Kevin Wayne Yoder (born January 8, 1976) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Yoder was the Kansas State Representative for the 20th district from 2003 to 2011. In his 2018 reelection bid, he was defeated by Democrat Sharice Davids by ten percentage points. After leaving Congress, he became a lobbyist for Venture Government Strategies.
Early life and education Yoder was born and raised on a grain and livestock farm in Yoder, Kansas, a small farming town outside of Hutchinson. He is the son of Susan Elizabeth Peck (née Alexander) and Wayne E. Yoder. His ancestry includes Northern Irish, German, and English.
Yoder graduated from Hutchinson High School and, in 1999, from the University of Kansas with a dual major in English and Political Science. He served as KU Student Body president, president of the Kansas Union Memorial Corporation Board of Directors, and as a board member of the KU Athletics Corporation. He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, served as president, and received the 2012 Order of Achievement award from Lambda Chi Alpha. While at KU, Yoder interned with the Kansas State Legislature. In 2002, he received a J.D. degree from the University of Kansas Law School where he served for two years as Student Bar Association President.About Kevin , Kevin for Congress website Yoder has served on the KU Law School Board of Governors. He was a 2007 graduate of Leadership Kansas.
Law career Yoder worked as a law clerk for Payne and Jones from 2000 to 2001, then as a special assistant in the U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Counternarcotics in 2001. He joined Speer and Holliday LLP, a small law firm in Olathe, as an associate and became a partner in 2005.
Yoder is a member of the American Council of Young Political Leaders and the Kansas Bar Association, and has served on the board of directors of the Johnson County Bar Association.
Kansas House of Representatives
Yoder was first elected to the Kansas House of Representatives (20th district) on January 13, 2003. He succeeded Gerry Ray.2000 Kansas Official General Election Results. Kansas Secretary of State. He was then subsequently re-elected to the office three times. The district includes portions of Overland Park and Leawood.
As chair of the Kansas State House Appropriations Committee, he had the responsibility to balance the budget, cut government spending, oppose raising taxes, and allocate over $13 billion in state revenue to public schools, universities, prisons, social services and highways. In March 2010, the committee introduced its budget plan. The proposed plan was defeated by a bipartisan group of moderate Republicans and Democrats in May 2010. Yoder also served on the Judiciary Committee from 2003 through 2011.
Committee assignments Appropriations (chair) Legislative Budget (chair) Judiciary Joint Committee of Congress on the Library
U.S. House of Representatives Elections
2010
On December 15, 2009, Yoder announced his intention to run for the open seat in the United States Congress.Yoder to run for Congress, Prime Buzz, The Kansas City Star On August 3, 2010, he won the Republican primary with 45% of the vote, running against former State Representative Patricia Lightner, Dave King, Garry R. Klotz, Daniel Gilyeat, Jerry M. Malone, Craig McPherson, John Rysavy, and Jean Ann Uvodich.
He received the endorsement of The Kansas City Star, which stated, "He believes government spending has to be controlled and is best used when it spurs economic growth, a good stance in this jobless recovery. His experience as the Kansas House appropriations committee would serve him well in Congress". Yoder also received endorsement from the NRA Political Victory Fund.
During the general campaign, Yoder set up the website stephenemoore.com in the name of Stephene Moore, his Democratic opponent, and the wife of Dennis Moore, the retiring congressman. Yoder used the site to raise questions about her campaign and issue policy positions. Moore's campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission about the website on grounds that an "unauthorized committee" is not permitted to use the name of a candidate in the title of a special project or message if it "clearly and unambiguously" shows opposition to the named candidate. The FEC dismissed the complaint against Yoder on a 3-2 party-line vote, with Republican commissioners voting in Yoder's favor and Democratic commissioners voting in Moore's favor. In the general election, with 59% of the vote, Yoder won against Democratic nominee obstetrics nurse Stephene Moore and Libertarian nominee Jasmin Talbert.
2012
In the election of 2012, Yoder ran for re-election. He faced no opposition in the 2012 primary election. In the general election, Yoder was endorsed by The Kansas City Star, and faced Libertarian nominee Joel Balam, a college professor. Yoder won with 68% of the vote.
