Sam Brownback

Sam Brownback was born on September 12, 1956, in Garnett, Kansas, to Nancy (Cowden) and Glen Robert Brownback.{{cite web|title=Partial Genealogy of the Brownbacks (of Kansas)|url=http://www.politicalfamilytree.com/samples%20content/members/PDF%20Content/Brownback-KS-1.pdf|website=Political Family Tree|publisher=CLP Research|access-date=June 11, 2017|archive-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213190104/http://www.politicalfamilytree.com/samples%20content/members/PDF%20Content/Brownback-KS-1.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=RootsWeb - Samuel Dale Brownback |url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/senators/brownback.htm |website=Learning Centers at Ancestry.com |access-date=June 11, 2017 |archive-date=November 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109042622/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/senators/brownback.htm |url-status=live }} He was raised in a farming family in Parker, Kansas. Some of Brownback's German-American ancestors settled in Kansas after leaving Pennsylvania following the Civil War.{{cite news |url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/511umjoo.asp|author=Eastland, Terry|pages=1–3|title=Mr. Compassionate Conservative|work=The Weekly Standard|volume=011|issue=44|date=August 7, 2006 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120703153805/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/511umjoo.asp|archive-date=July 3, 2012 |url-status=dead}} Throughout his youth, Brownback was involved with the FFA (formerly the Future Farmers of America), serving as president of his local and state FFA chapters, and as national FFA vice president from 1976 to 1977.{{cite web|website=National FFA Organization |url=http://www.ffa.org/about_ffa/html/ffa_formermembers.html |title=Prominent Former Members |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060829035509/http://www.ffa.org/about_ffa/html/ffa_formermembers.html |archive-date=August 29, 2006}}

After graduating from Prairie View High School, Brownback attended Kansas State University,{{cite news|website=K-State Media Relations|publisher=Kansas State University|url=http://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/landonlect/brownbacktext206.html|title=Sam Brownback, U.S. Senator, Kansas, Landon Lecture|date=February 22, 2006|access-date=December 28, 2008|archive-date=July 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703145022/http://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/landonlect/brownbacktext206.html|url-status=live}} where was elected student body president and became a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho agricultural fraternity. After graduating from college in 1978 with a degree in Agricultural Economics in 1978,{{cite news|url=http://www.brownback.com/|title=Sam Brownback|publisher=brownback.com|access-date=October 7, 2018|archive-date=October 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008062716/http://www.brownback.com/|url-status=usurped}} he spent about a year working as a radio broadcaster for the now-defunct KSAC farm department, hosting a weekly half-hour show.{{cite news|last1=Kapochunas|first1=Rachel|title=Brownback, Set to Launch GOP White House Bid, Will Fight from the Right|url=https://www.nytimes.com/cq/2007/01/18/cq_2142.html|access-date=June 11, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=January 18, 2007|archive-date=February 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222195525/http://www.nytimes.com/cq/2007/01/18/cq_2142.html|url-status=live}} Brownback received his J.D. from the University of Kansas in 1982.{{cite web|last1=Rhodes|first1=Carla|title=Candidate Profile Sam Brownback|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/candidate-profile-sam-brownback/|website=CBS News|date=August 22, 2007|access-date=June 10, 2017|archive-date=July 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703014536/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/candidate-profile-sam-brownback/|url-status=live}}

Brownback was an attorney in Manhattan, Kansas, before being appointed as Kansas Secretary of Agriculture by Governor John W. Carlin on September 18, 1986.{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/310846533/?terms=sam+brownback|title=19 Sep 1986, 25 - The Springfield News-Leader at Newspapers.com|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=October 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010055057/https://www.newspapers.com/image/310846533/?terms=sam+brownback|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/2271301/?terms=But+six+days+after+his+30th+birthday+in+September+1986+Brownback+was+hired+by+the+state+Board+of+Agriculture+as+secretary|title=27 Dec 1994, Page 3 - The Salina Journal at Newspapers.com|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=October 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010055155/https://www.newspapers.com/image/2271301/?terms=But+six+days+after+his+30th+birthday+in+September+1986+Brownback+was+hired+by+the+state+Board+of+Agriculture+as+secretary|url-status=live}} In 1990, he was accepted into the White House Fellow program and detailed to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative from 1990 to 1991. Brownback returned to Kansas to resume his position as Secretary of Agriculture. He left his post on July 30, 1993.{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/981681/?terms=Secretary+of+Agriculture+Sam+Brownback|title=14 Jul 1993, Page 1 - The Salina Journal at Newspapers.com|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=October 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010054945/https://www.newspapers.com/image/981681/?terms=Secretary%20of%20Agriculture%20Sam%20Brownback|url-status=live}} He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 and ran in the 1996 special election for the U.S. Senate seat recently vacated by Bob Dole.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/05/us/race-for-dole-s-senate-seat-provokes-ideological-split.html|title=Race for Dole's Senate Seat Provokes Ideological Split|last=Johnson|first=Dirk|date=August 5, 1996|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 4, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415190901/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/05/us/race-for-dole-s-senate-seat-provokes-ideological-split.html|url-status=live}}

Sheila Frahm was appointed to fill the seat of U.S. senator Bob Dole when Dole resigned in 1996 to campaign for president. Brownback defeated Frahm in the 1996 Republican primary and went on to win the general election against Democrat Jill Docking by 112,677 votes.{{cite web|title=Sam Brownback's Blind Ambition Tour|author=Max Blumenthal|work=The Nation|date=June 20, 2005|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/sam-brownbacks-blind-ambition-tour|access-date=September 27, 2014|archive-date=July 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140721100215/http://www.thenation.com/article/sam-brownbacks-blind-ambition-tour|url-status=dead}} In 2001, the Federal Election Commission assessed fines and penalties against Brownback's campaign committee and against his in-laws for improper 1996 campaign contributions.{{cite web |title=Before the Federal Election Commission in the Matter of Sam Brownback for US Senate Committee and Alan Goesbeck, as treasurer |work=www.fec.gov |url=https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/murs/current/93813.pdf |access-date=October 24, 2017 |archive-date=October 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025074037/https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/murs/current/93813.pdf |url-status=live }} As a result of these improper contributions, the campaign was ordered to pay the government $19,000 and Brownback's in-laws, John and Ruth Stauffer, were ordered to pay a $9,000 civil penalty for improperly funneling contributions through Triad Management Services.{{cite web|title=Brownback campaign and in-laws penalized|author=Mike Hall|work=The Topeka Capital-Journal|date=December 6, 2002|url=http://cjonline.com/stories/120602/com_brownback.shtml#.We-zy1uPIdU|access-date=October 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025131955/http://cjonline.com/stories/120602/com_brownback.shtml#.We-zy1uPIdU|archive-date=October 25, 2017|url-status=dead}}

In 1998, Brownback was elected to a full six-year term, defeating Democrat Paul Feleciano by 244,921 votes.{{cite web |url=https://www.kssos.org/elections/98elec/98elm/98gen1.html |title=Official 1998 Kansas General Election Results |website=kssos.org |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409190948/https://www.kssos.org/elections/98elec/98elm/98gen1.html |url-status=live }} He won reelection in the 2004 Senate election defeating Democratic former lobbyist Lee Jones by 470,526 votes.{{cite web|title=THE 2004 ELECTIONS; The Senate|work=The New York Times|date=November 4, 2004|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE3DC173CF937A35752C1A9629C8B63|access-date=September 27, 2014|archive-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018153249/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE3DC173CF937A35752C1A9629C8B63|url-status=live}}

Throughout his U.S. Senate career, his principal campaign donors were the Koch brothers of Wichita-based Koch Industries, who donated more to Brownback than to any other political candidate during this period.Lowry, Bryan, [http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article4487101.html "Governor: Koch Industries has no undue influence in Kansas politics,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006112046/http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article4487101.html |date=October 6, 2017 }} December 14, 2014, Wichita Eagle October 5, 2017Helling, Dave, and David Klepper, [http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article24593650.html "Democrats highlight Brownback's ties to Koch brothers,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006062401/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article24593650.html |date=October 6, 2017 }} September 19, 2010, Kansas City Star in McClatchy News Service Washington Bureau website, retrieved October 5, 2017

File:Angelina Jolie Sam Brownback 2003.jpg in 2003, shown with Angelina Jolie, the Goodwill Ambassador for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, call for bipartisan legislation to reform the treatment of unaccompanied alien minors.]]

Brownback was a member of the Judiciary Committee, the Appropriations Committee (where he chaired the Subcommittee on District of Columbia when the Republicans were in the majority), the Joint Economic Committee, and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, which he at one time chaired. The Helsinki Commission monitors compliance with international agreements reached in cooperation with Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.{{cite web|title=The World from The Hill: Helsinki panel a model of bipartisanship on foreign policy|work=The Hill|date=November 22, 2010|url=https://thehill.com/news-by-subject/foreign-policy/75823-the-world-from-the-hill-helsinki-panel-a-model-of-bipartisanship-on-foreign-policy/|access-date=September 27, 2014|archive-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018153249/http://thehill.com/news-by-subject/foreign-policy/130289-helsinki-commission-tackles-tough-issues-without-the-partisan-divide|url-status=live}}

In 2000, Brownback and Congressman Chris Smith led the effort to enact the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.Library of Congress: Thomas. House Resolution 3244. [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c106:H.R.3244.ENR: Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918124642/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c106:H.R.3244.ENR: |date=September 18, 2008 }} President Clinton signed the legislation in October 2000. According to Christianity Today, the stronger enforcement increased the number of U.S. federal trafficking cases eightfold in the five years after enactment.Alford, Deann. [http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/march/13.30.html "Free at Last"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070223040430/http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/march/13.30.html |date=February 23, 2007 }}, Christianity Today, February 21, 2007

By August 12, 2007, in the 110th Session of Congress, Brownback had missed 123 votes due to campaigning (39.7 percent)–surpassed only by Tim Johnson (D) of South Dakota who due to a critical illness had missed 100% of the votes of the 110th Session, and John McCain (R) of Arizona with 149 votes missed due to campaigning (48.1 percent).Washington Post.[http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/senate/vote-missers/ "Missed Votes"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208175306/http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/senate/vote-missers/ |date=February 8, 2009 }}, August 12, 2007

In 2006, Brownback blocked a confirmation vote on a George W. Bush federal appeals court nominee from Michigan, judge Janet T. Neff. He objected to her joining the bench solely because she attended a same-sex commitment ceremony in Massachusetts in 2002 that involved a next-door neighbor who was a close childhood friend of Neff's daughters. Brownback's action blocked confirmation votes on an entire slate of appointments that had been approved by a bipartisan group of senators.[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/washington/19judge.html Senator Removes His Block on Federal Court Nominee] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222220258/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/washington/19judge.html |date=December 22, 2017 }}, The New York Times, Neil A. Lewis, December 19, 2006. Retrieved December 22, 2017. In July 2007, Brownback lifted the block that had prevented the vote, and the Senate confirmed Neff by an 83–4 vote. Brownback was joined in opposition by just three other conservatives, then-Senators Jim Bunning, Jon Kyl, and Mel Martinez.[https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00240 110th Congress, roll call vote 240] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222220216/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00240 |date=December 22, 2017 }}, United States Senate, July 9, 2007. Retrieved December 22, 2017.

In the mid-1990s, Brownback hired Paul Ryan as his chief legislative director. Ryan later became a member of Congress, vice-presidential candidate, and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.Wise, Lindsay McClatchy News Service, and Scott Canon, Kansas City Star, in [http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article129459654.html "The troubled 'Kansas experiment' goes to Washington,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006111823/http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article129459654.html |date=October 6, 2017 }} January 29, 2017, The Charlotte Observer, retrieved October 5, 2017.

{{update section|date=July 2023}}

In 2009, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed an ethics complaint over a fundraising letter signed by Brownback for a conservative Catholic group which they alleged violated Senate rules by mimicking official Senate letterhead.[https://www.politico.com/story/2009/02/crew-files-brownback-complaint-019348 CREW files Brownback complaint] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223215837/https://www.politico.com/story/2009/02/crew-files-brownback-complaint-019348 |date=December 23, 2017 }}, Politico, Glenn Thrush, February 26, 2009. Retrieved December 23, 2017. The letter had targeted five senators for being both Catholic and pro-choice: Maria Cantwell, John Kerry, Robert Menendez, Barbara Mikulski, and Patty Murray.[http://www.hutchnews.com/d3a2a563-f8c1-5513-b95a-efc918eef5f0.html A Washington group has filed a complaint with the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee against Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223215726/http://www.hutchnews.com/d3a2a563-f8c1-5513-b95a-efc918eef5f0.html |date=December 23, 2017 }}, Hutchinson News, February 27, 2009. Retrieved December 23, 2017. A spokesman said Brownback had asked the group to stop sending the letter even before the complaint was filed.

In 2010, CREW lodged an ethics complaint claiming a possible violation of the Senate's gifts rule by four senators and four congressmembers. The congressmembers lived in a $1.8 million Washington, D.C. townhouse[https://www.alternet.org/story/146285/ethics_complaint_leveled_at_right-wing_congressional_members_of_shadowy_christian_group Ethics Complaint Leveled at Right-Wing Congressional Members of Shadowy Christian Group] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114021055/https://www.alternet.org/story/146285/ethics_complaint_leveled_at_right-wing_congressional_members_of_shadowy_christian_group |date=January 14, 2018 }}, Alternet, Adele M. Stan, April 2, 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2018. owned by C Street Center, Inc., which was in turn owned by Christian-advocacy group The Fellowship.{{Cite web|url=http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/04/02/26108.htm|title=Courthouse News Service |website=www.courthousenews.com|access-date=January 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006030708/http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/04/02/26108.htm|archive-date=October 6, 2016 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/04/living-in-c-street-house-ethics-violation/|title=Is Living in the C Street House An Ethics Violation?|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=January 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111224131/http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/04/living-in-c-street-house-ethics-violation/|url-status=live}} CREW alleged that the property was being leased exclusively to congressional members, including Brownback, and that the tenants were paying rent that was below market value.{{cite web|url=http://cjonline.com/news-legislature/2010-04-06/moran-explains-c-street-living|title=Moran explains C-Street living|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112042410/http://cjonline.com/news-legislature/2010-04-06/moran-explains-c-street-living|archive-date=January 12, 2018|url-status=dead}} Senator Tom Coburn's spokesman asserted that the rents charged were fair.{{cite web|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/bogus-ethics-complaint-targets-coburn-demint-brownback|title=Bogus Ethics Complaint Targets Coburn, DeMint, Brownback|work=The Weekly Standard|date=April 2, 2010|access-date=August 23, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406161058/http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/bogus-ethics-complaint-targets-coburn-demint-brownback|archive-date=April 6, 2010|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://cjonline.com/news/state/2010-04-01/brownback_faces_ethics_complaint|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826140828/http://cjonline.com/news/state/2010-04-01/brownback_faces_ethics_complaint|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 26, 2017|title=The Topeka Capital-Journal|date=August 26, 2017|access-date=January 23, 2018}}

• Committee on Appropriations
• Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (Ranking Member)
• Subcommittee on Defense
• Subcommittee on Homeland Security
• Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
• Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
• Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
• Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
• Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
• Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
• Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion
• Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
• Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
• Subcommittee on Energy
• Subcommittee on National Parks
• Subcommittee on Water and Power (Ranking Member)
• Committee on Foreign Relations
• Special Committee on Aging
• Joint Economic Committee
• Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

{{Main|Sam Brownback 2008 presidential campaign}}

{{Further|2008 United States presidential election}}File:U.S. Senator from Kansas Sam Brownback officially opened his GOP presidential candidacy' Iowa campaign headquarters in West Des Moines, IA.jpg campaign headquarters in West Des Moines, IA]]

On December 4, 2006, Brownback formed an exploratory committee, the first step toward a presidential candidacy.[http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/04/brownback.2008.ap/index.html "Favorite of religious right moves toward White House bid"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070102112730/http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/04/brownback.2008.ap/index.html |date=January 2, 2007 }} by Associated Press. CNN, December 4, 2006. In reporting on his potential candidacy, CNN and The Washington Post called Brownback a "favorite" of the religious right;{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/06/AR2007010600230_pf.html |title=Brownback to Move on Presidential Bid |last=Sidoti |first=Liz |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 6, 2007 |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=August 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822072604/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/06/AR2007010600230_pf.html |url-status=live }} Rolling Stone called him "God's senator" in 2006.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/sam-brownback-gods-senator-883564/|title=God's Senator|magazine=Rolling Stone|last=Sharlet|first=Jeff|date=February 9, 2006|access-date=July 24, 2023|archive-date=July 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724211129/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/sam-brownback-gods-senator-883564/|url-status=live}} His views placed him in the socially conservative wing of the Republican Party, and he stressed his fiscal conservatism as well. "I am an economic, a fiscal, a social and a compassionate conservative", he said in December 2006.

