A fifth generation Kansas Citian, Jason Kander learned early in life about his family’s ethic of community service. The Kanders shared their home with several boys in need and Jason came to call these other boys his brothers. Today, they are among his closest friends and serve as a reminder that helping others is its own reward.

After graduating with his brothers from Bishop Miege High School, Jason headed to college and law school in Washington, DC. He graduated with honors from American University, where he majored in political science. He married his high school sweetheart, Diana, and together they graduated from Georgetown Law School, returning home to Kansas City the very next day.

A former Political Science Instructor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Jason has debated politics and foreign affairs on local and national radio with some of America’s most notable pundits and advised Members of Congress regarding foreign policy.

Jason enlisted in the Army Reserve after 9/11 and served in an infantry unit before receiving his commission as a Military Intelligence Officer.

In an unclassified evaluation, Jason’s commanders praised his willingness to volunteer for dangerous duty, describing him as an “outstanding leader” whose work saved lives. The U.S. Director of Intelligence in Afghanistan advised the Army to “track this officer’s career closely; he is one of the best.”

After he returned from Afghanistan in 2007, Jason began to think seriously about the human consequences of policies implemented for political reasons and the examples he witnessed overseas. Concluding that this same “politics first” mentality was to blame for many of the challenges facing Missouri, he finalized his decision to run for State Representative.

Just 26 years old when the campaign began, most viewed Jason as a long-shot candidate running against two established opponents in the Democratic primary. His competitors gained the overwhelming majority of the important endorsements in the primary, but he quickly became known to voters for his work ethic and his fresh, personal approach to campaigning. Jason went door-to-door from one end of the 44^th district to the other three times and benefited from the efforts of over two hundred dedicated volunteers.

On August 5th, 2008, the hard work of the Kander campaign paid off when Jason won a surprise landslide victory – receiving 68.4% of the vote in the Democratic primary. The Republican candidate withdrew early from the race, ensuring Jason the honor of representing 36,000 Kansas Citians in the Missouri General Assembly.

Today, Representative Kander is working hard to help Missourians get back to work, hold government accountable, and keep our neighborhoods safe.

Jason has supported several measures to create jobs and grow the economies of Kansas City and the rest of Missouri. He has been particularly forceful in support of job creation policies meant to assist minority and women contractors, as well as returning veterans.

Inspired by his time combating the influence of warlords in Afghanistan, Jason has shown a passion for preventing public corruption in Missouri, as well.

He joined Rep. Tim Flook, R – Liberty, to lead a bipartisan charge for ethics and campaign finance reform that resulted in the first ethics reform bill to pass the Missouri General Assembly in twenty years. While the 2010 bill will crack down on political money laundering, increase transparency, and expand the powers of the Missouri Ethics Commission, it is merely a foundation upon which Jason plans to craft future reforms.

As a member of the Budget Committee, Jason exposed and eliminated a million dollar no bid contract in the Lieutenant Governor’s office. He has received wide praise for his determination to drill deep into the budget to find inefficiencies where funding can be put to better use, such as his widely praised move in 2009 to restore healthcare to low-income children with cancer by cutting fringe benefits given to legislators.

The primary sponsor of “Sam and Lindsey’s law,” he has fought to prevent parental kidnapping and toughen laws against domestic violence.

In his first session, Jason authored and passed a law to protect the parental rights of service members deployed overseas. He later accepted an appointment to the Missouri Veterans Commission, where he is one of nine board members overseeing all programs serving our state’s military veterans.

In addition to his legislative duties, Jason is a trial attorney in a three-person practice (the Barnes Law Firm) in Kansas City. He concentrates in civil justice claims and the protection of workers’ rights, representing individuals and organizations before courts in Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois. He is also an active member of several non-profit boards and professional associations.

Jason transferred from the Army Reserve to the Missouri Army National Guard in 2007. Recently promoted to Captain, he serves as a Senior Platoon Trainer at Fort Leonard Wood, where he prepares new Army officers for leadership in combat. Jason earned national recognition for his service when he was selected as one of ten finalists for the 2010 Army Reserve Junior Officer of the Year Award (the Major General Thurmond Award) by the Reserve Officer Association.

Though Jason’s family has been in Missouri for over a century, Diana Kander came to Kansas City in 1989 as a refugee from the Soviet Union. An attorney, business executive, and community activist, she has been described by Ingram’s Magazine as the “model of enterpreneuerialism in Kansas City.”

The Kanders live in Waldo and attend New Reform Temple. Their hobbies include reading, exercising, and spending time with their two pampered dogs, Shelby and Winston.