# Bill Graves Republican **governor of Kansas from 1995 to 2003**, previously Kansas secretary of state, and afterward president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations. He is a representative figure of the **moderate, business-aligned Kansas Republicanism** that the state party's conservative wing displaced over the following two decades. His September 2026 endorsement of a Democrat for the Senate is the latest step in a long drift away from the party he once led. ## Career Born in 1953 in Salina, Graves grew up in the family trucking business. He was elected secretary of state in 1986 and served two terms (1987–1995). In 1994 he won the governorship by defeating Democratic Rep. Jim Slattery, and he was re-elected in 1998. Term-limited, he was succeeded in 2003 by Democrat Kathleen Sebelius. He chaired the Midwestern Governors Association in 1997. He then spent about thirteen years running the American Trucking Associations, the industry's main Washington lobby, retiring in July 2016. The trade-and-freight perspective of that job is visible in his 2026 complaints about tariffs and farm costs. ## Crossing the line Graves's break with his party predates Trump's second term. He endorsed Democrat [[Laura Kelly]] for governor in **2018**, when she beat Republican [[Kris Kobach]], and again in **2022**, when she beat Derek Schmidt. In mid-September 2026 he **endorsed Democrat [[Adam Hamilton]]** over incumbent Republican senator **[[Roger Marshall]]** in [[KS-Sen-2026]], appearing in a video for Hamilton and telling CNN he does not recognize the current Republican Party. > [!quote] Bill Graves, September 2026 > "For the last six years, Senator Roger Marshall has turned his back on Kansas." Two weeks later a second former Republican governor, [[Mike Hayden]], followed him. Graves is also one of several prominent Republicans, with [[Marc Racicot]] in Montana and [[Karl Rove]] in Texas, who broke publicly for Democratic candidates in September 2026. Endorsements from retired moderates rarely move a party's base; their value is permission for the split-ticket voter, which is why the Hamilton campaign put Graves on camera. ## See Also - [[KS-Sen-2026]] · [[Adam Hamilton]] · [[Roger Marshall]] · [[Mike Hayden]] - [[Laura Kelly]] · [[Kris Kobach]] · [[Sam Brownback]] · [[Bob Dole]] - [[Marc Racicot]] · [[Karl Rove]]