On January 20, 2007, in Topeka, Brownback announced that he was running for president in 2008.{{cite web|url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2774442 |title=Brownback to Move on Presidential Bid |access-date=August 11, 2007 |date=January 6, 2007 |publisher=ABC News |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411134803/http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2774442 |archive-date=April 11, 2008 }} On February 22, 2007, a poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports held that three percent of likely primary voters would support Brownback.{{Cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/rasmussen/20070221/pl_rasmussen/gopprimary20070221_1|title=news.yahoo.com|accessdate=September 10, 2023}}

File:Senator Sam Brownback to David Shankbone on religion in America.ogg|date=June 7, 2006|archive-date=April 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415082508/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/06/AR2006060601616_pf.html|url-status=live}}]]

On August 11, 2007, Brownback finished third in the Ames Straw Poll with 15.3% of all votes cast.{{Cite news|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/02/09/is_the_ames_straw_poll_useless_125535.html|title=Is the Ames Straw Poll Useless? {{!}} RealClearPolitics|access-date=October 19, 2016|archive-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213190019/http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/02/09/is_the_ames_straw_poll_useless_125535.html|url-status=live}} Fundraising and visits to his website declined dramatically after this event, as many supporters had predicted Brownback would do much better,[http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kansas-loses-patience-governor-sam-brownback-tax-cuts/ "Kansas loses patience with Gov. Brownback's tax cuts,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023035017/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kansas-loses-patience-governor-sam-brownback-tax-cuts/ |date=October 23, 2016 }} CBS News, retrieved November 11, 2016 and speculation began that the candidate was considering withdrawing from the campaign. This sentiment increased after his lackluster performance in the GOP presidential debate of September 5, broadcast from New Hampshire by Fox News Channel.{{cite news |first=Lisa |last=Wangsness |title=Romney trounces GOP field in Iowa straw poll |url=https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/08/12/romney_trounces_gop_field_in_iowa_straw_poll/ |work=The Boston Globe |date=August 12, 2007 |access-date=August 21, 2007 |archive-date=November 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119030052/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/08/12/romney_trounces_gop_field_in_iowa_straw_poll/ |url-status=live }} He dropped out of the race on October 18, 2007, citing a lack of funds.[http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics/story/325073.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022025030/http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics/story/325073.html|date=October 22, 2007}} Brownback formally announced his decision on October 19.[http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/102007dnnatbrownback.1d7a7ce.html Republican Sam Brownback ends White House run] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020150305/http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/102007dnnatbrownback.1d7a7ce.html |date=October 20, 2007 }} Dallas Morning News October 19, 2007. Retrieved October 20, 2007. He later endorsed John McCain for president.{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/sam-brownback-endorses-john-mccain |publisher=Fox News |title=Sam Brownback Endorses John McCain |date=November 7, 2007 |access-date=November 12, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019004852/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,308960,00.html |archive-date=October 19, 2012 |url-status=live }}

File:Flickr - The U.S. Army - Medallion presentation.jpg Commanding General present a medallion to a child whose father died serving in Iraq.]]

{{Main|2010 Kansas gubernatorial election}}

In 2008, Brownback acknowledged he was considering running for governor in 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/sep/04/brownback_considering_gubernatorial_run_2010/|title=Brownback considering gubernatorial run in 2010|publisher=Lawrence Journal World and News|access-date=December 7, 2008|archive-date=December 11, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211053217/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/sep/04/brownback_considering_gubernatorial_run_2010/|url-status=live}} In January 2009, Brownback officially filed the paperwork to run for governor.{{cite web |url=http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/16188 |title=Prime Buzz |publisher=Primebuzz.kcstar.com |access-date=August 23, 2010 |archive-date=August 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822072604/https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/?q=node/22169 |url-status=live }}

His principal Senate-career campaign donors, the Koch brothers (and their Koch Industries), again backed Brownback's campaign.

Polling agency Rasmussen Reports found that Brownback led his then-likely Democratic opponent, Tom Holland, by 31 points in May 2010.[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/kansas/election_2010_kansas_senate Election 2010: Kansas Senate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306132134/http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/kansas/election_2010_kansas_senate |date=March 6, 2010 }}, Rasmussen Reports, March 3, 2010.

On June 1, 2010, Brownback named Kansas state senator Jeff Colyer as his running mate.[http://www.kansas.com/2010/06/02/1340122/brownback-ticket-gains-surgeon.html "Brownback ticket gains surgeon as lieutenant"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605031546/http://www.kansas.com/2010/06/02/1340122/brownback-ticket-gains-surgeon.html |date=June 5, 2010 }}, Wichita Eagle, June 2, 2010.

On November 2, 2010, Brownback defeated Holland, by 260,594 votes.{{cite web|title=Kansas|work=The New York Times|year=2010|url=http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/kansas|access-date=October 19, 2014|archive-date=September 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907161024/http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/kansas|url-status=live}} He succeeded Governor Mark Parkinson, who was sworn in after former governor Kathleen Sebelius resigned from her position and became U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services in 2009.{{cite news|last=Goldstein|first=David|author2=Klepper, David|title=Sebelius sworn in to Cabinet, Parkinson becomes Kansas governor|publisher=The Kansas City Star|date=April 28, 2009 |url=http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1168432.html|access-date=October 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430183737/http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1168432.html |archive-date=April 30, 2009}}

{{main|2014 Kansas gubernatorial election}}

In October 2013, Kansas state representative Paul Davis, the Democratic minority leader of the Kansas House of Representatives, announced he would challenge Brownback in the 2014 Kansas gubernatorial election.{{cite web|url=http://www.kansascity.com/2013/09/17/4487708/democrat-davis-enters-kan-governor.html|title=Democrat Paul Davis enters Kansas governor race|access-date=January 24, 2018|archive-date=February 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222142322/http://www.kansascity.com/2013/09/17/4487708/democrat-davis-enters-kan-governor.html|url-status=live}}

In July 2014, more than 100 current and former Kansas Republican officials (including former state party chairmen, Kansas Senate presidents, Kansas House speakers, and majority leaders) endorsed Democrat Davis over Republican Brownback, citing concern over Brownback's deep cuts in education and other government services, as well as the tax cuts that had left the state with a major deficit.{{cite web|last1=Pianin|first1=Eric|title=Brownback Feeling Big Political Backlash to Tax Cuts in Kansas|url=http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/07/16/Brownback-Feeling-Big-Political-Backlash-Tax-Cuts-Kansas|work=The Fiscal Times|access-date=July 17, 2014|date=July 16, 2014|quote=In a startling rebuke to the governor, more than 100 Kansas Republican officials endorsed Davis on Tuesday, a rarity in statewide races and a wakeup call for Brownback, an arch-conservative on economic and social issues, and a former U.S. senator. The defectors said they are as concerned about cuts in education and other government services as well as the tax cuts that have left the state with a major hole in its budget.|archive-date=July 18, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718104639/http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/07/16/Brownback-Feeling-Big-Political-Backlash-Tax-Cuts-Kansas|url-status=live}}

Tim Keck, chief of staff of Brownback's running mate, Lt. Governor Jeff Colyer, unearthed and publicized a 1998 police report showing that Davis, 26 and unmarried at the time, had been briefly detained during the raid of a strip club. Davis was found to have no involvement in the cause for the raid, and was quickly allowed to leave.[http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article2250432.html Strip-club smear campaign orchestrated by Sam Brownback official, says Paul Davis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316025123/http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article2250432.html |date=March 16, 2017 }}, Wichita Eagle, Dion Lefler, September 20, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2017. Responding to criticism of Keck's involvement in the campaign, Brownback spokesman John Milburn commented that it was legal to use taxpayer-paid staff to campaign. Media law experts expressed amazement when they learned that the Montgomery County's sheriff released non-public investigative files from 1998 in response to a mere request. Brownback's campaign capitalized on the 16-year-old incident.[http://www.salon.com/2014/09/26/brownbacks_strip_club_obsession_gop_governor_basing_his_campaign_on_a_lap_dance/ Sam Brownback's strip-club obsession: GOP governor basing his campaign on a lap dance: Sam Brownback's right-wing agenda hobbled Kansas, so his campaign is now focused on a meaningless 16-year-old story] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316113115/http://www.salon.com/2014/09/26/brownbacks_strip_club_obsession_gop_governor_basing_his_campaign_on_a_lap_dance/ |date=March 16, 2017 }}, Simon Maloy, September 26, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.[http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/oct/04/closed-law-enforcement-records-become-public-sling/ In strip-club case, typically closed records were released, GOP tipped off] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728041607/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/oct/04/closed-law-enforcement-records-become-public-sling/ |date=July 28, 2018 }}, Lawrence Journal-World, October 4, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2017.

Brownback was reelected with a plurality, defeating Davis by 32,096 votes.{{cite web |url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2014/governor/ks/kansas_governor_brownback_vs_davis-4146.html |title=Election 2014 – Kansas Governor – Brownback vs. Davis |publisher=RealClearPolitics |access-date=April 9, 2015 |archive-date=March 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324010805/http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2014/governor/ks/kansas_governor_brownback_vs_davis-4146.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web|title=Kansas Secretary of State 2014 General Election Official Vote Totals|url=http://www.kssos.org/elections/14elec/2014%20General%20Election%20Official%20Results.pdf|access-date=March 13, 2017|archive-date=December 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230082200/http://kssos.org/elections/14elec/2014%20General%20Election%20Official%20Results.pdf|url-status=live}}

Brownback took office in January 2011, in the early years of national recovery from the Great Recession. Also in 2011, Republicans resumed control of the Kansas House of Representatives with their largest majority in half a century. Most Republicans in the Kansas Legislature were members of the Tea Party movement who shared Brownback's conservative views.Gowen, Annie, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-kansas-gov-sam-brownback-puts-tea-party-tenets-into-action-with-sharp-cuts/2011/11/02/gIQAkbnOAP_story.html" In Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback puts tea party tenets into action with sharp cuts,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817170144/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-kansas-gov-sam-brownback-puts-tea-party-tenets-into-action-with-sharp-cuts/2011/11/02/gIQAkbnOAP_story.html |date=August 17, 2017 }} December 21, 2011 The Washington Post retrieved October 6, 2017

Two of Brownback's major stated goals were to reduce taxes and to increase spending on education.{{cite news|author1=Chris Suellentrop|title=The Kansas Experiment|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/magazine/the-kansas-experiment.html|access-date=August 6, 2015|work=The New York Times Magazine|date=August 6, 2015|quote=He is modest in demeanor, flat almost to the point of dullness.|archive-date=August 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805233327/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/magazine/the-kansas-experiment.html|url-status=live}}

By April 2012, Brownback had an approval rating of 34 percent according to a Survey USA Poll.{{cite web |url=http://cjonline.com/news/2012-04-28/brownback-numbers-plunge-agenda-emerges |title=Brownback: Numbers plunge as agenda emerges |work=The Topeka Capital Journal |access-date=January 16, 2012 |archive-date=April 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120430104750/http://cjonline.com/news/2012-04-28/brownback-numbers-plunge-agenda-emerges |url-status=live }} A Republican polling company found his approval rating to be 51 percent in May 2012.{{cite web |url=http://cjonline.com/news/state/2012-05-02/gop-pollster-points-brownbacks-popularity |title=GOP Pollster points to Brownback's popularity |work=The Topeka Capital Journal |access-date=January 16, 2012 |archive-date=May 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505145732/http://cjonline.com/news/state/2012-05-02/gop-pollster-points-brownbacks-popularity |url-status=live }} In November 2015, Brownback had an approval rating of 26 percent according to a Morning Consult poll, the lowest among all governors in the United States.{{cite web |url=http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/prairie-politics/article45615459.html |title=Poll: Brownback most unpopular governor in the nation |work=The Wichita Eagle |access-date=March 23, 2016 |archive-date=March 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311175852/http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/prairie-politics/article45615459.html |url-status=live }} Three separate polls between November 2015 and September 2016 ranked Brownback as the nation's least-popular governor[http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/blog/morning_call/2015/11/sam-brownback-most-unpopular-usa-goveror.html "Most unpopular governor in America? Brownback wins in landslide,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123164755/https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/blog/morning_call/2015/11/sam-brownback-most-unpopular-usa-goveror.html |date=November 23, 2020 }} November 24, 2015, Kansas City Business Journal[http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article77258832.html "Poll: Brownback remains least popular governor in the nation,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004040037/http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article77258832.html |date=October 4, 2017 }} May 12, 2016, Wichita Eagle[http://cjonline.com/news-state-government-local-state/2016-09-20/new-poll-ranks-gov-sam-brownback-nations-least-popular "New poll ranks Gov. Sam Brownback as nation's least popular governor,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316025140/http://cjonline.com/news-state-government-local-state/2016-09-20/new-poll-ranks-gov-sam-brownback-nations-least-popular |date=March 16, 2017 }} September 20, 2016, Topeka Capital-Journal—a September 2016 poll showing an approval rating of 23%.[https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/sam-brownback-might-not-be-governing-kansas-much-longer/519165/ Sam Brownback Might Not Be Governing Kansas Much Longer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313130650/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/sam-brownback-might-not-be-governing-kansas-much-longer/519165/ |date=March 13, 2017 }}, The Atlantic (AP), Russell Berman, March 10, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.[http://cjonline.com/news-state-government-local-state/2016-09-20/new-poll-ranks-gov-sam-brownback-nations-least-popular New poll ranks Governor Sam Brownback as nation's least popular] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316025140/http://cjonline.com/news-state-government-local-state/2016-09-20/new-poll-ranks-gov-sam-brownback-nations-least-popular |date=March 16, 2017 }}, Capital Journal, Tim Carpenter, September 20, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2017. In the state elections of 2016—seen largely as a referendum on Brownback's policies and administration—Brownback's supporters in the legislature suffered major defeats.[https://www.wsj.com/articles/conservative-lawmakers-ousted-in-kansas-election-1470226094 "Conservative Lawmakers Ousted in Kansas Primary Election: GOP races seen as referendum on Gov. Sam Brownback's tax-cut policy,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004084924/https://www.wsj.com/articles/conservative-lawmakers-ousted-in-kansas-election-1470226094 |date=October 4, 2017 }} August 3, 2016, The Wall Street JournalFlentje, Ed, Prof. of Public Administration (Wichita State University), former Kansas secretary of administration to Republican governor Mike Hayden, [http://www.kansas.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article114270433.html "Kansas voters rebuke Brownback, tax plan,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004035808/http://www.kansas.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article114270433.html |date=October 4, 2017 }} November 12, 2016, Wichita Eagle In 2017 after a protracted battle, the new Kansas Legislature overrode Brownback's vetoes, voting to repeal his tax cuts and enact tax increases.[http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article154684809.html "Kansas lawmakers override Brownback veto of tax increases."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407093406/https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article154684809.html |date=April 7, 2019 }} June 6, 2017, Wichita Eagle[http://cjonline.com/news/state-government/2017-06-06/senate-house-narrowly-override-gov-sam-brownback-s-veto-12-billion "Senate, House narrowly override Gov Sam Brownback's veto of $1.2 billion tax bill,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004035601/http://cjonline.com/news/state-government/2017-06-06/senate-house-narrowly-override-gov-sam-brownback-s-veto-12-billion |date=October 4, 2017 }} June 6, 2017, Topeka Capital-Journal, (also at [http://eedition.cjonline.com/news/state-government/2017-06-06/senate-narrowly-overrides-gov-brownback-s-veto-12-billion-tax-bill CJ's E-edition]{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }})[http://www.kwch.com/content/news/Bill-raising-taxes-delivered-to-Kansas-governor-426826281.html "Lawmakers override governor veto on tax bill."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004035823/http://www.kwch.com/content/news/Bill-raising-taxes-delivered-to-Kansas-governor-426826281.html |date=October 4, 2017 }} June 6, 2017, KWCH-TV Eyewitness News[http://cjonline.com/news/state-government/2017-06-08/kansas-economic-outlook-shifting-reversal-brownback-tax-policy "Kansas' economic outlook shifting with reversal of Brownback tax policy,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004034850/http://cjonline.com/news/state-government/2017-06-08/kansas-economic-outlook-shifting-reversal-brownback-tax-policy |date=October 4, 2017 }} June 11, 2017, Topeka Capital-Journal

