Deena Horst (born February 14, 1944) is a Republican former member of the

Kansas House of Representatives The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craftin ...

, representing the 69th district. She served from 1995 until 2010, when she was defeated in a primary by Tom Arpke, who would win the seat in the general election. Horst currently serves on the Kansas

Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

, representing district 6, after defeating Salina Democrat Carol Viar in the 2012 general election. She has also served as Precinct Committee Woman for the Saline County Kansas Republican Party, and has previously worked as secretary for the Saline County Republican Party Central Committee. A teacher by profession, she has been an Art Teacher/Department Chair with

Unified School District A unified school district (in the states of Arizona, California, Kansas and Oregon) or unit school district (in Illinois), in the United States of America, is a school district that generally includes and operates both primary schools (kindergarte ...

305, South Middle School, Salina, Kansas since 1968. Horst has a BSE from

Kansas State Teachers College Emporia State University (Emporia State or ESU) is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. Em ...

, an MA from

Emporia State University Emporia State University (Emporia State or ESU) is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. E ...

, and is currently working towards her EdD at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

Issue positions

On July 22, 2020, Horst serving as Kansas State Board of Education District 6 member cast a vote that blocked Governor

Laura Kelly Laura Jeanne Kelly (born January 24, 1950)"Laura Kelly,"
''Kansapedia,'' Kansas H ...

's order, precipitated by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, to keep public schools closed until after Labor Day, at such later time as state health authorities believed primary and secondary schools could safely resume classroom education. The tied vote effectively overrode the governor's order. It also drew Horst a primary write-in opponent shortly in a race where she had not face a primary or general election candidate.

Committee membership

* Education (Vice-chair) * Higher Education * Elections * Aging and Long Term Care * Joint Committee on Arts and Cultural Resources (chair)

Major donors

Horst raised $21,585 in 2010. The top five donors to Horst's 2008 campaign: *1. Saline County Republican Central Cmte $1,005 *2. Kansas Contractors Assoc. $1,000 *3. Kansas Realtors Assoc. $900 *4. Kansas Optometric Assoc. $750 *5. Kansas Assoc of Insurance Agents $600 Horst raised $11,031 in 2010.The top five donors to Horst's 2010 campaign: *1. Kansas Farm Bureau $500 *2. Kansas Optometric Association $500 *3. Graves, Hl $500 *4. Blue Beacon Intnl $500 *5. Kansas Livestock Association $500 Horst raised $8,809 in 2012. The top five donors to Horst's 2012 campaign:Follow the Money - 2012 Campaign Contributions
/ref> *1. Horst, Deena $3,000 *2. Horst, Deena L. $3,000 *3. Graves, Helen $500 *4. Geary County Republican Central Cmte $250 *5. Blue Beacon International $250

Issue positions

Committee membership

Major donors

See also

References

External links