Lynn Haag Jenkins (born June 10, 1963) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for , in office from 2009 to 2019. She previously served as Kansas State Treasurer from 2003 to 2009, in 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 1999 to 2000 and the

Kansas Senate The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 senators elected from single-member districts, each with a population of about 73,000 inhabitants. Members o ...

from 2000 to 2002. She is a member of the Republican Party. She is a founder of Maggie's List, a

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

designed to increase the number of conservative women elected to federal public office. Jenkins announced in January 2017 that she would not be running for re-election in 2018 and she left the House when her term expired on January 3, 2019.

Early life, education, and early political career

Jenkins was born in Holton, Kansas, and is a sixth-generation Kansan. She was raised on a dairy farm in Holton, where she attended high school. Later she graduated from

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

and Weber State College with an

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

and an

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

minor. She is a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Stat ...

. Jenkins served for two years in the

and for one term in the

. She was elected state treasurer in 2002, at which time she began serving in a number of organizations, including as president of the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST). Lynn's brother is Chris Haag and she also has a sister.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2008

On April 4, 2007, Jenkins announced that she had filed papers with the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...

as a first step of running for the U.S. House of Representatives for Kansas's 2nd congressional district. Her opponent in the Republican

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

was former U.S. Representative Jim Ryun, who served five terms before being defeated in 2006 by prior Democratic

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Nancy Boyda, who ran for reelection. In the campaign between Jenkins and Ryun, he criticized her for having voted for tax increases while a state legislator, and she criticized him for having supported earmarks. Jenkins was seen as more moderate than Ryun and received the support of the

Republican Leadership Council The Republican Leadership Council (RLC or RLC-PAC) was founded in 1993 as the Committee for Responsible Government. It was a United States political advocacy group and political action committee that promoted Republican candidates who choose a pla ...

. The primary was held on August 5, 2008. Jenkins won the Republican nomination by approximately 1,000 votes. In the general election, Jenkins went on to defeat Boyda 51%–46%.

2010

Jenkins won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic candidate Cheryl Hudspeth, 63%–32%.

2012

Jenkins won re-election to a third term, defeating Democratic candidate Tobias Schlingensiepen, 57%–39%.

Tenure

In June 2013, after the

United States farm bill In the United States, the farm bill is a comprehensive omnibus bill that is the primary Agricultural policy in the United States, agricultural and food policy instrument of the federal government. United States Congress, Congress typically passe ...

failed again, Jenkins claimed she was disappointed in House Republicans, who were divided over the issue. She blamed the failure in the House on the inability to find common ground, stating that there are still too many Democratic and Republican members who allowed politics to trump progress. Jenkins was ranked as the 96th most bipartisan member of the House during the

114th United States Congress The 114th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from Ja ...

by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy. In December 2017, Jenkins voted in favor of the

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 The Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, , is a congressional revenue act of the United States originally introduced in Congress as the Tax Cuts and Jobs ...

. Jenkins says the bill will provide tax relief to middle-class Americans and create more jobs. She also claims the bill will improve the economy and therefore will "pay down our national debt," despite the bill being anticipated to add over $1 trillion to the national debt.

"The Great White Hope"

At a town hall on August 19, 2009, Jenkins commented on President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's policies, saying, "Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope." Jenkins said to the crowd. "I suggest to any of you who are concerned about that, who are Republican, there are some great young Republican minds in Washington." Jenkins then gave the names of several young,

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

Republicans. "The Great White Hope," a phrase that originated in the early 1900s, was a reference to any boxer whites hoped would finally defeat the World Heavyweight Champion Jack Johnson, who was black. Jenkins later apologized, clarifying her remarks and saying that "I was explaining that there are some bright lights in the House, and I was unaware of any negative connotation. If I offended somebody, obviously I apologize." Only one month earlier she had voted for a resolution urging President Obama to pardon black U.S. boxer Johnson, which had text that explained the meaning of the phrase "The Great White Hope". Jenkins responded by saying she had voted for the resolution without reading it first.

Lobbying

Before her tenure in Congress ended, Jenkins set up the lobbying firm LJ Strategies. She registered the firm in Kansas on November 20, 2018. Jenkins' spokesperson said that Jenkins did not intend to actively seek clients until her congressional term had ended.