Brownback, who had a 66% disapproval rating after the repeal of his signature law,{{Cite news|url=https://morningconsult.com/governor-approval-ratings-july-2017/|title=America's Most and Least Popular Governors — July 2017|last=Easley|first=Cameron|date=July 18, 2017|work=Morning Consult|access-date=March 22, 2019|language=en-US|archive-date=October 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018032653/https://morningconsult.com/governor-approval-ratings-july-2017/|url-status=live}} left office in 2018 as one of the least popular governors in the country.

The Kansas City Star was named a finalist in the Public Service category for a 2018 Pulitzer Prize due to its series entitled "Why so secret, Kansas?" The Star reported that Kansas's already-secretive state government had only grown worse under Brownback.{{Cite news|url=http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article209025559.html|title=The Star honored by Pulitzer Prizes as finalist in public service|work=kansascity|access-date=August 13, 2018|language=en|archive-date=June 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625142844/http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article209025559.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2018|title=2018 Pulitzer Prizes|website=Pulitzer|language=en|access-date=January 23, 2020|archive-date=January 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200120062921/https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2018|url-status=live}}

Brownback proposed fundamental tax reform to encourage investment and generate wealth while creating new jobs. Consistent with those objectives, he also proposed structural reforms to the state's largest budget items, school finance,{{cite web |last=Wistrom |first=Brent |url=http://www.kansas.com/2011/11/09/2095722/brownback-plan-could-change-how.html |title=Brownback plan could change how schools are funded | Wichita Eagle |publisher=Kansas.com |date=November 9, 2011 |access-date=July 23, 2013 |archive-date=October 31, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031065924/http://www.kansas.com/2011/11/09/2095722/brownback-plan-could-change-how.html |url-status=dead }} Medicaid,{{cite web |url=http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2011/November/08/kansas-medicaid-managed-care-brownback-kancare.aspx |title=Kansas Announces Sweeping Medicaid Restructuring |publisher=Kaiser Health News |date=November 8, 2011 |access-date=July 23, 2013 |archive-date=March 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326060645/http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2011/November/08/kansas-medicaid-managed-care-brownback-kancare.aspx |url-status=live }} and Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS), which have unfunded liabilities of $8.3 billion.{{cite web |url=http://www.kansas.com/2011/11/04/2089413/83-billion-question.html |title=$8.3 billion question | Wichita Eagle |publisher=Kansas.com |date=November 4, 2011 |access-date=July 23, 2013 |archive-date=October 31, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031070832/http://www.kansas.com/2011/11/04/2089413/83-billion-question.html |url-status=dead }} Brownback sought to follow a "red state model", passing conservative social and economic policies.{{cite news|last=Eligon|first=John|title=Brownback Leads Kansas in Sharp Right Turn|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/14/us/politics/brownback-leads-kansas-in-sharp-right-turn.html|access-date=February 15, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 13, 2014|archive-date=February 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140215025859/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/14/us/politics/brownback-leads-kansas-in-sharp-right-turn.html|url-status=live}}

{{main|Kansas experiment}}

As governor, Brownback initiated what he called a "red-state experiment"—dramatic cuts in income tax rates intended to bring economic growth.{{cite news|last1=Mclean|first1=Jim|title=Trump's Tax Plan Has Echoes Of The Kansas Tax Cut Experiment|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/09/30/554506190/trump-s-tax-plan-has-echoes-of-the-kansas-tax-cut-experiment|access-date=October 4, 2017|publisher=NPR|date=September 30, 2017|archive-date=October 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003233829/http://www.npr.org/2017/09/30/554506190/trump-s-tax-plan-has-echoes-of-the-kansas-tax-cut-experiment|url-status=live}} In May 2012, Brownback signed into law one of the largest income tax cuts in Kansas' history—the nation's largest state income tax cut (in percentage) since the 1990s.Coy, Peter, [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-04-17/kansas-governor-brownbacks-lab-for-steep-tax-and-budget-cuts "Kansas Tries to Shrink Its Way to Prosperity,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006112335/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-04-17/kansas-governor-brownbacks-lab-for-steep-tax-and-budget-cuts |date=October 6, 2017 }} April 17, 2014, Bloomberg Businessweek retrieved October 5, 2017 Brownback described the tax cuts as a live experiment: {{cquote|[On] taxes, you need to get your overall rates down, and you need to get your social manipulation out of it, in my estimation, to create growth. We'll see how it works. We'll have a real live experiment.{{cite web |title=Brownback gets heat for 'real live experiment' comment on tax cuts |url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/jun/19/brownback-gets-heat-real-live-experiment-comment-t/ |publisher=Lawrence Journal World |access-date=October 28, 2014 |archive-date=November 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110182638/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/jun/19/brownback-gets-heat-real-live-experiment-comment-t/ |url-status=live }}Judis, John B., [https://newrepublic.com/article/119574/sam-brownbacks-conservative-utopia-kansas-has-become-hell "This Is What's the Matter With Kansas: Sam Brownback tried to create a conservative utopia. He created a conservative hell instead,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003075039/https://newrepublic.com/article/119574/sam-brownbacks-conservative-utopia-kansas-has-become-hell |date=October 3, 2017 }} September 29, 2014, The New Republic, retrieved October 5, 2017}}

The legislation was crafted with help from his Budget Director (former Koch brothers political consultant Steven Anderson); the Koch-sponsored American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC);Abouhalkah, Yael T, [http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/yael-t-abouhalkah/article649505.html "Davis attacks, Brownback suffers as new tax-cut problem slams Kansas,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006162552/http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/yael-t-abouhalkah/article649505.html |date=October 6, 2017 }} June 30, 2014 Kansas City Star, retrieved October 6, 2017 and Arthur Laffer, a popular supply-side economist and former economic adviser for President Ronald Reagan.[https://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2017/06/07/the-great-kansas-tax-cut-experiment-crashes-and-burns/#227c1aab5508 "The Great Kansas Tax Cut Experiment Crashes And Burns,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006163042/https://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2017/06/07/the-great-kansas-tax-cut-experiment-crashes-and-burns/#227c1aab5508 |date=October 6, 2017 }} June 7, 2017, Forbes retrieved October 6, 2017

The law eliminated non-wage income taxes for the owners of 191,000 businesses, and cut individuals' income tax rates. The first phase of his cuts reduced the top Kansas income-tax rate from 6.45 percent down to 4.9 percent, and immediately eliminated income tax on business profits from partnerships and limited liability corporations passed through to individuals. The income tax cuts would provide {{USD}}231 million in tax reductions in its first year, growing to {{USD}}934 million after six years. A forecast from the Legislature's research staff indicated that a budget shortfall will emerge by 2014 and will grow to nearly {{USD}}2.5 billion by July 2018.{{cite web|title=Brownback Signs Tax Cuts Law In Statehouse Ceremony |url=http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Brownback_To_Sign_Tax_Cuts_In_Statehouse_Ceremony_152569155.html|publisher=KAKE News |access-date=October 29, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029213649/http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Brownback_To_Sign_Tax_Cuts_In_Statehouse_Ceremony_152569155.html|archive-date=October 29, 2014}} The cuts were based on model legislation published by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

In a May 2014 Wall Street Journal op-ed entitled "A Midwest Renaissance Rooted in the Reagan Formula", Brownback compared his tax policies with those of Ronald Reagan. Brownback anticipated a "prosperous future" for Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri because they had enacted policies based on economic principles that Reagan laid out in 1964.{{cite news|last1=Brownback|first1=Sam|title=A Midwest Renaissance Rooted in the Reagan Formula|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=May 28, 2014|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/sam-brownback-a-midwest-renaissance-rooted-in-the-reagan-formula-1401317548|access-date=October 28, 2014|archive-date=April 21, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180421174159/https://www.wsj.com/articles/sam-brownback-a-midwest-renaissance-rooted-in-the-reagan-formula-1401317548|url-status=live}}

The act was criticized by law professor Martin B. Dickinson of Kansas University for shifting the tax burden from wealthy Kansans to low- and moderate-income workers,{{cite news |url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/may/27/kansas-tax-act-most-regressive-nation/ |date=May 24, 2012 |title=Kansas tax act most regressive in nation |work=The Lawrence Journal-World |access-date=May 27, 2012 |archive-date=May 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528010439/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/may/27/kansas-tax-act-most-regressive-nation/ |url-status=live }} with the top income tax rate dropping by 25%.{{cite news|last1=Peters|first1=Mark|title=Sam Brownback's Tax-Cut Push Puts Kansas Out on Its Own|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/sam-brownbacks-tax-cut-push-puts-kansas-out-on-its-own-1402448126|access-date=June 13, 2014|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=June 10, 2014|archive-date=July 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707052404/http://online.wsj.com/articles/sam-brownbacks-tax-cut-push-puts-kansas-out-on-its-own-1402448126|url-status=live}} Under Brownback, Kansas also lowered the sales tax and eliminated a tax on small businesses. The tax cuts helped contribute to Moody's downgrading of the state's bond rating in 2014.{{cite news|last1=Kraske|first1=Steve|title=Gov. Sam Brownback suffers a political brownout|url=http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/article348571/Gov.-Sam-Brownback-suffers-a-political-brownout.html|access-date=June 13, 2014|work=The Kansas City Star|date=May 2, 2014|archive-date=July 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704225708/http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/article348571/Gov.-Sam-Brownback-suffers-a-political-brownout.html|url-status=live}} They also contributed to the S&P Ratings' credit downgrade from AA+ to AA in August 2014 due to a budget that analysts described as structurally unbalanced.{{cite news|title=S&P downgrades Kansas in another blow to Brownback tax cuts|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-kansas-ratings-idUSL2N0QC1MO20140806|work=Reuters|date=August 6, 2014|access-date=August 7, 2014|archive-date=January 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106034251/http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-kansas-ratings-idUSL2N0QC1MO20140806|url-status=live}} As of June 2014, the state had fallen far short of projected tax collections, receiving $369 million instead of the planned-for $651 million.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/upshot/kansas-tax-cut-leaves-brownback-with-less-money.html |title=Yes, if You Cut Taxes, You Get Less Tax Revenue |author=Josh Barro |date=June 27, 2014 |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 2, 2014 |archive-date=September 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140919130936/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/upshot/kansas-tax-cut-leaves-brownback-with-less-money.html |url-status=live }}

The tax cuts and their effect on the economy of Kansas received considerable criticism in the media. Critics of the tax cuts included Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times, the editorial board of The Washington Post, The New Republic, and Bloomberg Businessweek. The New York Times described Brownback's policies as "too far to the right".{{cite news|last1=Eligonsept|first1=John|title=Conservative Experiment Faces Revolt in Reliably Red Kansas|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/us/conservative-experiment-faces-revolt-in-reliably-red-kansas.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 28, 2014|date=September 14, 2014|archive-date=October 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008113202/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/us/conservative-experiment-faces-revolt-in-reliably-red-kansas.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Hiltzik|first1=Michael|title=How Tea Party tax cuts are turning Kansas into a smoking ruin|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-kansas-a-smoking-ruin-20140709-column.html|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=October 27, 2014|date=July 9, 2014|archive-date=November 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106005423/http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-kansas-a-smoking-ruin-20140709-column.html|url-status=live}} Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform defended the tax cuts as a model for the nation.{{cite web|title=Norquist defends tax cuts despite Brownback woes in Kansas|url=https://thehill.com/policy/finance/218449-norquist-defends-tax-cuts-despite-brownback-woes/|work=The Hill|date=September 21, 2014|access-date=October 29, 2014|archive-date=October 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028173937/http://thehill.com/policy/finance/218449-norquist-defends-tax-cuts-despite-brownback-woes|url-status=live}}

In February 2017, a bi-partisan coalition presented a bill that would repeal most of Brownback's tax overhaul to make up for the budget shortfall.{{cite web |last1=Berman |first1=Russell |title=How Sam Brownback's Kansas Tax-Cut Experiment Went Wrong |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/the-republican-blowback-against-sam-brownback-kansas/517641/ |website=The Atlantic |language=en |date=24 February 2017}} The Senate passed SB 30 (38–0, with 2 not voting) on February 2, 2017.{{Cite web|url=http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2018/b2017_18/measures/vote_view/je_20170202151108_929405/|title=Bills and Resolutions | Kansas State Legislature|website=www.kslegislature.org|access-date=July 24, 2023|archive-date=April 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406033516/http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2018/b2017_18/measures/vote_view/je_20170202151108_929405/|url-status=live}} The House passed SB 30 as amended (123–2) on February 22, 2017.{{Cite web|url=http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2018/b2017_18/measures/vote_view/je_20170222103940_182851/|title=Bills and Resolutions | Kansas State Legislature|website=www.kslegislature.org|access-date=July 24, 2023|archive-date=July 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724201823/http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2018/b2017_18/measures/vote_view/je_20170222103940_182851/|url-status=live}} The Conference Committee Report was adopted by both the House (69–52) and Senate (26–14) on June 5, 2017. On June 6, 2017, the bill was sent to Brownback for signature, but he vetoed the bill. Later in the day both the House and Senate voted to override the veto.{{Cite web|url=http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2018/b2017_18/measures/sb30/|title=SB 30 | Bills and Resolutions | Kansas State Legislature|website=www.kslegislature.org|access-date=July 24, 2023|archive-date=July 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724201824/http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2018/b2017_18/measures/sb30/|url-status=live}} Senate Bill 30 repealed most of the tax cuts which had taken effect in January 2013.

Brownback's tax overhaul was described in a June 2017 article in The Atlantic as the United States' "most aggressive experiment in conservative economic policy".{{cite news |work=The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/kansass-conservative-tax-experiment-is-dead/529551/ |title=The Death of Kansas's Conservative Experiment |date=June 7, 2017 |access-date=June 7, 2017 |first=Russell |last=Berman |archive-date=June 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612210830/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/kansass-conservative-tax-experiment-is-dead/529551/ |url-status=live }} The drastic tax cuts had "threatened the viability of schools and infrastructure" in Kansas.

