David Haley
{{Short description|American politician (born 1958)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|image =
|name=David Haley
|state_senate=Kansas
|district=4th
|term_start= January 8, 2001
|term_end=
|preceded= Sherman Jones
|succeeded=Incumbent
|state_house1= Kansas
|district1 = 34th
|term_start1 = January 9, 1995
|term_end1= January 8, 2001
|preceded1 = Robert Watson
|succeeded1 = Valdenia Winn
|party=Democratic
|birth_date= {{Birth date and age|1958|10|29}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.kanfocus.com/FMPro.php?-DB=House_Profiles_KS&-Lay=Contact&-format=Contact_Senate.html&Name=David%20Haley,%20D-4th&-find |title=Unknown}}{{Dead link| date=March 2024| fix-attempted=yes}}
|birth_place=Kansas City, Kansas, U.S.
|death_date=
|death_place=
|spouse=
|profession=Attorney
|alma_mater=Morehouse College, Howard University (J.D.)
|residence=Kansas City, Kansas, U.S.
}}
David B. Haley (born October 29, 1958) is a Democratic member of the Kansas Senate, representing the 4th district (Kansas City, Kansas / eastern Wyandotte County) since 2001. From 1995 to 2001, he was a Kansas Representative. He ran unsuccessfully for Kansas Secretary of State in 2002 and 2006.
Haley (by 2023), became the longest-serving member currently in the Kansas Senate.Carpenter, Tim: [https://kansasreflector.com/2023/01/23/longest-serving-members-of-kansas-legislature-talk-about-career-race-and-partisan-politics/ "Longest-serving members of Kansas Legislature talk about career, race and partisan politics: Sen. David Haley and Rep. Barbara Ballard examine forces driving them through three decades in the state House and Senate,"] January 23, 2023, Kansas Reflector, retrieved February 4, 2025 As of February, 2025, he remains in office.[https://www.kslegislature.gov/li_2024/b2023_24/members/sen_haley_david_1/ "Senator David Haley,"] 2025, Kansas Legislature official website, retrieved February 3, 2025
He is the son of politician George W. Haley and nephew of Pulitzer Prize winner Alex Haley.{{cite web |url= http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/capitol-report/2015/may/14/george-haley-one-of-first-african-americ/ |title=George Haley, one of first African Americans in Kansas Senate, dies |newspaper=Lawrence Journal-World |first=Peter |last=Hancock |date= May 14, 2015}}
Early life and education
Hayley was raised in Wyandotte County, Kansas (part of metropolitan Kansas City, Kansas). Haley's father, George W. Haley, was one of Kansas' first African-American state legislators -- the first African-American ever elected to the Kansas Senate -- and in the 1990s and early 2000s, the U.S. Ambassador to The Gambia. His his mother, Doris, was a schoolteacher. Hayley's uncle was Pulitzer Prize winner, Alex Haley (author of the influential African-American historical novel Roots and its associated historic TV mini-series, and co-author of The Autobiography of Malcolm X).
The younger Haley attended his father's alma mater, Morehouse College in Atlanta. He later graduated from Howard University law school in Washington, D.C., before returning to Wyandotte County.
Political career
Haley first ran for a seat in the Kansas House of Representatives in 1994. When he won the primary election for that seat, the incumbent resigned and Haley was appointed to fill out his predecessor's term. Haley won the general election for that seat, and continued in the House until elected to the Senate in 2001.
Haley represents the 4th Kansas Senate District. Both his House and Senate districts have been in demographically-diverse (largely African-American) Wyandotte County, in the metropolitan Kansas City area. The district is one of one of state's the poorest districts (16% of the county's residents live in poverty), and one of the most diverse -- racially and ethnically -- in Kansas. Residents are 43% Black, 37% white, and about 24% Hispanic.
In February, 2025, Haley was the subject of intense political attention, when he threatened to become the lone Democrat to vote with Republicans to provide a crucial swing vote to override Governor Laura Kelly's veto of a controversial flat tax bill, which had been passed by the Senate's large Republican majority. Haley explained that, for his low-income district, which had seen little infusion of tax dollars by either Republicans, or by Democrat governors, the bill (which included exemptions for personal income under $6,000) neither hurt nor helped his district. Seen as a power-play, his position on the issue generated great pressure on him from both parties, each side threatening retribution for an opposing vote.Shorman, Jonathan; and Katie Bernard: [https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article285090887.html "KCK Democrat may break with Gov. Kelly and support GOP tax cuts. 'What’s my incentive?,'"] February 5, 2024, Kansas City Star, retrieved February 4, 2025
Issue positions
Haley has advocated for criminal justice reforms (including abolition of the death penalty), the legalization of marijuana, and constantly urged increased investment in eastern Wyandotte County.
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2015_16/members/sen_haley_david_1/ Kansas State Senate Website]
- [http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=6965 Project Vote Smart Bio]
- Campaign Contributions: [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=107997 2008], [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=83020 2006], [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=74079 2004], [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=18122 2002], [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=32172 2000], [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=31871 1998], [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=31527 1996]
{{S-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=Don M. Rezac}}
{{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Secretary of State of Kansas|years=2002, 2006}}
{{s-aft|after=Chris Biggs}}
{{S-end}}
{{Kansas State Senators}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haley, David}}
Category:African-American state legislators in Kansas
Category:Democratic Party Kansas state senators
Category:Democratic Party members of the Kansas House of Representatives
Category:Politicians from Kansas City, Kansas
Category:21st-century members of the Kansas Legislature
Category:Morehouse College alumni
Category:Howard University alumni
Category:20th-century African-American politicians