate hearings. Moran attended university at

Framingham State College Framingham State University (Framingham State or FSU) is a public university in Framingham, Massachusetts. It offers undergraduate programs as well as graduate programs, including MBA, MEd, and MS. History As the first secretary of the newly ...

, and later the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

, where he earned his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the Columbus School of Law in 1988. Moran's older brother is Jim Moran, a former

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from Virginia's 8th district. The elder Moran helped raise funds for his brother during his gubernatorial campaign, and both represented areas in Northern Virginia, but the two have differing opinions on several issues such as

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...

and

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

laws.

Politics

After one year clerkship, Moran became an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney for Arlington County. Moran spent seven years in the Commonwealth Attorney's office, working cases ranging up to

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

, before he ran for the House of Delegates in 1995. After being elected, Moran served on the Transportation, Courts of Justice, and Health Welfare and Institutions Committees. He is a repeat winner of

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States, Canada and Brazil that seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and strive for stricter impaired drivi ...

Legislator of the Year, a recipient of the Tech-10 award from the

Northern Virginia Technology Council Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

, and a Friend of Business awardee from the

Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce is a membership based business network located in Fairfax County, Virginia. It represents 650+ businesses and 500,000 employees, making it the largest regional chamber of commerce in Virginia. The chamb ...

. Moran was named 2006 Legislator of the Year by the Virginia Sheriffs Association. He resigned his seat on December 12, 2008, to pursue the Virginia governorship full-time. In 2001, Moran was elected to chair the House Democratic Caucus, succeeding

who was elected to the Virginia State Senate. During his tenure, Democrats added seats in every consecutive general election and ultimately held 44 of the chamber's 100 seats. Moran spent the better part of 2006 and 2007 traveling the state to recruit and support House candidates for the 2007 election, when all 100 Virginia House of Delegates seats were on the ballot (as in every other odd-numbered year). He formed a fundraising committee to campaign for governor in 2009.

Mame Reiley Mary Anne "Mame" Reiley (December 24, 1952 – June 2, 2014) was an American political activist and business leader. Before her death, she was president of The Reiley Group, a consulting, fundraising and events communication agency. She was a vete ...

served as director of Virginians for Brian Moran, helping Moran in his election bid for governor (from m 2007–09) but he lost the Democratic nomination for governor to Deeds, who received more than twice as many votes as Moran. Moran came in third, Terry McAuliffe second. On December 4, 2010, Moran was elected chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia, defeating Peter Rousselot of Arlington County. In December 2013, Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe announced he was nominating Moran to serve as Virginia's next Secretary of Public Safety, which is the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

position with supervision of the Virginia State Police, the state's alcoholic beverage control laws, the Virginia Department of Corrections, and the Virginia National Guard. Previous Secretaries of Public Safety have included former Virginia state Attorney General Jerry Kilgore and

John W. Marshall John William Marshall (born July 6, 1958) served as Secretary of Public Safety in the Cabinet of Virginia Governor Tim Kaine from 2006 to 2010, and Governor Mark Warner from 2002 to 2006, and was the longest-serving member of the Virginia Govern ...

. On December 19, 2017, Governor-elect Ralph Northam announced that Moran would continue as Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security under his administration.

References

External links

Brian Moran-Secretary of Public Safety-Governor Terry McAuliffeVirginia House of Delegates: Bio for Brian J. MoranVirginia Public Access Project: Brian J. MoranRichmond Sunlight: Brian Moran
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moran, Brian 1959 births American people of Irish descent Catholics from Massachusetts Catholics from Virginia Columbus School of Law alumni Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Democratic Party of Virginia chairs Framingham State University alumni Living people People from Natick, Massachusetts Politicians from Alexandria, Virginia Politicians from Arlington County, Virginia State cabinet secretaries of Virginia Virginia lawyers 21st-century Virginia politicians