{{Cquote|The Brownback experiment didn't work. We saw that loud and clear.
{{emdash}}Heidi Holliday, executive director of the Kansas Center for Economic Growth 2017}}

In April 2014, Brownback signed a controversial school finance bill that eliminated mandatory due process hearings, which were previously required to fire experienced teachers. According to the Kansas City Star: {{cquote|The bill also allows school districts to hire unlicensed teachers for science and math classes. And it creates a tax break for corporations that donate to private school scholarship funds.{{cite web|last=Lowry|first=Bryan|title=Brownback signs school finance bill|url=http://www.kansascity.com/2014/04/21/4973115/brownback-to-sign-school-finance.html|publisher=Kansas City Star|access-date=April 22, 2014|archive-date=April 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140423221919/http://www.kansascity.com/2014/04/21/4973115/brownback-to-sign-school-finance.html|url-status=live}}}} The resulting cuts in funding caused districts to shut down the school year early.{{cite news |url=https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/kansas-school-districts-close-early-after-tax-cut-experiment |title=Kansas school districts to close early after tax cut 'experiment' |last1=Lee |first1=Trymaine |date=April 4, 2015 |publisher=MSNBC|access-date=April 5, 2015 |archive-date=April 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405064606/http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/kansas-school-districts-close-early-after-tax-cut-experiment |url-status=live }}

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, during the period from 2008 to 2018 (Brownback was governor from 2011 to 2018), Kansas averaged an annual GDP growth rate of 0.9% -- exactly half the national average.[https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article223391695.html "After lagging since recession- is KC's economy heating up,"] Kansas City Star, retrieved August 28, 2023 During that same period — when national employment increased and wages rose — job growth in Wichita (Kansas' largest city, and hometown of Brownback's principal funders, the Koch family) dropped 3.2%, and the city's average annual wages stagnated.Brown, Corie: [https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=3144277f-38ec-4127-a9bb-5fbb1ac85f59 "A tale of 2 cities in the Midwest,"] July 1, 2020, Los Angeles Times; part of a 5-part series, [https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-07-01/two-midwest-cities-two-local-billionaires-koch-buffett-which-one-can-boost-prosperity "How billionaires Koch and Buffett shape Wichita and Omaha,"] retrieved August 28, 2023

In 2015, the job growth rate in Kansas was 0.8 percent, among the lowest rate in America with only "10,900 total nonfarm jobs" added that year.{{cite web |url=https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/statewide_otm_oty_change.htm |title=Change in total nonfarm employment by state, over-the-month and over-the-year, seasonally adjusted |publisher=Bls.gov |access-date=February 26, 2017 |archive-date=February 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227233121/https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/statewide_otm_oty_change.htm |url-status=live }}{{citation |url=http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/yael-t-abouhalkah/article47176275.html |author=Yael T. Abouhalkah |title=Kansas has low but misleading unemployment rate under Gov. Sam Brownback |date=November 30, 2015 |access-date=February 26, 2017 |archive-date=February 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227150112/http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/yael-t-abouhalkah/article47176275.html |url-status=live }} Kansas had a $350 million budget shortfall in February 2017.{{citation |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/02/22/republicans-real-live-experiment-with-kansass-economy-survives-a-revolt-from-their-own-party/ |title=Republicans' 'real-live experiment' with Kansas's economy survives a revolt from their own party |newspaper=The Washington Post |author=Max Ehrenfreund |date=February 22, 2017 |access-date=February 25, 2017 |archive-date=February 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224133856/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/02/22/republicans-real-live-experiment-with-kansass-economy-survives-a-revolt-from-their-own-party/ |url-status=live }} In February 2017, S&P downgraded Kansas' credit rating to AA−.{{citation |title=Kansas Lawmakers Uphold Governor's Veto of Tax Increases |author=Alan Blinder |url=https://nyti.ms/2lwNatr |newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 22, 2017 |access-date=February 25, 2017 |archive-date=February 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220153324/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/us/kansas-governor-sam-brownback-tax-veto.html?smid=pl-share |url-status=live }}

Despite Kansas' major role in the aerospace,Muro, Mark and Bruce Katz: [https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0921_clusters_muro_katz.pdf "The New 'Cluster Moment': How Regional Innovation Clusters Can Foster the Next Economy,"] September 2010, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution, retrieved August 28, 2023Porter, Michael (Harvard University): [https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/COI_Wichita_e7a9940a-4caf-42e0-bc2d-1dc23e153a57.pdf Clusters of Innovation Initiative: Wichita,] circa 2012 (undated), Council on Competitiveness, retrieved August 28, 2023[http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes172011.htm#st "Geographic profile for Aerospace Engineers,"] in "17-2011 Aerospace Engineers," "Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2022," Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics, retrieved August 28, 2023 telecommunications[https://www.mbaskool.com/business-lists/top-brands/17225-top-10-telecom-companies-in-usa-2017.html "Top 10 Telecom Companies in USA 2017,"], MBASkool.com, retrieved August 28, 2023; (includes Kansas-headquartered Sprint, and largely-Kansas-based CenturyLink)[https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SMU20928125051700001SA "All Employees: Information: Telecommunications in Kansas City, KS,"] July 2023, FRED Economic Data, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, retrieved August 28, 2023 and GPS technology[https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/gps-market "Report Overview,"] Report ID: GVR-2-68038-473-4, Global Positioning Systems Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Deployment, By Application (Aviation, Marine, Surveying, Location-Based Services, Road), And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025, Grand View Research, retrieved August 28, 2023 (which cites Kansas-based Garmin, Ltd. among the industry leaders) industries,{{cite web |url = http://www.kansascommerce.com/index.aspx?nid=483#A |title = Kansas Department of Commerce—Official Website—Economic Overview Charts |publisher = Kansascommerce.com |access-date = April 4, 2018 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171215091244/http://www.kansascommerce.com/index.aspx?NID=483#A |archive-date = December 15, 2017}} a 2019 report from the KC Tech Council reported that Kansas growth in tech jobs ranked next-to-last in the nation — losing 220 tech jobs between 2017 and 2018 (Brownback's final year as governor), according to the Computing Technology Industry Association — while over 40 other states grew tech employment. Despite slowing the rates of decline following the Great Recession, 59% of telecommunications jobs in the Kansas City telecommunications industry — and 600 jobs in Wichita's (aerospace-dominated) manufacturing industry[https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SMU20928125051700001SA "All Employees: Manufacturing in Wichita, KS (MSA),"] (WICH620MFG), July 2023, FRED Economic Data, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, retrieved August 28, 2023 — were lost during the Brownback administration.

By the last year of the Brownback administration, 2018, Kansas had the second-highest farm-bankruptcy rate increase in the nation (after New York) — a decade-high rate for the state.[https://www.fb.org/market-intel/farm-bankruptcies-in-2018-the-truth-is-out-there "Farm Bankruptcies in 2018 – The Truth is Out There,"] February 12, 2019, Farm Bureau Federation, retrieved August 29, 2023

In August 2011, over the objections of Republican Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, Brownback announced he was declining a $31.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to set up an insurance exchange as part of the federal health care reform law.{{cite web|title=Brownback: Send back $31.5M federal grant|work=The Capital-Journal|date=August 9, 2011|url=http://cjonline.com/news/2011-08-09/brownback-send-back-315m-federal-grant|access-date=October 24, 2014|archive-date=October 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031214757/http://cjonline.com/news/2011-08-09/brownback-send-back-315m-federal-grant|url-status=live}} In May 2011, Brownback had directed the state's insurance commissioner to slow the implementation timeline for the exchange development. Upon announcing the refusal of the budgeted grant money for the state, his office stated: {{cquote|There is much uncertainty surrounding the ability of the federal government to meet its already budgeted future spending obligations. Every state should be preparing for fewer federal resources, not more. To deal with that reality Kansas needs to maintain maximum flexibility. That requires freeing Kansas from the strings attached to the Early Innovator Grant.}} The move was unanimously supported by the delegates of the state party central committee at its August 2011 meeting, but a New York Times editorial criticized Brownback for turning down the grant which could have helped ease the state's own budget: {{cquote|Instead of letting Kansas design its own model program for an online computer exchange to help people choose among health insurance providers, Mr. Brownback's rebuff increases the likelihood that the state must design one at its own expense or see federal officials create an exchange, as required under the new law.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/gov-brownbacks-selective-budget-worries.html |date=August 14, 2011 |title=Gov. Brownback's Selective Budget Worries |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 12, 2017 |archive-date=June 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624105333/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/gov-brownbacks-selective-budget-worries.html |url-status=live }}}}

Brownback also signed into law the Health Care Freedom Act, based on model legislation published by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).{{cite news|url=http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/capitol-report/2013/dec/17/brownback-says-perception-of-alec-influe/|title=Brownback says perception of ALEC influence is 'overblown'|newspaper=Lawrence Journal-World|date=December 17, 2013|first=Scott|last=Rothschild|access-date=October 21, 2014|archive-date=December 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217083515/http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/capitol-report/2013/dec/17/brownback-says-perception-of-alec-influe/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/20/obamacare-alec-republican-legislators|title=Obamacare faces new threat at state level from corporate interest group Alec|date=November 20, 2013|work=The Guardian|first=Ed|last=Pilkington|access-date=December 16, 2016|archive-date=February 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223045752/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/20/obamacare-alec-republican-legislators|url-status=live}}

File:Sam Brownback by Gage Skidmore.jpg (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland on February 27, 2015]]

Brownback signed three anti-abortion bills in 2011. In April 2011, he signed a bill banning abortion after 21 weeks, and a bill requiring that a doctor get a parent's notarized signature before providing an abortion to a minor.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-abortion-kansas/kansas-governor-sam-brownback-signs-bills-restricting-abortion-idUSTRE73B7XL20110412|title=Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signs bills restricting abortion|date=April 12, 2011|access-date=January 23, 2018|newspaper=Reuters|last1=Murphy|first1=Kevin}} In May 2011, Brownback approved a bill prohibiting insurance companies from offering abortion coverage as part of general health plans unless the procedure is necessary to save a woman's life. The law also prohibits any health-insurance exchange in Kansas established under the federal Affordable Care Act from offering coverage for abortions other than to save a woman's life.{{Cite web|url=https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/may/26/brownback-criticized-signing-abortion-bill-opponen/|title=Brownback criticized for signing abortion bill that opponents say will hurt women who get impregnated after being raped|access-date=July 24, 2023|archive-date=July 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724201825/https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/may/26/brownback-criticized-signing-abortion-bill-opponen/|url-status=live}}

A Kansas budget passed with Brownback's approval in 2011 blocked Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri from receiving family planning funds from the state. The funding amounted to about $330,000 a year.{{cite web |url=http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/18/3085231/planned-parenthood-may-push-to.html|title=Planned Parenthood may push to get funds from Kansas|access-date=January 23, 2018}} A judge has blocked the budget provision, ordered Kansas to begin funding the organization again, and agreed with Planned Parenthood that it was being unfairly targeted.{{cite web |url=http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/18/3085231/planned-parenthood-may-push-to.html|title=Judge blocks de-funding of Planned Parenthood in Kansas|access-date=January 23, 2018}} In response, the state filed an appeal seeking to overturn the judge's decision.{{cite web|url=http://jurist.org/paperchase/2011/08/kansas-appeals-order-to-block-law-defunding-planned-parenthood.php|title=JURIST - Kansas appeals order to block law defunding Planned Parenthood|website=jurist.org|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=October 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006162553/http://www.jurist.org/paperchase/2011/08/kansas-appeals-order-to-block-law-defunding-planned-parenthood.php|url-status=live}} Brownback has defended anti-abortion laws in Kansas, including the Planned Parenthood defunding. "You can't know for sure what all comes out of that afterwards, but it was the will of the Legislature and the people of the state of Kansas", Brownback said.{{cite web |url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/aug/18/judge-refuses-stay-pending-appeal-order-preventing/?kansas_legislature |title=Judge refuses to stay, pending appeal, order preventing Kansas from diverting funds from Planned Parenthood |website=LJWorld.com |access-date=January 23, 2018 |archive-date=July 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728041530/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/aug/18/judge-refuses-stay-pending-appeal-order-preventing/?kansas_legislature |url-status=live }}

In May 2012, Brownback signed the Health Care Rights of Conscience Act, which "will allow pharmacists to refuse to provide drugs they believe might cause an abortion".{{cite news |url=http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/15/3611028/kansas-gov-brownback-signs-act.html#storylink=cpy |access-date=May 27, 2012 |title=Kansas Gov. Brownback signs act allowing pharmacists to refuse to dispense abortion drugs |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523184728/http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/15/3611028/kansas-gov-brownback-signs-act.html#storylink=cpy |archive-date=May 23, 2012 }}

In April 2013, Brownback signed a bill that blocked tax breaks for abortion providers, banned sex-selection abortions and declared that life begins at fertilization. The law notes that any rights conferred by it are subject to limits set forth in applicable U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

On April 7, 2015, Brownback signed The Unborn Child Protection From Dismemberment Abortion Act, which bans the most common technique used for second-trimester abortions. Kansas became the first state to ban the procedure.[http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2015_16/measures/documents/sb95_01_0000.pdf Senate bill no: 95] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416115750/http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2015_16/measures/documents/sb95_01_0000.pdf |date=April 16, 2015 }}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/us/kansas-bans-common-second-trimester-abortion-procedure.html|title=Kansas Limits Abortion Method, Opening a New Line of Attack|first1=Erik|last1=Eckholm|first2=Frances|last2=Robles|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 7, 2015|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=February 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216041007/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/us/kansas-bans-common-second-trimester-abortion-procedure.html|url-status=live}}

Brownback attended Texas governor Rick Perry's prayer event in August 2011. Aside from Gov. Perry himself, Brownback was the only U.S. governor who attended.{{Cite web|url=http://midwestdemocracyproject.org/blogs/entries/brownback-attends-rick-perry-prayer-event-texas/|title=Brownback attends Rick Perry prayer event in Texas | Midwest Democracy Project|date=November 20, 2011|access-date=June 19, 2018|archive-date=November 20, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120180517/http://midwestdemocracyproject.org/blogs/entries/brownback-attends-rick-perry-prayer-event-texas/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/60801.html|title=Brownback joins Perry on stage|website=Politico|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=June 26, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130626101031/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/60801.html|url-status=live}} About 22,000 people attended the rally, and Brownback and Perry were the only elected officials to speak.[http://articles.kwch.com/2011-08-06/governor-brownback_29860202 Prayer event draws crowd, controversy & Governor Brownback] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127154623/http://articles.kwch.com/2011-08-06/governor-brownback_29860202 |date=January 27, 2012 }} Brownback's participation in the rally resulted in some controversy, and editorials published in The Winfield Daily Courier and The Kansas City Star expressed disappointment.{{cite news |url=http://www.winfieldcourier.com/articles/2011/08/04/opinion/a_little_extra/doc4e3b4fb2b3a6d929370100.txt |access-date=August 11, 2011 |title=Stay home, Sam |archive-date=August 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822072555/https://www.ctnewsonline.com/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/07/3056883/commentary-sam-brownbacks-prayer.html |date=August 7, 2011 |access-date=August 12, 2011 |title=Commentary: Sam Brownback's prayer day vacation }}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

File:Ambassador Brownback Making a Speech (29741543778) (cropped).jpg in 2018]]

File:Ambassador Brownback Delivers Remarks on the 2018 International Religious Freedom Annual Report (48104737012).jpg

In March 2017, it was reported that Brownback was being considered by President Donald Trump to be appointed either as his U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. for Food and Agriculture in Rome,Lowry, Byron. [http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article137265678.html Sources: Brownback in talks with Trump administration about an ambassadorship] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611130442/http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article137265678.html |date=June 11, 2017 }}, Kansas City Star, March 8, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2017. or as the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom in Washington, DC.Lowry, Byron. [http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article151397482.html Will Trump pick Brownback for religious freedom role?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523000105/http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article151397482.html |date=May 23, 2017 }}, Kansas City Star, May 19, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2017. On July 26, 2017, the White House issued a statement that Brownback would be nominated as the new U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. As a senator in 1998, Brownback sponsored the legislation that first created the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Due to his positions and actions on Islam and LGBT issues, Brownback's nomination was criticized by figures such as Rabbi Moti Rieber, the executive director of Kansas Interfaith Action, Robert McCaw, director of government affairs for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR),[http://www.newsweek.com/islam-and-america-president-donald-trump-american-muslims-643370 Islam and America: Trump's religious freedom ambassador should be 'disqualified' says biggest Muslim group] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202203203/http://www.newsweek.com/islam-and-america-president-donald-trump-american-muslims-643370 |date=December 2, 2017 }}, Newsweek, Conor Gaffey, July 28, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017. as well as the American Civil Liberties Union.[https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/faith-facts-about-sam-brownback-political-champion-of-religious-freedom/article_e618d2b1-9d35-5ca2-926c-9f7a1879472e.html 5 faith facts about Sam Brownback: Political champion of religious freedom] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020050341/https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/faith-facts-about-sam-brownback-political-champion-of-religious-freedom/article_e618d2b1-9d35-5ca2-926c-9f7a1879472e.html |date=October 20, 2019 }}, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Religion News Service, Adelle Banks, July 29, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2017.

