Patrick Penn is an American politician serving as a member of the

Kansas House of Representatives The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craftin ...

from the 85th district. Elected in November 2020, he assumed office on January 11, 2021.

Early life and education

Penn was raised in the foster care system. While in the Army, Penn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology / Criminology from

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

and a Master of Science in Applied Information Technology from the Volgenau School of Engineering of

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

Career

After graduating from high school, he joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, where he was deployed to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Prior to entering politics, Penn worked for Textron Aviation Defense. Penn was elected to the

in November 2020 and assumed office on January 11, 2021. Penn defeated incumbent Michael Capps in the Republican primary. New Politics describes him as a Christian Conservative. During the 2021 legislative session, Penn served on the following House Committees: * Federal and State Affairs * K-12 Education Budget * Children and Seniors.

References

Living people Republican Party members of the Kansas House of Representatives African-American state legislators in Kansas Colorado State University alumni George Mason University alumni Politicians from Wichita, Kansas 21st-century American politicians United States Army officers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American politicians Black conservatism in the United States {{Kansas-politician-stub