Committee assignments

Jenkins was assigned to the Committee on Financial Services including the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises and the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. She was named to the

Ways and Means Committee A ways and means committee is a government body that is charged with reviewing and making recommendations for government budgets. Because the raising of revenue is vital to carrying out governmental operations, such a committee is tasked with fi ...

when the Republicans gained control of the House for the 112th Congress. Jenkins was a member of the Republican Study Committee, the Republican Main Street Partnership, and the Tea Party Caucus.

Caucus memberships

* Republican Study Committee * Republican Main Street Partnership * Tea Party Caucus *Congressional Cement Caucus * Congressional Prayer Caucus * Tea Party Caucus * Congressional Constitution Caucus * Congressional Arts Caucus * Congressional Western Caucus * Climate Solutions Caucus * Problem Solvers Caucus

Political positions

Jenkins had a mostly

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

voting record in Congress. According to the ''Washington Examiner'', "Jenkins, who had originally won her 2008 primary as a

moderate Moderate is an ideological category which entails centrist views on a liberal-conservative spectrum. It may also designate a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. Political position Canad ...

, proved to be a fairly reliable conservative vote once she got to Congress (91 percent lifetime ACU rating and 73 percent Heritage Action in the last Congress)." In 2013, the non-partisan ''

National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes ...

'' gave Jenkins a score of 77% conservative and 23% liberal.

Crime

In a 2000 survey from

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

, Jenkins indicated that if elected, she would support the use of the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

in Kansas, contracting with private sector firms to build and/or manage state prisons, and prosecuting youth accused of a

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

as adults.

Energy and environment

Jenkins was in favor of the Keystone XL Pipeline, stating that it would create more jobs and enable the United States to compete against China. She supports federal funding for

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

. Jenkins has a zero rating from Environment America regarding her environment-related voting record. She opposes federal regulations of

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

and considers it government overreach.

Gun law

Jenkins has an A rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund regarding her gun-related voting record. She supports banning the sale or transfer of semi-automatic guns except those used for hunting. She supports background checks at gun shows.

Health care

Jenkins supported the repeal and replacement of the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

("Obamacare").

Economic issues

Jenkins believes cutting government spending will increase job opportunities and improve the economy. Jenkins opposes increasing taxes to work towards a

balanced budget A balanced budget (particularly that of a government) is a budget in which revenues are equal to expenditures. Thus, neither a budget deficit nor a budget surplus exists (the accounts "balance"). More generally, it is a budget that has no budge ...

Immigration

Jenkins has a zero rating from the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda for her immigration-related voting record. Jenkins believes that by "improving" the

Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...

it will be "more difficult for illegal immigrants to obtain and use false identification documents." She supports installing technology and building additional fences along the border. In 2008, Jenkins stated that she is against amnesty for undocumented immigrants. Regarding DACA and the Dreamers, Jenkins released the following statement: "These children did not come to America on their own terms, they simply followed their parents. In the coming weeks, I look forward to working with my colleagues to create a permanent solution through the legislative process with input from Kansans in the 2nd District."

Abortion

Jenkins described herself as "pro-choice" or pro-abortion rights while running for Congress. She frequently received a zero percent score from

NARAL Pro-Choice America Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America and commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, politics, political action, and advocacy efforts to op ...

and a 100 percent score from the

National Right to Life Committee The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) is the oldest and largest national anti-abortion organization in the United States with affiliates in all 50 states and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide. Since the 1980s, NRLC has influenc ...

(NRLC) for her voting record on abortion-related legislation. She received mixed ratings from

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

and NARAL. Also in 2009, Population Connection, which supports family planning, gave her a 100% score. Her lowest score from NRLC is an 83%, mostly earning a 100% score. She supports abortion when pregnancy results from incest, rape or the woman's life is threatened; asked about '' Roe v Wade'', the decision legalizing abortion, she replied that it was a "constitutional issue" on which she would not take a position. She opposes partial-birth abortions and federal funding for organizations who provide abortions. She supports providing buffer zones around abortion clinics for both protesters to demonstrate and to provide security for patients. During her 2007-2008 congressional campaign, Jenkins was endorsed by and received campaign contributions from pro-abortion rights Republican PACs, The WISH List and

Republican Majority for Choice The Republican Majority for Choice (RMC) was a Republican organization in the United States dedicated to preserving legal access to abortion. The group also supported federal funding for all kinds of stem cell research, including embryonic stem ce ...