As of the end of the 2017 session, Brownback's Ambassadorial nomination had not come up for a confirmation vote. As it failed to receive unanimous support for it to carry over to 2018 for approval, it required renomination to come to a vote.[http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2017/dec/22/brownbacks-nomination-set-return-white-house/ Brownback's nomination for ambassador post not carried over, will return to White House] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228054449/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2017/dec/22/brownbacks-nomination-set-return-white-house/ |date=December 28, 2017 }}, Lawrence Journal World (AP) December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017. He was renominated on January 8, 2018.{{cite web|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/nominations-sent-senate-today-2/|title=Nominations Sent to the Senate Today|date=January 8, 2018|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=January 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120202530/https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/nominations-sent-senate-today-2/|url-status=live}}

On January 24, 2018, the Senate voted along party lines, 49–49, with two Republicans absent, to advance his nomination to the floor, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote to end the Democrats' filibuster. With the Senate again locked at 49–49 later that day, Pence again cast the tie-breaking vote, confirming the nomination. On January 25, Brownback submitted his resignation as governor. Brownback's resignation was effective January 31, 2018, on which date Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer was sworn in as governor.[https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article196606739.html Brownback sets time and date when he'll hand off Kansas to Johnson County's Colyer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130202617/http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article196606739.html |date=January 30, 2018 }}, Kansas City Star, Brian Lowry, January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2018.

Brownback was sworn in on February 1, 2018.{{cite web |last1=Wise |first1=Lindsay |last2=Kumar |first2=Anita |title=Pence Jokes About His Two Tie-Breaking Votes as Brownback is Sworn in as Ambassador |url=http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article197934314.html |date=February 1, 2018 |work=The Kansas City Star |access-date=March 17, 2018 |archive-date=March 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318122245/http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article197934314.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Redisch |first1=Steve |title=Brownback: Myanmar Conducting 'Religious Cleansing' of Rohingya |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/brownback-myanmar-conducting-religious-cleansing-of-rohingya/4278699.html |date=March 3, 2018 |publisher=Voice of America |access-date=March 17, 2018 |archive-date=March 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318120431/https://www.voanews.com/a/brownback-myanmar-conducting-religious-cleansing-of-rohingya/4278699.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web | last1=Brian | first1=Dulle | title=Brownback Sworn in as U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom | url=http://www.ksnt.com/news/brownback-sworn-in-as-u-s-ambassador-at-large-for-international-religious-freedom/1011524798 | date=February 1, 2018 | publisher=KSHB-TV | access-date=May 5, 2018 | archive-date=May 6, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180506112324/http://www.ksnt.com/news/brownback-sworn-in-as-u-s-ambassador-at-large-for-international-religious-freedom/1011524798 | url-status=live }} He became the first Catholic to serve in the role.[http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article164075087.html Brownback's faith plays key role in his politics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202102803/http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article164075087.html |date=December 2, 2017 }}, Wichita Eagle, Katherine Burgess and Jonathan Shorman, July 28, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.{{cite web|url=https://www.kshb.com/news/state/kansas/senate-confirms-kansas-gov-sam-brownback-to-position-in-trump-administration|title=Senate confirms Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to position in Trump administration|date=January 24, 2018|access-date=January 24, 2018|archive-date=January 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125021106/https://www.kshb.com/news/state/kansas/senate-confirms-kansas-gov-sam-brownback-to-position-in-trump-administration|url-status=live}}

File:President Trump Meets with Survivors of Religious Persecution.webm and several 'survivors of religious persecution' including Nadia Murad on July 17, 2019]]

In July 2018, Brownback reportedly lobbied the UK government over the treatment of far-right British activist Tommy Robinson.{{cite web | last1=Hosenball | first1=Mark | title=Trump's Ambassador Lobbied Britain on Behalf of Jailed Right-Wing Activist Tommy Robinson | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-britain-robinson/trumps-ambassador-lobbied-britain-on-behalf-of-jailed-right-wing-activist-tommy-robinson-idUSKBN1K331J | date=July 13, 2018 | publisher=Reuters | access-date=August 7, 2018 | archive-date=July 24, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724110026/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-britain-robinson/trumps-ambassador-lobbied-britain-on-behalf-of-jailed-right-wing-activist-tommy-robinson-idUSKBN1K331J | url-status=live }} Arizona Republican representative Paul Gosar and five other congressmen invited Robinson to speak to United States Congress on November 14, 2018, on a trip sponsored by the U.S.-based, Middle East Forum. He was expected to get visa approval by the State Department despite his criminal convictions and use of fraudulent passports to enter and depart the U.S.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tommy-robinson-jail-free-congress-us-republican-event-trump-visa-washington-speech-gosar-a8601866.html Tommy Robinson invited to address US Congress members in Washington by Republican supporters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026003913/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tommy-robinson-jail-free-congress-us-republican-event-trump-visa-washington-speech-gosar-a8601866.html |date=October 26, 2018 }}, The Independent, Lizzie Dearden, October 25, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2018.

Brownback's tenure as ambassador ended on January 20, 2021.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kwch.com/2021/01/21/pompeo-brownback-conclude-terms-in-trump-administration/|title=Pompeo, Brownback conclude terms in Trump administration|first=Matt|last=Heilman|date=January 21, 2021|website=www.kwch.com|access-date=July 24, 2023|archive-date=July 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724200942/https://www.kwch.com/2021/01/21/pompeo-brownback-conclude-terms-in-trump-administration/|url-status=live}}

Brownback promoted religious freedom as a means of promoting individual and economic flourishing and reducing terrorism and other types of religion-related violence.{{Cite web|url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900068525/us-religious-freedom-ambassador-sam-brownback.html|title=Can America's religious freedom ambassador save the world?|last=Dallas|first=Kelsey|date=May 1, 2019|website=DeseretNews.com|language=en|access-date=August 2, 2019|archive-date=June 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611001735/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900068525/us-religious-freedom-ambassador-sam-brownback.html|url-status=dead}}

Brownback repeatedly condemned China's record on religious freedom, saying, "China is at war with faith. It is a war they will not win".{{Cite web|url=https://www.fcchk.org/china-on-the-wrong-side-of-history-in-its-religious-persecution-says-u-s-ambassador/|title=China 'on the wrong side of history' in its religious persecution, says U.S. ambassador|date=March 8, 2019|website=The Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong {{!}} FCC|language=en-GB|access-date=August 2, 2019|archive-date=August 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802150630/https://www.fcchk.org/china-on-the-wrong-side-of-history-in-its-religious-persecution-says-u-s-ambassador/|url-status=live}} He highlighted China's persecution of Uyghurs, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, and Chinese Christians.{{Cite web|url=https://hk.usconsulate.gov/n-2019030801/|title=Remarks on Religious Freedom {{!}} U.S. Consulate General Hong Kong & Macau|date=March 8, 2019|website=U.S. Consulate General Hong Kong & Macau|language=en-US|access-date=August 2, 2019|archive-date=August 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802150625/https://hk.usconsulate.gov/n-2019030801/|url-status=dead}} In remarks made at the United Nations, Brownback strongly condemned the Xinjiang internment camps where more than one million Uyghurs are reported to have been detained.{{Cite web|url=http://webtv.un.org/watch/international-religious-freedom-a-new-era-for-advocacy-in-response-to-a-new-age-of-challenges-and-threats/6009008748001/?term=|title=International Religious Freedom: A New Era for Advocacy in Response to a New Age of Challenges and Threats|website=United Nations Web TV|language=en|access-date=August 2, 2019|archive-date=August 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829063446/http://webtv.un.org/watch/international-religious-freedom-a-new-era-for-advocacy-in-response-to-a-new-age-of-challenges-and-threats/6009008748001/?term=|url-status=live}} On July 13, 2020, Brownback, along with three other U.S. politicians, was sanctioned by the Chinese government for "interfering in China’s internal affairs" through their condemnation of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.{{Cite news |date=13 July 2020 |title=U.S. declares many of China's maritime claims 'unlawful' as Beijing imposes sanctions on U.S. senators |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-imposes-sanctions-on-us-senators-rubio-cruz-over-xinjiang-advocacy/2020/07/13/b169b104-c4d8-11ea-a825-8722004e4150_story.html |access-date=29 December 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

In his first trip as Ambassador, Brownback traveled to Bangladesh to meet with Rohingya refugees from Myanmar at the Kutupalong refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Brownback stated that the accounts of violence he heard were as bad as anything he had ever seen, including in his visits to Darfur, Sudan in 2004.{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.state.gov/stories/2018/05/11/en/reflections-my-visit-rohingya-refugees|title=Reflections on My Visit with Rohingya Refugees|last=Brownback|first=Samuel D.|date=May 11, 2018|website=DipNote|language=en|access-date=August 2, 2019|archive-date=August 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802150639/https://blogs.state.gov/stories/2018/05/11/en/reflections-my-visit-rohingya-refugees|url-status=live}} Following the trip, the State Department highlighted Myanmar's intensification of violence against its ethnic minorities.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/world/asia/state-department-religious-freedom-myanmar.html|title=Myanmar Is Intensifying Violence Against Ethnic Minorities, U.S. Says|last=Harris|first=Gardiner|date=May 29, 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 2, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802150628/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/world/asia/state-department-religious-freedom-myanmar.html|url-status=live}} In the 2017 International Religious Freedom Report, the State Department described the violence against the Rohingya that forced an estimated 688,000 people to flee Myanmar as "ethnic cleansing."{{Cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2017-report-on-international-religious-freedom/burma/|title=2017 Report on International Religious Freedom: Burma|website=United States Department of State|language=en-US|access-date=August 2, 2019|archive-date=July 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722113126/https://www.state.gov/reports/2017-report-on-international-religious-freedom/burma/|url-status=live}}

At the 2020 Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief in Poland, Brownback spoke about COVID-19's effect on freedom of religion.{{cite web |title=Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom or Belief |url=https://www.gov.pl/web/diplomacy/schedule |publisher=Government of Poland |access-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116135104/https://www.gov.pl/web/diplomacy/schedule |url-status=live }}

Brownback opposes abortion.{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/wichita-kansas-governor-sam-brownback-equates-abortion-slavery-state-of-the-state-102252|title=Kansas gov equates abortion, slavery|agency=Associated Press|date=January 15, 2014|website=Politico|access-date=July 24, 2023|archive-date=July 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724034947/https://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/wichita-kansas-governor-sam-brownback-equates-abortion-slavery-state-of-the-state-102252|url-status=live}} He was personally anti-abortion though politically pro-choice during his early career."Politics Attracted Brownback Early," Kansas City Star, October 27, 1996. In 2007, Brownback said that he saw abortion "as the lead moral issue of our day, just like slavery was the lead moral issue 150 years ago."Pulliam, Sarah. [http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/octoberweb-only/142-42.0.html "Q&A: Sam Brownback"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020031735/http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/octoberweb-only/142-42.0.html |date=October 20, 2007 }}, Christianity Today, October 18, 2007. On May 3, 2007, when asked his opinion of repealing Roe v. Wade, Brownback said, "It would be a glorious day of human liberty and freedom."[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna18478985 "California Republican debate transcript"], NBC News, May 3, 2007.

In 2007, Brownback said he "could support a pro-choice nominee" to the presidency because "this is a big coalition party."{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna18478985|title=California Republican debate transcript|website=NBC News|date=May 4, 2007|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=April 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423075403/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/18478985/|url-status=live}}

In May 2011, Brownback eliminated by executive order and then vetoed government funding for the Kansas Arts Commission in response to state defiance of his executive order, making Kansas the first state to de-fund its arts commission.{{cite web|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/05/kansas-governor-eliminates-states-arts-funding.html|title=Kansas governor eliminates state's arts funding|date=May 31, 2011|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=September 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917083221/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/05/kansas-governor-eliminates-states-arts-funding.html|url-status=live}} The National Endowment for the Arts informed Kansas that without a viable state arts agency, it would not receive a planned $700,000 federal grant.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/arts/kansas-and-other-states-cut-arts-funds.html|title=Kansas and Other States Cut Arts Funds|first=Robin|last=Pogrebin|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 1, 2011|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=August 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816223442/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/arts/kansas-and-other-states-cut-arts-funds.html|url-status=live}} Brownback has said he believes private donations should fund arts and culture in the state. He created the Kansas Arts Foundation, an organization dedicated to private fundraising to make up the gap created by state budget cuts.{{cite web |last=Hudnall |first=David |url=http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/sam-brownbacks-crusade-against-the-kansas-arts-commission/Content?oid=2448163 |title=Sam Brownback's crusade against the Kansas Arts Commission | Interview |publisher=The Pitch |access-date=July 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011060623/http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/sam-brownbacks-crusade-against-the-kansas-arts-commission/Content?oid=2448163 |archive-date=October 11, 2012 |url-status=dead }}

Brownback said in an interview: "I am not a supporter of a death penalty, other than in cases where we cannot protect the society and have other lives at stake."Interview with Senator Sam Brownback, David Shankbone, Wikinews, October 11, 2007. In a speech on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he questioned the current use of the death penalty as potentially incongruent with the notion of a "culture of life", and suggested it be employed in a more limited fashion.Sentencing Law and Policy (Blog by Douglas A. Berman): [http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/2006/02/senator_brownba.html Senator Brownback questions death penalty and culture of life] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061111175019/http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/2006/02/senator_brownba.html |date=November 11, 2006 }}, February 3, 2006