2014
In the election of 2014, Yoder again ran for re-election. He faced no opposition in the 2014 primary election. In the general election, Yoder faced Democratic nominee Kelly Kultala, a former member of the Kansas Senate. Yoder won with 60% of the vote. In the 2014 election cycle, "Securities and Investment" was the number one industry contributing to Yoder's campaign committee and leadership PAC. According to OpenSecrets, Yoder received $53,257 from the payday-loan industry in the 2014 election cycle.
2016
In May 2016, Yoder endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential race.
In 2016, Yoder was challenged in the Republican primary by retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel Greg Goode of Louisburg, who ran on a far-right platform.Dion Lefler, 2016 Kansas primary results: U.S. Senate, Congressional Districts 3 and 4, Kansas.com (August 2, 2016).Mary Rupert, Candidates hold widely varying views in 3rd District, U.S. House contest , Wyandotte Daily (July 25, 2016). Yoder defeated Goode, 64-36 percent. As of June 2016, Yoder had raised far more money in campaign contributions than either his Republican primary opponent or his Democratic rival.
In the November general election, Yoder faced Democratic nominee Jay Sidie of Mission Woods. According to an October 19, 2016, poll commissioned by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Sidie was polling four points behind Yoder. Yoder defeated Sidie by 10 points, winning 51% of the vote to Sidie's 41%.
2018
Through three quarters of 2017, Yoder had raised more money than any other congressional candidate in Kansas history up to that point in an election cycle. In the November 2018 general election, he was defeated by Democrat Sharice Davids who raised almost $1 million more than Yoder.Zeff, Sam. (November 7, 2018). "Sharice Davids Wins A Historic Victory In the Kansas 3rd Congressional District" KCUR website Retrieved 29 November 2018. Davids won 53.3% of the vote to Yoder's 44.2%, with Libertarian Chris Clemmons winning the remaining 2.5%.
Tenure Yoder was a co-chairman of the Bipartisan Congressional Civility Caucus, Cancer Caucus, Deaf Caucus, and Beef Caucus.
In 2012, Yoder and Missouri Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver were jointly awarded the Consensus Civility award for their respectful and bipartisan efforts to work with members of both political parties. In 2017, the two representatives penned a CNN guest column on remaining united in response to the Congressional baseball shooting that left House Majority Whip Steve Scalise gravely injured.
In May 2018, Yoder became chairman of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security.
Committee assignments 112th Congress Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
113th Congress Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (Vice Chair) Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
114th Congress Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Republican Study Committee
115th Congress Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security (Chair) Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Republican Study Committee Republican Main Street Partnership
Caucus memberships United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus Veterinary Medicine Caucus Climate Solutions Caucus U.S.-Japan Caucus
Political positions According to McClatchy, Yoder had by July 2018 voted with Trump 92 percent of the time.
Economic issues Taxes In December 2017, Yoder voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Child care Throughout the tax debate, Yoder focused his efforts on lowering the costs of child care as the lead sponsor of the Promoting Affordable Childcare for Everyone Act along with Democrat Stephanie Murphy of Florida. The two representatives met privately with Adviser to the President Ivanka Trump, who focused her efforts on child care throughout the tax debate as well, in October to pitch their legislation for inclusion in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Although the bill was not eventually included in the final tax reform draft, Yoder fought alongside members of the House Ways and Means Committee to preserve child care tax credits and flex spending accounts in the new tax code.
Financial regulations Yoder was responsible for the so-called "push-out" provision inserted into the 2014 spending bill, the text of which critics argued was written by Citigroup. Yoder denied the claim, arguing the amendment was based on bipartisan legislation called the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act that had passed the House of Representatives in 2013 with votes from 70 Democrats. Yoder's amendment and the 2013 legislation rolled-back Section 716 of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 dealing with derivatives, credit-default swaps and other instruments (which some argued helped spark the 2008 financial crisis) uninsured by taxpayers if they went bad. Yoder said the measure was necessary to prevent smaller regional and community banks from being squeezed out of the swaps derivatives market entirely. In an editorial, the Kansas City Star wrote that Yoder had "played a regrettable role in the raucous government-funding exercise."
Domestic issues
Immigration