. The Republican Majority for Choice was among her top 100 contributors in 2010. Jenkins was referred to as "pro-choice" during the campaign and "Jenkins was endorsed by WISH List, a Republican group." In 2014, Jenkins was endorsed by Kansans for Life, an anti-abortion PAC.

LGBT issues

Jenkins opposed

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and supported Kansas legislation to make marriage only between a man and a woman. She considered it government overreach and believed states should be able to decide for themselves. She did support Kansas including sexual orientation in anti-discrimination laws. Jenkins voted against repealing the Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy, to prohibit funds being used against the

Defense of Marriage Act The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limitin ...

, and she voted against prohibiting federal funds from being given to organizations that discriminate based on sexual orientation. She did vote in favor of the 2009-2010 Defense Appropriations bill that expanded hate crime laws to include sexual orientation, and she voted in favor of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization of 2013 which prohibited that program's funds from being given to groups that discriminate based on gender identity or sexual orientation. She received a 10% from the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for L ...

, an

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

PAC, in 2010, mostly receiving a 0% during her tenure. After the Supreme Court allowed a lower court ruling to stand that struck down Kansas' ban on same-sex marriage, Jenkins said that she was going to focus on other issues. "'The Supreme Court has spoken, or not spoken in this situation'", said Jenkins. "'So by default the court says it's not constitutional, so before too long, that will be a law.'" She did not take a position on legislation to ban same-sex marriage as Treasurer.

Electoral history

, + Kansas House, District 52: Results 1998 ! Year ! ! Republican ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Democratic ! Party ! Votes ! % ! , - , 1998 , , , , Lynn Jenkins , , Republican , , 5,550 , , 63% , , , Fran Lee , , Democratic , , 3,218 , , 37% , , +

, District 20: Results 2000 ! Year ! ! Republican ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Democratic ! Party ! Votes ! % ! , - , 2000 , , , , Lynn Jenkins , , Republican , , 20,987 , , 67% , , , Jim Clark , , Democratic , , 10,187 , , 33% , , + Kansas Treasurer: Results 2002–2006 ! Year ! ! Republican ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Democratic ! Party ! Votes ! % ! , - , 2002 , , , , Lynn Jenkins , , Republican , , 457,407 , , 56% , , , Sally Finney , , Democratic , , 354,157 , , 44% , , - , 2006 , , , , Lynn Jenkins , , Republican , , 516,940 , , 64% , , , Larry Wilson , , Democratic , , 286,148 , , 36% , , + : Results 2008–2016 ! Year ! ! Republican ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Democratic ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Third Party ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Third Party ! Party ! Votes ! % ! , - ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, , , , Lynn Jenkins , , Republican , , 155,532 , , 51% , , , Nancy Boyda , , Democratic , , 142,013 , , 46% , , , Leslie Martin , ,

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

, , 5,080 , , 2% , , , Robert Garrard , ,

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

, , 4,683 , , 2% , - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , , , Lynn Jenkins , , Republican , , 130,034 , , 63% , , , Cheryl Hudspeth , , Democratic , , 66,588 , , 32% , , , Robert Garrard , ,

, , 9,353 , , 5% , - ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, , , , Lynn Jenkins , , Republican , , 131,950 , , 61% , , , Tobias Schlingensiepen , , Democratic , , 76,249 , , 35% , , , Dennis Hawver , ,

, , 9,823 , , 5% , - ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, , , , Lynn Jenkins , , Republican , , 128,742 , , 57% , , , Marge Wakefield , , Democratic , , 87,153 , , 39% , , , Christopher Clemmons , ,

, , 9,791 , , 4% , - ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , , , Lynn Jenkins , , Republican , , 181,228 , , 61% , , , Britani Potter , , Democratic , , 96,840 , , 33% , , , James Houston Bales , ,

, , 19,333 , , 6%

Personal life

Jenkins has two children, Hayley and Hayden, and was married for 25 years. Her husband Scott filed for divorce on Friday, November 7, 2008, shortly after her election to the U.S. House. She is a member of the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Lynn 1963 births 21st-century Kansas politicians 21st-century American women politicians American accountants American women accountants American United Methodists Female members of the United States House of Representatives Republican Party Kansas state senators Living people Methodists from Kansas Republican Party members of the Kansas House of Representatives People from Holton, Kansas Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas State treasurers of Kansas Tea Party movement activists Weber State University alumni Women in finance Women state legislators in Kansas Women state constitutional officers of Kansas 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Kansas Legislature 21st-century members of the Kansas Legislature