Brownback visited refugee camps in Sudan in 2004 and returned to write a resolution labeling the Darfur conflict as genocide, and has been active on attempting to increase U.S. efforts to resolve the situation short of military intervention.The Washington Post: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/26/AR2005122600547.html Policy Adrift on Darfur] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726052041/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/26/AR2005122600547.html |date=July 26, 2008 }}, page A25, December 27, 2005. He is an endorser of the Genocide Intervention Network, which called him a "champion of Darfur" in its Darfur scorecard, primarily for his early advocacy of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act.[http://darfurscores.org/champions-of-darfur DarfurScores.org: Champions of Darfur] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108065945/http://darfurscores.org/champions-of-darfur |date=January 8, 2009 }}, operated by the Genocide Intervention Network, site. Retrieved August 21, 2006

File:Kansas Governor Sam Brownback addresses during the Kansas Soybean Expo 2014.jpg

As governor he urged a flattening of the income tax to spur economic growth in Kansas. In December 2005, Brownback advocated using Washington, DC, as a laboratory for a flat tax.The New York Sun: [http://www.nysun.com/article/23696 D.C. May Be Flat Tax Laboratory] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051202043637/http://www.nysun.com/article/23696 |date=December 2, 2005 }}, November 30, 2005DCist:

[http://www.dcist.com/archives/2005/12/02/a_flat_tax_for.php A Flat Tax for the District?], December 2, 2005 {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

Brownback has stated that he is a devout believer in a higher power and rejects macroevolution as an exclusive explanation for the development over time of new species from older ones.{{cite web |author=Peter Wagenet and Kevin Wang – Zeit Studios |url=http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/sam-brownback-on-evolution/ |title=Sam Brownback on Evolution |publisher=Uncommon Descent |date=May 31, 2007 |access-date=August 23, 2010 |archive-date=April 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100427144755/http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/sam-brownback-on-evolution/ |url-status=live }} Brownback favors giving teachers the freedom to use intelligent design to critique evolutionary theory as part of the Teach the Controversy approach:

{{blockquote|There's intelligence involved in the overall of creation ... I don't think we're really at the point of teaching this in the classroom. I think what we passed in the U.S. Senate in 2002 the Santorum Amendment is really what we should be doing, and that is that you teach the controversy, you teach what is fact is fact, and what is theory is theory, and you move from that proceedings, rather than from teaching some sort of different thought. And this, I really think that's the area we should concentrate on at the present time, is teaching the controversy.[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0508/23/lkl.01.html Intelligent Design in American Classrooms?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822073608/https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/lkl/date/2005-08-23/segment/01 |date=August 22, 2023 }} CNN Larry King Live, August 23, 2005.|Senator Sam Brownback|Larry King Live, CNN, August 23, 2005}}

Brownback spoke out against the denial of tenure at Iowa State University to astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez, a proponent of intelligent design, saying "such an assault on academic freedom does not bode well for the advancement of true science."{{cite web|url=http://www.brownback.com/|title=Brownback Alarmed by Tenure Denial in Iowa|date=May 21, 2007|website=Brownback for President|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070523193354/http://www.brownback.com/|archive-date=May 23, 2007|url-status=usurped}}

Brownback opposes government-funded elective abortions in accordance with the Hyde Amendment. He has been a strong supporter of legislation to establish a national childhood cancer database and an increase in funding for autism research.{{cite web |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/sam_brownback.htm |title=Sam Brownback on the Issues |publisher=Ontheissues.org |access-date=August 23, 2010 |archive-date=June 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613225159/http://ontheissues.org/Senate/Sam_Brownback.htm |url-status=live }}{{better source needed|date=August 2023}} Brownback supports negotiating bulk discounts on Medicare drug benefits to reduce prices. In 2007, Senators Brownback and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sponsored an amendment to the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007. The amendment created a prize as an incentive for companies to invest in new drugs and vaccines for neglected tropical diseases. It awards a transferable "Priority Review Voucher" to any company that obtains approval for a treatment for a neglected tropical disease.{{cite web |title=U.S. Senators Introduce Legislation To Encourage R&D Aimed At Neglected Pediatric Diseases |url=https://www.kff.org/news-summary/u-s-senators-introduce-legislation-to-encourage-rd-aimed-at-neglected-pediatric-diseases/ |website=KFF}} The prize was initially proposed by Duke University faculty Henry Grabowski, Jeffrey Moe, and David Ridley in their 2006 Health Affairs paper: "Developing Drugs for Developing Countries."{{Cite journal |url=http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/25/2/313 |title=Developing Drugs For Developing Countries – Ridley et al. 25 (2): 313 – Health Affairs |date=2006 |doi=10.1377/hlthaff.25.2.313 |pmid=16522573 |access-date=April 25, 2008 |archive-date=August 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822073612/https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.25.2.313 |url-status=live |last1=Ridley |first1=D. B. |last2=Grabowski |first2=H. G. |last3=Moe |first3=J. L. |journal=Health Affairs |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=313–324 |hdl=10161/7017 |hdl-access=free }}

Brownback has supported a bill that would introduce price transparency to the U.S. health care industry,PR Newswire: [http://www.hiremedical.com/c/medical/newsdetailx/10132.htm Senators and Hospital Groups Support New GPO Transparency Initiative] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061109093320/http://www.hiremedical.com/c/medical/newsdetailx/10132.htm |date=November 9, 2006 }}, July 12, 2005 as well as a bill which would require the disclosure of Medicare payment rate information.U.S. Senator Sam Brownback press release: [http://brownback.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=253714 Brownback Introduces Medicare Payment Rate Disclosure Act] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060428022941/http://brownback.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=253714 |date=April 28, 2006 }}, April 7, 2006

On December 16, 2006, Brownback gave an interview to the Christian Post, stating: "We can get to this goal of eliminating deaths by cancer in ten years."{{cite news |url=http://www.christianpost.com/article/20061216/24283_Brownback_Addresses_Christian_Radio_Members,_Touts_FDA_Move.htm |title=Brownback Addresses Christian Radio Members, Touts FDA Move |work=Christian Post |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070620230129/http://www.christianpost.com/article/20061216/24283_Brownback_Addresses_Christian_Radio_Members,_Touts_FDA_Move.htm |date=December 16, 2006 |archive-date=June 20, 2007 |access-date=May 10, 2018 |url-status=dead}}

Brownback had a Senate voting record that has tended to support higher legal immigration levels{{cite web|url=http://grades.betterimmigration.com/testgrades.php3?District=KS&VIPID=317|title=Immigration-Reduction Grades - NumbersUSA - For Lower Immigration Levels|website=grades.betterimmigration.com|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=January 7, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107050946/http://grades.betterimmigration.com/testgrades.php3?District=KS&VIPID=317|url-status=dead}} and strong refugee protection. Brownback was cosponsor of a 2005 bill of Ted Kennedy and John McCain's which would have created a legal path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already present.{{cite web |title =Democrats are flocking to McCain's immigration bill |url =http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/democrats-are-flocking-to-mccains-immigration-bill-2005-08-17.html |access-date =June 21, 2007 |archive-date =August 25, 2007 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070825202707/http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/democrats-are-flocking-to-mccains-immigration-bill-2005-08-17.html |url-status =dead }} On June 26, 2007, Brownback voted in favor of S. 1639, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act.{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.01639:|title=Search Results – Thomas (Library of Congress)|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018153249/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.01639:|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00228|title=U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress - 1st Session|website=www.senate.gov|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=October 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018060924/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00228|url-status=live}} Brownback supports increasing numbers of legal immigrants, building a fence on Mexican border, and the reform bill "if enforced."

While he initially supported giving guest workers a path to citizenship, Brownback eventually voted "Nay" on June 28, 2007.{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00235|title=U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress - 1st Session|website=www.senate.gov|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=December 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230043655/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00235|url-status=live}} Brownback has said that he supports immigration reform because the Bible says to welcome the stranger.{{cite news |url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/on-the-road-a-week-with-values-voters/ |work=The New York Times |title=On the Road: A Week With 'Values' Voters |first=Michael |last=Luo |date=October 28, 2007 |access-date=May 23, 2010 |archive-date=November 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119110347/http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/on-the-road-a-week-with-values-voters/ |url-status=live }}

On April 25, 2016, Brownback issued executive orders barring state agencies from facilitating refugee resettlement from Syria and other majority-Muslim countries, in concert with the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). He maintained they presented security risks, and his decision entirely removed Kansas from the program. The ORR served notice that it would instead work directly with local refugee resettlement organizations. Kansas was the first state to withdraw from the federal refugee resettlement program.

As a result of Brownback's action, Kansas lost about $2.2 million annually that had been provided to support resettlement agencies. The state had been working with three such agencies, among them Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, in making appropriate placements. In the seven months preceding his order, 354 refugees were resettled in Kansas, with 13 Syrians placed in the Wichita or Kansas City areas in the previous 16 months. Representative Jim Ward from Wichita called Brownback's announcement "a distraction", intended solely for political purposes, as Kansas faced a $290 million budget deficit.[http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article73945807.html Gov. Sam Brownback withdraws Kansas from federal refugee resettlement program] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729013339/http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article73945807.html |date=July 29, 2017 }}, Kansas City Star, Edward M. Eveld, April 26, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2017.

File:Brownback IRaq.png]]

Brownback supported a political surge coupled with the military surge of 2007 in Iraq and opposed the Democratic Party's strategy of timed withdrawal:

{{blockquote|It does mean that there must be bipartisan agreement for our military commitment on Iraq. We cannot fight a war with the support of only one political party. And it does mean that the parties in Iraq – Sunni, Shi'a and Kurds – must get to a political agreement, to a political equilibrium. I think most people agree that a cut and run strategy does not serve our interest at all, nor those of the world, nor those of the region, nor those of the Iraqi people. So I invite my colleagues, all around, particularly on the other side of the aisle, to indicate what level of commitment they can support.[http://brownback.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=267618 Senator Sam Brownback office, Brownback on Iraq and Troop Surge, Calls for bipartisanship, diplomatic efforts, January 17, 2007, Washington, D.C.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070131223044/http://brownback.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=267618 |date=January 31, 2007 }}|

Senator Sam Brownback|

U.S. Senate floor speech, January 16, 2007}}

In May 2007, Brownback stated: "We have not lost war; we can win by pulling together". He voted Yes on authorizing use of military force against Iraq, voted No on requiring on-budget funding for Iraq, not emergency funding and voted No on redeploying troops out of Iraq by July 2007.{{cite web|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Sam_Brownback.htm|title=Sam Brownback On the Issues|access-date=September 1, 2007|publisher=ontheissues.org|archive-date=August 23, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823103230/http://www.ontheissues.org/Sam_Brownback.htm|url-status=live}} He has also condemned anti-Muslim bigotry in name of anti-terrorism.

On June 7, 2007, Brownback voted against the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007 when that bill came up for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which Brownback sits.Countdown with Keith Olbermann, June 7, 2007. (The bill was passed out of the committee by a vote of 11 to 8.){{cite web |last1=Melber |first1=Ari |title=Senate Begins Real Push on Habeas Corpus |url=http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=203303 |website=www.thenation.com |publisher=The Nation |access-date=8 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609164444/http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=203303 |archive-date=June 9, 2007 |language=en |date=2007-06-07}} The bill aims to restore habeas corpus rights revoked by the Military Commissions Act of 2006.{{cite news|last=Kellman |first=Laurie |title=Bush Veto Expected for Stem Cell Bill |agency=Associated Press |date=July 18, 2006 |url=http://www.technewsworld.com/story/51852.html |access-date=August 23, 2006 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

File:PC280088.JPG (1507409603).jpg Policy Conference]]

In October 2007, Brownback announced his support for a plan designed by Benny Elon, then-chairman of Israel's far-right-wing National Union/National Religious Party (NU/NRP) alliance.{{cite web |last=Brostoff |first=Marissa |url=http://www.forward.com/articles/11794/ |title=Far Right Israelis Get Boost From Senator – The Jewish Daily Forward |publisher=Forward.com |date=October 10, 2007 |access-date=August 23, 2010 |archive-date=July 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722130506/http://www.forward.com/articles/11794/ |url-status=live }} Elon's positions included dismantling the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas and rejecting a two-state solution. The plan calls for the complete annexation of the West Bank by Israel, and the deportation of its massive majority Arab population to a new Palestinian state to be created within present-day Jordan, against that latter country's historic opposition.

In 1996, as a member of the House of Representatives, Brownback voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage for purposes of federal law as the union between a man and a woman.{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/104-1996/h316|title=H.R. 3396 (104th): Defense of Marriage Act -- House Vote #316 -- Jul 12, 1996|website=GovTrack.us|access-date=January 24, 2018|archive-date=October 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021140443/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/104-1996/h316|url-status=live}} Brownback has stated that he believes homosexuality to be immoral as a violation of both Catholic doctrine{{cite news |last=Hananel |first=Sam |title=Brownback Supports Pace's Remark on Gays |newspaper=The Washington Post |agency=Associated Press |date=March 5, 2007 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/15/AR2007031501113.html |access-date=March 1, 2011 |archive-date=February 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207102152/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/15/AR2007031501113.html |url-status=live }} and natural law.{{cite news |last=Sharlet |first=Jeff |author-link=Jeff Sharlet (writer) |title=God's Senator |magazine=Rolling Stone |location=New York |date=January 25, 2006 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9178374/gods_senator/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060207014424/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9178374/gods_senator/ |archive-date=February 7, 2006 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 1, 2011}} He has voted against gay rights, receiving zeros in four of the last five scorecards as a U.S. senator from the Human Rights Campaign.{{cite web |title=Congressional Scorecard for the 107th Congress |year=2002 |url=http://www.hrc.org/documents/2002scorecard.pdf |publisher=Human Rights Campaign, Inc |page=8 |access-date=March 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115064115/http://www.hrc.org/documents/2002scorecard.pdf |archive-date=November 15, 2010 }}{{cite web |title=Congressional Scorecard for the 108th Congress |year=2004 |url=http://www.hrc.org/documents/2004ScoreCard.pdf |publisher=Human Rights Campaign, Inc |page=16 |access-date=March 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115064101/http://www.hrc.org/documents/2004ScoreCard.pdf |archive-date=November 15, 2010 }}{{cite web|title=Congressional Scorecard for the 109th Congress |year=2006 |url=http://www.hrc.org/documents/HRCscorecard2006.pdf |publisher=Human Rights Campaign, Inc |page=15 |access-date=March 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115064050/http://www.hrc.org/documents/HRCscorecard2006.pdf |archive-date=November 15, 2010 }}{{cite web |title=Congressional Scorecard for the 110th Congress |year=2008 |url=http://www.hrc.org/documents/Congress_Scorecard-110th.pdf |publisher=Human Rights Campaign, Inc |page=20 |access-date=March 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123191130/https://www.hrc.org/documents/Congress_Scorecard-110th.pdf |archive-date=November 23, 2010 }}{{cite web |title=Congressional Scorecard for the 111th Congress |date=February 23, 2011 |url=http://www.hrc.org/documents/111thCongressional_Scorecard.pdf |publisher=Human Rights Campaign, Inc |page=20 |access-date=March 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227111602/https://www.hrc.org/documents/111thCongressional_Scorecard.pdf |archive-date=February 27, 2011 }} He opposes both same-sex marriage and same-sex civil unions. He opposes adding sexual orientation and gender identity to federal hate crime laws.{{cite news |last=Rothschild |first=Scott |title=Brownback, Roberts, Moran, Tiahrt cite hate crimes provision in voting against military funding bill |newspaper=The Lawrence Journal-World |date=October 26, 2009 |url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/oct/26/brownback-roberts-moran-tiahrt-cite-hate-crimes-pr/ |access-date=March 1, 2011 |archive-date=August 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806094651/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/oct/26/brownback-roberts-moran-tiahrt-cite-hate-crimes-pr/ |url-status=live }} He has declined to state a position on homosexual adoption,{{cite news |last=Stephanopoulos |first=George |author-link=George Stephanopoulos |title=Brownback Joins Crowded Presidential Race |work=This Week |date=January 22, 2007 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2811101 |publisher=ABC News |access-date=March 4, 2011 |archive-date=June 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628211511/http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2811101 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Aravosis |first=John |author-link=John Aravosis |title=Conservative GOP prez candidate, Sam Brownback, refuses to take position on gay adoption |work=AMERICAblog |date=January 21, 2007 |url=http://www.americablog.com/2007/01/conservative-gop-prez-candidate-sam.html |access-date=March 4, 2011 |archive-date=July 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707130747/http://www.americablog.com/2007/01/conservative-gop-prez-candidate-sam.html |url-status=dead }} although a candidate for chair of the Kansas Republican Party claims he was blackballed by political operatives affiliated with Brownback for not opposing homosexual adoption.{{cite news |last=Sutherland |first=Dwight |title=Sutherland: Up On 'Brownback Mountain' or 'I Just Wish I Knew How to Quit You |work=KC Confidential |date=August 16, 2013 |url=http://www.kcconfidential.com/2013/08/16/sutherland-up-on-brownback-mountain-or-i-just-wish-i-knew-how-to-quit-you/ |access-date=August 20, 2013 |archive-date=December 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233447/http://www.kcconfidential.com/2013/08/16/sutherland-up-on-brownback-mountain-or-i-just-wish-i-knew-how-to-quit-you/ |url-status=live }} Brownback supported "don't ask, don't tell,"{{cite news |last=Holman |first=Rhonda |title=Kansans in Congress clinging to 'don't ask, don't tell' |series=WE Blog |date=December 5, 2010 |url=http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2010/12/kansans-in-congress-clinging-to-dont-ask-dont-tell/ |work=The Wichita Eagle |access-date=March 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713134409/http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2010/12/kansans-in-congress-clinging-to-dont-ask-dont-tell/ |archive-date=July 13, 2011 }} the U.S. government's ban on openly homosexual people in the military. Brownback has associated with organizations such as the Family Research Council{{cite web|title=FRC, Members of Congress, Governors, and Conservative Leaders Release Open Letter Calling for Civil Debate, End to Character Assassination|url=http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR10L07|publisher=Family Research Council|date=December 15, 2010|access-date=June 9, 2011|archive-date=August 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822073610/https://www.frc.org/advanced-search|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Dozens of GOP Leaders Declare Solidarity With Those Who Want To See Homosexuality Outlawed|url=http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/dozens-gop-leaders-declare-solidarity-those-who-want-see-homosexuality-outlawed|work=Right Wing Watch|publisher=People for the American Way|date=December 15, 2010|access-date=June 9, 2011|archive-date=July 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725175451/http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/dozens-gop-leaders-declare-solidarity-those-who-want-see-homosexuality-outlawed|url-status=live}} and American Family Association.{{cite news|title=Brownback responds to Perry's call to pray|url=http://cjonline.com/news/2011-06-07/brownback-responds-perrys-call-pray|access-date=June 9, 2011|newspaper=Topeka Capital-Journal|date=June 7, 2011|agency=Associated Press|archive-date=June 9, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609153057/http://cjonline.com/news/2011-06-07/brownback-responds-perrys-call-pray|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Fernandez|first=Manny|title=Texas Governor Draws Criticism on Prayer Event|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/us/politics/12prayer.html|access-date=June 12, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 11, 2011|author2=Eckholm, Erik|page=A31|archive-date=June 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614214318/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/us/politics/12prayer.html|url-status=live}}

