Fred A. Kerr (born December 29, 1940) is an American former politician who served in the

Kansas State Senate The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 senators elected from single-member districts, each with a population of at least 60,000 inhabitants. Members ...

from 1977 to 1992. Kerr was born in

Spearville, Kansas Spearville is a city in Ford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 791. History 19th century The land for the townsite of Spearville was deeded by the Santa Fe to the Arkansas Valley Town Compan ...

as a third-generation farmer and rancher. He attended

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

and was involved in civic affairs in

Pratt County Pratt County (standard abbreviation: PR) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and largest city is Pratt. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 9,157. The county was named for Caleb Pratt, a primary p ...

before being elected to the Senate. Kerr was elected to the Senate in 1976, defeating Kansas State House member

Walter Graber Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

by a narrow margin. During his time in the Senate, Kerr chaired the taxation committee and the agriculture committee. He retired from the Senate in 1992, and in 1994 ran for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

; he finished in third place in a six-way race in the Republican

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

, losing to eventual governor

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 Ka ...

. Graves nominated Kerr to the

Kansas Board of Regents The Kansas Board of Regents is a body consisting of nine members that governs six state universities in the U.S. state of Kansas. In addition to these six universities, it also supervises and coordinates nineteen community colleges, five techni ...

in 1999.

References

1940 births Living people Republican Party Kansas state senators 20th-century American legislators People from Pratt County, Kansas Kansas Board of Regents {{Kansas-politician-stub