Brian Joseph Moran (born September 9, 1959) is an

American politician The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bi ...

and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as

Virginia Secretary of Public Safety The Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security is a Virginia government executive that serves as a member of the Virginia Governor's Cabinet. The office is currently vacant. Duties # Work with and through others, including federal, state, a ...

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-number ...

from 1996 until 2008, representing

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

'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 ...

in 2009, 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 Virgi ...

, 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 The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

Early life

Moran was born in Natick, Massachusetts, the youngest of seven children in a 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 The Senate Watergate Committee, known officially as the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, was a special committee established by the United States Senate, , in 1973, to investigate the Watergate scandal, with the power to inve ...

. Moran attended university at Framingham State College, and later the Catholic University of America, where he earned his Juris Doctor from the

Columbus School of Law The Columbus School of Law, also known as Catholic Law or CUA Law, is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. More than 400 Juris Doctor students attend Catholic La ...

in 1988. Moran's older brother is

Jim Moran James Patrick Moran Jr. (born May 16, 1945) is an American politician who served as the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia from 1985 to 1990, and as the U.S. representative for (including the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, all of Arlington ...

, a former U.S. Congressman from Virginia's 8th district. The elder Moran helped raise funds for his brother during his gubernatorial campaign, and both represented areas in

, but the two have differing opinions on several issues such as gun control 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 Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The 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 ...

and murder, 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, and a Friend of Business awardee from the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce. 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 The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

. 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 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 Terence Richard McAuliffe (born February 9, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he was co-chairman of President Bill Clinton's 1996 ...

second. On December 4, 2010, Moran was elected chair of the

Democratic Party of Virginia The Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA/VA Dems) is the Virginia affiliate of the Democratic Party based in Richmond, Virginia. Historically, the Democratic Party has dominated Virginia politics. Since the 1851 Virginia gubernatorial election, the ...

, defeating Peter Rousselot of Arlington County. In December 2013, Governor-elect

announced he was nominating Moran to serve as Virginia's next Secretary of Public Safety, which is the Cabinet position with supervision of the

Virginia State Police The Virginia State Police, officially the Virginia Department of State Police, conceived in 1919 and established in 1932, is the state police force for the U.S. state of Virginia. The agency originated out of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehi ...

, the state's alcoholic beverage control laws, the

Virginia Department of Corrections The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) is the government agency responsible for community corrections and operating prisons and correctional facilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The agency is fully accredited b ...

, and the

Virginia National Guard The Virginia National Guard consists of the Virginia Army National Guard and the Virginia Air National Guard. It is part of the Government of Virginia though the National Guard across the United States is mostly funded by the federal government ...

. Previous Secretaries of Public Safety have included former Virginia state Attorney General Jerry Kilgore and John W. Marshall. On December 19, 2017, Governor-elect

Ralph Northam Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

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 Columbus School of Law alumni Democratic Party of Virginia chairs Framingham State University alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Politicians from Alexandria, Virginia People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Natick, Massachusetts State cabinet secretaries of Virginia Virginia lawyers Catholics from Virginia Catholics from Massachusetts