Bill Graves

William Preston Graves (born January 9, 1953) is an American former politician who was the 43rd governor of Kansas from 1995 until 2003.

Career

Graves was born in Salina, Kansas, to parents who owned a trucking firm. After graduating from Kansas Wesleyan University with a business degree, he worked in human resources. In 1986, he was elected Kansas Secretary of State and in 1991, he was appointed as a representative of state governments to the Competitiveness Policy Council.

He defeated Democratic Congressman Jim Slattery in the Republican sweeping elections of 1994 at the age of 41. In 1997 Graves was the Chairman of the Midwestern Governors Association.

He won re-election in 1998. Graves was barred from running for a third term as governor by Kansas state law, and was succeeded by Democrat Kathleen Sebelius in January 2003. Serving with him as lieutenant governor were Sheila Frahm (1995–1996), whom he appointed to fill Bob Dole's seat in the Senate, and Gary Sherrer (1996–2003).

Following his tenure as governor, he became president of the American Trucking Associations.

In the 2018 race for governor, Graves endorsed Democratic candidate and eventual winner Laura Kelly over Republican Kris Kobach. Four years later, Graves again endorsed Kelly as she won re-election over Republican Derek Schmidt.

Personal life Bill Graves married Linda Richey in 1990, and they have one daughter.