Tim Van Zandt (born September 17, 1963) is a nurse, former accountant and former politician from the U.S. state of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, he served eight years in the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

representing

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

and became the first openly gay member ever elected to the

Missouri General Assembly The Missouri General Assembly is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Missouri Senate, Senate and a 163-member Missouri House of Represen ...

. Born in

Lexington, Missouri Lexington is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,726 at the 2010 census. Lexington is in western Missouri, within the Kansas City metropolitan area, approximately east of Kansas C ...

, he graduated from the

University of Central Missouri The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri, United States. In 2024, enrollment was 13,734 students from 48 states and 52 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, incl ...

with a B.S.E. in Accounting/Political Science and from the Bloch School at the

University of Missouri–Kansas City The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC or Kansas City) is a Public university, public research university in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. UMKC is part of the University of Missouri System and has a UMKC School of Medicine, medic ...

with an M.P.A. in Health Care Administration. He is now the Vice President for Government and Community Relations for

Saint Luke's Health System Saint Luke's Health System is an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church non-profit hospital network in the bi-state Kansas City metro area, located in northeast Kansas and northwest Missouri. With over 12,000 local employees, it is t ...

. He was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 1994. In a reliably Democratic district, he won the primary election held on August 2, 1994 with over 80% of the vote. He then faced only a

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

opponent in the general election, winning easily and taking office the following January. He was subsequently re-elected in 1996, 1998, and in 2000.

Term limit A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...

s prevented him from seeking re-election in 2002. In the legislature, Van Zandt chaired the House Tobacco Settlement Committee and vice-chaired the House Committees on Urban Affairs, and Ways and Means. Van Zandt served as a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

s in 1992, 1996 and 2000. He served on the Rules Committee in 1992 and 2000, and the Platform Committee in 1996. An openly gay man, Van Zandt won the election with the support of the

Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund LGBTQ+ Victory Fund (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and LGBTQ Victory Fund), commonly shortened to Victory Fund, is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of out LGBTQ+ public officials in the United ...

, which channeled thousands of dollars into his campaign. In the 2009–10 biennium, there are three openly gay members of the Missouri General Assembly: Sen. Jolie Justus (D–Kansas City), Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford (D–

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

) and Rep. Mike Colona (D–St. Louis).

References

1963 births Living people American politicians of Dutch descent People from Lexington, Missouri American gay politicians LGBTQ state legislators in Missouri Gay Christians Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Politicians from Kansas City, Missouri 20th-century members of the Missouri General Assembly 21st-century members of the Missouri General Assembly {{Missouri-MORepresentative-stub