In 2003, Brownback worked with Alliance for Marriage and Traditional Values Coalition to introduce a Senate bill containing the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would federally prohibit same-sex marriage in the United States.{{cite news |last=Seelye |first=Katharine Q. |title=Conservatives Mobilize Against Ruling on Gay Marriage |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 20, 2003 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/20/national/20CONS.html |access-date=July 15, 2013 |archive-date=January 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140124064543/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/20/national/20CONS.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Grieve |first=Tim |title=Lining up to fight 'the forces of evil' |newspaper=Salon |date=November 19, 2003 |url=http://www.salon.com/2003/11/20/marriage_20/ |access-date=July 15, 2013 |archive-date=July 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715032749/http://www.salon.com/2003/11/20/marriage_20/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=McCaslin |first=John |title=Inside the Beltway: Redefining Bliss |newspaper=The Washington Times |date=November 26, 2003 |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2003/nov/26/20031126-110943-6790r/ |access-date=July 15, 2013 |archive-date=June 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610193405/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2003/nov/26/20031126-110943-6790r/ |url-status=live }}{{cite press release |last=Brownback |first=Sam |title=Brownback Statement on Federal Marriage Amendment |date=September 17, 2003 |url=http://brownback.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=211715 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031019014820/http://brownback.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=211715 |archive-date=October 19, 2003 |access-date=July 15, 2013}} The bill was a response to Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts state court decision finding that same-sex couples had the right to marry in Massachusetts. In reaction to the Goodridge decision, Brownback stated that same-sex marriage threatened the health of American families and culture.{{cite news |last=Hanna |first=John |title=Kline, Brownback vow to fight same-sex marriage |newspaper=The Lawrence Journal-World |agency=Associated Press |date=November 19, 2003 |url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2003/nov/19/kline_brownback_vow/ |access-date=July 15, 2013 |archive-date=June 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611035633/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2003/nov/19/kline_brownback_vow/ |url-status=live }}

In 2006, Brownback blocked the confirmation of federal judicial nominee Janet T. Neff because she had attended a same-sex commitment ceremony.{{cite news|last=Lewis|first=Neil A.|title=Senator Removes His Block on Federal Court Nominee|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/washington/19judge.html|access-date=October 1, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 19, 2006|archive-date=December 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222220258/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/washington/19judge.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Lattman|first=Peter|title=Amid Criticism, Brownback Lifts Block on Judicial Nominee|series=The Wall Street Journal Law Blog|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2006/12/19/amid-criticism-brownback-lifts-block-on-judicial-nominee/|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=October 1, 2011|date=December 19, 2006|archive-date=March 24, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324133732/http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2006/12/19/amid-criticism-brownback-lifts-block-on-judicial-nominee/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Dvorak|first=Todd|title=Brownback Wants to Re-Question Nominee|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121900645.html|access-date=October 1, 2011|newspaper=The Washington Post|agency=Associated Press|date=December 19, 2006|archive-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018153249/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121900645.html|url-status=live}} At first, he agreed to lift the block only if Neff would recuse herself from all cases involving same-sex unions. Brownback later dropped his opposition. Neff was nominated to the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan by President George W. Bush on March 19, 2007, to a seat vacated David McKeague and was confirmed by a vote of 83-4 by the Senate on July 9, 2007. She received her commission on August 6, 2007.[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-judge/senate-rejects-brownbacks-concerns-about-judge-idUSN0931175220070709 Senate rejects Brownback's concerns about judge] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223042513/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-judge/senate-rejects-brownbacks-concerns-about-judge-idUSN0931175220070709 |date=December 23, 2017 }}, Reuters, July 9, 2007. Retrieved December 22, 2017.

In April 2011, Brownback began work on a Kansas government program to promote marriage, in part through grants to faith-based and secular social service organizations.{{cite news|last=Carpenter|first=Tim|title=Brownback program promotes marriage|url=http://cjonline.com/news/2011-07-02/brownback-program-promotes-marriage|access-date=July 3, 2011|newspaper=The Topeka Capital-Journal|date=July 2, 2011|archive-date=July 6, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706035248/http://cjonline.com/news/2011-07-02/brownback-program-promotes-marriage|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Rothschild|first=Scott|title=Gov. Brownback, SRS secretary discussing marriage initiatives|url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/apr/07/gov-brownback-srs-secretary-discussing-marriage-in/|access-date=July 3, 2011|newspaper=The Lawrence Journal-World|date=April 7, 2011|archive-date=April 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414113155/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/apr/07/gov-brownback-srs-secretary-discussing-marriage-in/|url-status=live}} In June 2011, the administration revised contract expectations for social work organizations to promote married mother-father families.{{cite news|title=SRS history replete with major changes|url=http://www.salina.com/news/story/seniors062111|access-date=October 24, 2011|newspaper=The Salina Journal|date=June 21, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403071454/http://www.salina.com/news/story/seniors062111|archive-date=April 3, 2012}}{{cite news|last=Fiedler|first=Gordon D.|title=Kansas SRS secretary visits Salina|url=http://www.saljournal.com/news/story/Siedlecki-tour|access-date=October 24, 2011|newspaper=The Salina Journal|date=June 22, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501141642/http://www.saljournal.com/news/story/Siedlecki-tour|archive-date=May 1, 2012}} It explained the change as benefiting children.

In January 2012, Brownback did not include Kansas's sodomy law in a list of unenforced and outdated laws that the legislature should repeal.{{cite news|last=Carpenter|first=Tim|title=State 'repealer' lists 51 objections|url=http://cjonline.com/news/2012-01-20/state-repealer-lists-51-objections|access-date=February 19, 2012|newspaper=The Topeka Capital-Journal|date=January 20, 2012|archive-date=February 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217055637/http://cjonline.com/news/2012-01-20/state-repealer-lists-51-objections|url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Rothschild |first=Scott |title=51 measures proposed for repeal, but not law criminalizing gay sex |url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/jan/20/51-measures-proposed-repeal-not-law-criminalizing-/ |access-date=February 19, 2012 |newspaper=The Lawrence Journal-World |date=January 20, 2012 |archive-date=January 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124023846/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/jan/20/51-measures-proposed-repeal-not-law-criminalizing-/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news|title=Kansas governor plans to seek repeal of some regulations, laws|url=http://www.kansas.com/2012/01/20/2182945/kansas-governor-plans-to-seek.html|access-date=February 19, 2012|newspaper=The Wichita Eagle|agency=Associated Press|date=January 20, 2012|archive-date=February 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222164041/http://www.kansas.com/2012/01/20/2182945/kansas-governor-plans-to-seek.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last=Sulzberger|first=A. G.|title=Kansas Law on Sodomy Stays on Books Despite a Cull|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/21/us/sodomy-law-remains-official-in-kansas.html|access-date=January 20, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 14, 2012|archive-date=January 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122074721/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/21/us/sodomy-law-remains-official-in-kansas.html|url-status=live}} Gay rights advocates had asked his administration to recommend its repeal because the law has been unenforceable since the Supreme Court's Lawrence v. Texas decision in 2003.{{cite news|last=Rothschild|first=Scott|title=Kansas Equality Coalition seeks repeal of homosexual sex law|url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/nov/27/kansas-equality-coalition-seeks-repeal-homosexual-/|access-date=February 19, 2012|newspaper=The Lawrence Journal-World|date=November 27, 2011|archive-date=January 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130111719/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/nov/27/kansas-equality-coalition-seeks-repeal-homosexual-/|url-status=live}}

In February 2012, the Brownback administration supported a religious freedom bill that would have stopped cities, school districts, universities, and executive agencies from having nondiscrimination laws or policies that covered sexual orientation or gender identity.{{cite news|last=Carpenter|first=Tim|title=Religious freedom bill evokes contrary views|url=http://cjonline.com/news/2012-02-14/religious-freedom-bill-evokes-contrary-views|access-date=February 19, 2012|newspaper=The Topeka Capital-Journal|date=February 14, 2012|archive-date=February 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218032859/http://cjonline.com/news/2012-02-14/religious-freedom-bill-evokes-contrary-views|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Rothschild|first=Scott|title=Brownback administration supports bill that critics say could invalidate Lawrence anti-discrimination ordinance|url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/feb/14/brownback-administration-supports-bill-critics-say/|access-date=February 19, 2012|newspaper=The Lawrence Journal-World|date=February 14, 2012|archive-date=February 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218030954/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/feb/14/brownback-administration-supports-bill-critics-say/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Brownlee|first=Phillip|title=Religious-liberty bill really about discrimination|url=http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2012/02/religious-liberty-bill-really-about-discrimination/|work=WE Blog|access-date=February 19, 2012|publisher=The Wichita Eagle|date=February 13, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723032342/http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2012/02/religious-liberty-bill-really-about-discrimination/|archive-date=July 23, 2012}}

In 2013, after oral arguments in United States v. Windsor, the U.S. Supreme Court case striking down part of the Defense of Marriage Act, Brownback publicly reaffirmed his opposition to same-sex marriage.{{cite news |last=Hanna |first=John |title=Brownback reaffirms opposition to gay marriage |newspaper=The Topeka Capital-Journal |agency=Associated Press |date=March 29, 2013 |url=http://cjonline.com/news/2013-03-29/brownback-reaffirms-opposition-gay-marriage |access-date=July 15, 2013 |archive-date=October 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020102037/http://cjonline.com/news/2013-03-29/brownback-reaffirms-opposition-gay-marriage |url-status=live }}

In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions to review several federal appellate decisions overturning state bans on same-sex marriage.{{cite news|last=Liptak|first=Adam|title=Supreme Court Hands Gay Marriage a Tacit Victory|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/us/denying-review-justices-clear-way-for-gay-marriage-in-5-states.html|access-date=October 6, 2014|work=The New York Times|date=October 6, 2014|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006193126/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/us/denying-review-justices-clear-way-for-gay-marriage-in-5-states.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Barnes |first=Robert |title=Supreme Court declines to review same-sex marriage cases |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-declines-to-review-same-sex-marriage-cases/2014/10/06/ee822848-4d5e-11e4-babe-e91da079cb8a_story.html |access-date=October 6, 2014 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 6, 2014 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006144937/http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-declines-to-review-same-sex-marriage-cases/2014/10/06/ee822848-4d5e-11e4-babe-e91da079cb8a_story.html |url-status=live }} The court's actions favored repeal of Kansas's ban on same-sex marriage because two of the appeals (Kitchen v. Herbert and Bishop v. Oklahoma) originated in the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which includes Kansas. In response, Brownback defended Kansas's same-sex marriage ban as being supported by a majority of Kansas voters and criticized "activist judges" for "overruling" the people of Kansas.{{cite news|last=Van Dyke|first=Aly|title=Gay couple denied marriage license in Shawnee County, could become plaintiffs|url=http://cjonline.com/news/2014-10-06/gay-couple-denied-marriage-license-shawnee-county-could-become-plaintiffs|access-date=October 6, 2014|work=The Topeka Capital-Journal|date=October 6, 2014|archive-date=October 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009070139/http://cjonline.com/news/2014-10-06/gay-couple-denied-marriage-license-shawnee-county-could-become-plaintiffs|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Hancock|first=Peter|title=Rulings give Kansas couples hope for same-sex marriages|url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/oct/06/same-sex-marriage-rulings-may-apply-kansas/|access-date=October 6, 2014|publisher=The Lawrence Journal-World|date=October 6, 2014|archive-date=October 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008050158/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/oct/06/same-sex-marriage-rulings-may-apply-kansas/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Hanna|first=John|title=Brownback: Kansas should defend gay marriage ban|url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/oct/07/brownback-kansas-should-defend-gay-marriage-ban/|access-date=October 7, 2014|newspaper=The Lawrence Journal-World|agency=Associated Press|date=October 7, 2014|archive-date=October 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008134733/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/oct/07/brownback-kansas-should-defend-gay-marriage-ban/|url-status=live}}

On February 10, 2015, Brownback issued an executive order rescinding protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender state workers that was put into place by then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius eight years previously.{{cite news|last=Lowry|first=Bryan|title=Brownback rescinds protected-class status for LGBT state workers in Kansas|url=http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article9694028.html|access-date=February 10, 2015|newspaper=The Kansas City Star|date=February 10, 2015|archive-date=February 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211004828/http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article9694028.html|url-status=live}} The ACLU generally characterized his actions as being "religious freedom to discriminate."

Brownback supports adult stem cell research and cord blood stem cells. Brownback appeared with three children adopted from in vitro fertilization clinics to coincide with a Senate debate over the Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2005{{cite web |url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.681.IS: |title=Bill Text – 109th Congress (2005–2006) – THOMAS (Library of Congress) |publisher=Thomas.loc.gov |date=March 17, 2005 |access-date=August 23, 2010 |archive-date=October 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018153249/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.681.IS: |url-status=dead }}{{better source needed|date=July 2023}} to show his support for the bill and adult stem cell research.

On June 15, 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 sponsored by Brownback, a former broadcaster himself. The new law stiffened the penalties for each violation of the Act. The Federal Communications Commission will be able to impose fines in the amount of $325,000 for each violation by each station that violates decency standards. The legislation raised the fine by tenfold.Combs, Roberta. [http://www.cc.org/content.cfm?id=338 Christian Coalition of America], Washington Weekly Review, June 17, 2006 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061207014653/http://www.cc.org/content.cfm?id=338 |date=December 7, 2006 }}{{cite web |title=Bill Number S. 193 |work=Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate) from Congressional THOMAS DB |url=http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bill.xc?billnum=S.193&congress=109 |access-date=April 11, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050916182346/http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bill.xc?billnum=S.193&congress=109 |archive-date=September 16, 2005 }}{{better source needed|date=July 2023}}

On September 3, 1997, Meredith O'Rourke, an employee of Kansas firm Triad Management Services, was deposed by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs regarding her activities and observations while providing services for the company relative to fund raising and advertising for Brownback. The deposition claims that Triad circumvented existing campaign finance laws by channeling donations through Triad, and also bypassed the campaign law with Triad running 'issue ads' during Brownback's first campaign for the Senate.{{cite web|url=http://www.rainbowtel.net/~bryants/abbmodep_all_scans.htm|title=Anybody But Brownback: The Triad/O'Rourke Deposition, full text|website=www.rainbowtel.net|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=January 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124071012/http://www.rainbowtel.net/~bryants/abbmodep_all_scans.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/cf121297.htm |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 31, 1999 |access-date=May 23, 2010 |title=Funds Consultant Helped Senator Behind Scenes |archive-date=August 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830013513/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/cf121297.htm |url-status=live }}

Brownback has said he does not believe there is an inherent right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution. He has, however, expressed disapproval of George W. Bush's assertions on the legality of the NSA wiretapping program.The Washington Post: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/08/AR2006020801989.html David S. Broder: Bucking Bush on Spying] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215122515/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/08/AR2006020801989.html |date=December 15, 2018 }}, February 9, 2006

Brownback introduced into the Senate a resolution (Senate Joint Resolution 4) calling for the United States to apologize for past mistreatment of Native Americans.{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.j.res.00004:|title=THOMAS, Library of Congress entry on Senate Joint Resolution 4|access-date=January 23, 2018|archive-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018153249/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.j.res.00004:|url-status=dead}}[http://brownback.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=274116 Brownback Applauds Committee Passage of Native American Apology Resolution]. Press release, May 11, 2007 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070530230633/http://brownback.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=274116 |date=May 30, 2007 }}[http://www.indian.senate.gov/news/pressreleases/pr-10-07-09.cfm Brownback, Dorgan Applaud Senate Passage of Native American Apology Resolution] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915123515/http://www.indian.senate.gov/news/pressreleases/pr-10-07-09.cfm |date=September 15, 2012 }} Press release, October 7, 2009

File:Kansas Governor Sam Brownback makes remarks at a ground breaking ceremony at McConnell Air Force Base.jpg.]]

Brownback was responsible for introducing the Senate's version of a bill that would successfully establish the National Museum of African American History and Culture.The Washington Post:https://web.archive.org/web/20170216134746/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/for-rep-john-lewis-african-american-museum-was-a-recurring-dream/2016/06/28/fc05c81c-34b6-11e6-95c0-2a6873031302_story.html,

Brownback has advocated for closer relations between the United States and Armenia, citing the need to defend the country from aggression by Azerbaijan.{{Cite web |last=Brownback |first=Sam |date=September 25, 2023 |title=120,000 Reasons U.S. Must Act to Save Christians in Armenia |url=https://dcjournal.com/120000-reasons-u-s-must-act-to-save-christians-in-armenia/ |access-date=April 26, 2024 |website=DC Journal |publisher=InsideSources}} In a 2023 Washington Times opinion piece, the former ambassador called for Israel to also support Armenia due to the two nations' shared backgrounds as Judeo-Christian nations populated by ethnic groups that have been the victims of genocides despite geopolitical tensions.{{Cite news |last=Brownback |first=Sam |date=October 2, 2023 |title=Armenia and Israel, the Middle East's last Judeo-Christian nations |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/oct/2/armenia-and-israel-middle-easts-last-judeo-christi/ |access-date=April 26, 2024 |work=The Washington Times}} On April 24, 2024, Brownback called for sanctions against Azerbaijan and that the United States "can’t let a repeat of 1915 happen again on our watch" at an Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day rally in front of the White House.{{Cite web |last=ANCA |date=2024-04-25 |title=Amb. Brownback calls on Biden administration to save Armenia from imminent Turkish invasion |url=https://armenianweekly.com/2024/04/25/amb-brownback-calls-on-biden-administration-to-save-armenia-from-imminent-turkish-invasion/ |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=The Armenian Weekly |language=en-US}}

Throughout his Senate career, Brownback's principal campaign donors were the politically influential libertarian Koch brothers of Kansas, and their enterprises, including Kansas-based Koch Industries—and Brownback was one of the candidates most-heavily funded by the Kochs' campaign donations. Over the course of his political career, they donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaigns.

Brownback's signature tax and regulatory policies coincide tightly with the Kochs' position on those issues. It was crafted with the assistance of the Koch-backed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Brownback's first Budget Director, Steve Anderson. Anderson was a former Koch employee who previously worked at the Kochs' principal political organization, the libertarian think-tank Americans for Prosperity (AFP), developing a "model budget" for Kansas, until his appointment as Brownback's first budget director. Anderson remained Brownback's budget director for three years, before returning to a Koch-linked think tank, the Kansas Policy Institute.Rothschild, Scott, [http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2013/sep/06/brownbacks-former-budget-director-anderson-will-co/ "Brownback's former budget director, Anderson, will work on state fiscal policy with KPI,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150902070537/http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2013/sep/06/brownbacks-former-budget-director-anderson-will-co/ |date=September 2, 2015 }} September 6, 2013, Lawrence Journal-World retrieved October 5, 2017Associated Press, [http://cjonline.com/news-legislature-state/2013-09-07/former-kansas-budget-director-work-kansas-policy-institute "Former Kansas Budget Director to work for Kansas Policy Institute,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006113032/http://cjonline.com/news-legislature-state/2013-09-07/former-kansas-budget-director-work-kansas-policy-institute |date=October 6, 2017 }} September 13, 2013, Topeka Capital-Journal; also at ["Brownback's Ex Budget Director To Work For Kansas Policy Institute,"], September 9, 2013, KMUW-FM, Wichita State University; retrieved October 5, 2017

Brownback also hired the wife of a Koch-enterprise executive as his spokesperson.

Brownback, however, has denied that the Kochs have an undue influence in Kansas government, and analysts have noted key differences between Brownback and the Kochs in two of Brownback's main gubernatorial policy areas:

• social issues: (on abortion, Brownback is pro-life, the Kochs pro-choice; Brownback opposes various LGBT rights, the libertarian Kochs accept them); and
• renewable energy standards for Kansas, which promote renewable energy (supported by Brownback; opposed by the Kochs, whose chief business is the fossil-fuel industry).

File:Sam and Mary Brownback (cropped).jpg

Brownback is married to the former Mary Stauffer, whose family owned and operated Stauffer Communications until its sale in 1995.The New York Times Archives, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE3DA1438F935A25755C0A963958260 "Media Concern Adds 12 Stauffer Papers"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013201221/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE3DA1438F935A25755C0A963958260 |date=October 13, 2007 }}, Published: June 16, 1995 They have five children: Abby, Andy, Elizabeth, Mark, and Jenna. Two of their children are adopted.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100826190358/http://www.brownback.com/]}} A former evangelical Christian, Brownback converted to Catholicism in 2002 and is associated with the conservative denominational organization, Opus Dei.[http://kcur.org/post/god-politics-and-sam-brownbacks-kansas#stream/0 God, Politics And Sam Brownback's Kansas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223042659/http://kcur.org/post/god-politics-and-sam-brownbacks-kansas#stream/0 |date=December 23, 2017 }}, KCUR, Laura Zeigler, June 21, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2017. In 2017, Brownback stated that he sometimes attends an evangelical church with his family.{{cite news|title=America's point-man on religious liberty is contentious|url=http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2017/07/freedom-s-many-meanings|access-date=July 31, 2017|newspaper=The Economist|date=July 30, 2017|archive-date=July 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731032310/http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2017/07/freedom-s-many-meanings|url-status=live}}

!|Year

!

!|Democratic

!|Votes

!|Pct

!

!|Republican

!|Votes

!|Pct

!

!|Overall turnout

|-

|1994

|

|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |John W. Carlin

|{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |71,025

|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |34.4%

|

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |Sam Brownback

|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |135,725

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |65.6%

|

| style="text-align:right;"|206,750

{{s-end}}

{{Refbegin}}

{{Refend}}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em; font-size:95%;"

|+1996 United States Senate special election in Kansas: Republican primary results

!|Year

!

!|Incumbent

!|Votes

!|Pct

!

!|Challenger

!|Votes

!|Pct

!

!|Challenger

!|Votes

!|Pct

!

!|Overall turnout

|-

|1996

|

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |Sheila Frahm (incumbent)

|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |142,487

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |41.6%

|

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |Sam Brownback

|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |187,914

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |54.8%

|

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |Christina Campbell-Cline

|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |12,378

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |3.6%

|

| style="text-align:right;"|342,779

{{s-end}}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em; font-size:95%;"

|+1996 United States Senate special election in Kansas: general election results

!|Year

!

!|Democratic

!|Votes

!|Pct

!

!|Republican

!|Votes

!|Pct

!

!|Reform

!|Votes

!|Pct

!

!|Overall turnout

|-

|1996

|

|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |Jill Docking

|{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |461,344

|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |43.3%

|

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |Sam Brownback

|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |574,021

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |53.9%

|

|{{Party shading/ReformUSA}} |Donald R. Klaassen

|{{Party shading/ReformUSA}} align="right" |29,351

|{{Party shading/ReformUSA}} |2.8%

|

| style="text-align:right;"|1,064,716

{{s-end}}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em; font-size:95%;"

|+ U.S. Senate elections in Kansas (Class III): results 1998–2004

!|Year

!

!|Democratic

!|Votes

!|Pct

!

!|Republican

!|Votes

!|Pct

!

!|Libertarian

!|Votes

!|Pct

!

!|Reform

!|Votes

!|Pct

!

!|Overall turnout

|-

|1998

|

|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|Paul Feleciano}}

|{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |229,718

|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |31.6%

|

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |Sam Brownback (incumbent)

|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |474,639

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |65.3%

|

|{{Party shading/Libertarian}} |Tom Oyler

|{{Party shading/Libertarian}} align="right" |11,545

|{{Party shading/Libertarian}} align="right" |1.6%

|

|{{Party shading/ReformUSA}} |Alvin Bauman

|{{Party shading/ReformUSA}} align="right" |11,334

|{{Party shading/ReformUSA}} align="right" |1.6%

|

| style="text-align:right;"|727,236

|-

|2004

|

|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |Lee Jones

|{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |310,337

|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |27.5%

|

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |Sam Brownback (incumbent)

|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |780,863

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |69.2%

|

|{{Party shading/Libertarian}} |{{nowrap|Steven A.}} Rosile

|{{Party shading/Libertarian}} align="right" |21,842

|{{Party shading/Libertarian}} align="right" |1.9%

|

|{{Party shading/ReformUSA}} |George Cook

|{{Party shading/ReformUSA}} align="right" |15,980

|{{Party shading/ReformUSA}} align="right" |1.4%

|

| style="text-align:right;"|1,129,022

{{s-end}}

{{Election box begin no change

| title = 2010 Kansas gubernatorial election{{cite web|url=http://www.kssos.org/ent/kssos_ent.html#0040|title=Kansas 2010 General Election November 2, 2010 Unofficial Results|work=Kansas Secretary of State|date=November 2, 2010|access-date=November 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803122206/http://www.kssos.org/ent/kssos_ent.html#0040|archive-date=August 3, 2016|url-status=dead}}

}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Sam Brownback – Jeff Colyer

| party = Republican Party (United States)

| votes = 530,760

| percentage = 63.28

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Tom Holland – Kelly Kultala

| party = Democratic Party (United States)

| votes = 270,166

| percentage = 32.21

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Andrew Gray – Stacey Davis

| party = Libertarian Party (United States)

| votes = 22,460

| percentage = 2.68

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| candidate = Ken Cannon – Dan Faubion

| party = Reform Party (United States)

| votes = 15,397

| percentage = 1.84

}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes = 838,790

| percentage = 100.0

}}

{{Election box gain with party link no change

| winner = Republican Party (United States)

| loser = Democratic Party (United States)

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change

|title=2014 Kansas gubernatorial election{{cite web|title=Kansas Secretary of State 2014 General Election Official Vote Totals|url=http://www.kssos.org/elections/14elec/2014%20General%20Election%20Official%20Results.pdf|access-date=December 14, 2014|archive-date=December 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215065550/http://www.kssos.org/elections/14elec/2014%20General%20Election%20Official%20Results.pdf|url-status=live}}

}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

|candidate = Sam Brownback (incumbent) – Jeff Colyer (incumbent)

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|votes = 433,196

|percentage = 49.82

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

|candidate = Paul Davis – Jill Docking

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|votes = 401,100

|percentage = 46.13

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

|candidate = Keen A. Umbehr – Josh Umbehr

|party = Libertarian Party (United States)

|votes = 35,206

|percentage = 4.05

}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes = 869,502

| percentage = 100.00

}}{{Election box end}}

• United States immigration debate
• How Democracy Works Now: Twelve Stories

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180124055833/https://governor.kansas.gov/ Governor Sam Brownback] official government website (archived)
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20101028214402/http://www.brownback.com/ Sam Brownback for Governor]}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927020125/http://www.gedview.com/brownback/ Genealogy of Sam Brownback]
• {{C-SPAN|5197}}

:{{CongLinks|congbio=B000953|fec=S6KS00122}}

:* [https://archive.today/20121209091212/http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/can_detail/P80003288/ Sam Brownback's presidential campaign finance reports and data] at the FEC

:* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070612221202/http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/summary.asp?id=N00005244&cycle=2008 Sam Brownbeck's presidential campaign contributions]

• [http://www.ontheissues.org/Power_To_Purpose.htm Review of Brownback's book by OnTheIssues.org]
• [https://www.citizensforethics.org/press-release/ethics-complaint-against-sam-brownback-for-misleading-fundraising/ Ethics complaint against Sam Brownback] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223215903/https://www.citizensforethics.org/press-release/ethics-complaint-against-sam-brownback-for-misleading-fundraising/ |date=December 23, 2017 }}
• [https://cdm16884.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/search/searchterm/G1-Brownback-Collection/field/all/mode/all/conn/all/order/dated/ad/asc Publications concerning Kansas Governor Brownback's administration available via the KGI Online Library]

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