Tim Huelskamp

Pioneered by his grandparents Martin and Clara in 1926, the farm operation includes raising corn, cattle, wheat, milo, and soybeans.

He attended elementary and high school in Fowler, where he was a Farm Bureau Youth Leader, a member of St. Anthony's Parish, and active in both 4-H and Future Farmers of America.

Huelskamp thus became only the second person to represent the "Big First" since it assumed its current configuration in 1963 to not go on to represent Kansas in the United States Senate.

Marshall himself would serve two terms in the 1st before himself going on to the Senate.

Timothy Alan Huelskamp (born November 11, 1968) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for KS's 1st congressional district from 2011 to 2017.

Huelskamp was born on November 11, 1968, and raised on the Huelskamp family farm in Fowler, south of Dodge City.

After attending seminary for two years in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Huelskamp continued his education at the College of Santa Fe (now Santa Fe University of Art and Design) and received his B.A. in social science education in 1991.

He received his Ph.D. in political science (concentrating in agricultural policy) from American University in 1995.

In 1996, Huelskamp challenged Republican incumbent state senator Marian Reynolds in the primary and won by a landslide margin, taking 62 percent of the vote to Reynolds's 38 percent.

Prior to entering Congress, he represented the 38th district of the Kansas Senate from 1997 until 2011.

The youngest state senator in 20 years, he then won re-election by wide margins in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

Huelskamp served on the following legislative committees:

Huelskamp previously served on the state's Ways and Means Committee but was removed due to clashes with colleagues and with the Committee's leadership.

Seven-term Congressman Jerry Moran gave up the 1st district to make a successful run for the United States Senate seat being vacated by the popular fourteen-year incumbent Republican Sam Brownback, who was running for governor that year.

This touched off a free-for-all in the Republican primary—the real contest in this heavily Republican district.

Huelskamp finished first in the six-candidate primary field with 34.8 percent of the vote, all but assuring that he would be the district's next representative.

Huelskamp ran against Democratic nominee Alan Jilka and Libertarian nominee Jack W. Warner.

Huelskamp was endorsed by the Club for Growth, Mike Huckabee, Conservative Leadership PAC, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, Ron Paul and Ken Blackwell.

As expected, Huelskamp won the seat in a rout, taking 73 percent of the vote.

He instantly became a statewide political figure due to the vast size of the 1st.

The district is often called "the Big First" because it covers more than half the state's landmass and two time zones.

Huelskamp ran unopposed in the general election.

Unlike the previous election, Huelskamp was challenged by a Republican, Alan LaPolice, in the primary.

Huelskamp, a member of the Republican Party, was rated the least bipartisan member of the House during the 114th Congress by The Lugar Center - McCourt School of Public Policy Bipartisan Index.

House leadership had removed Huelskamp from the House Agriculture Committee in 2012; farm groups such as Kansas Farm Bureau, an affiliate of the American Farm Bureau Federation, Kansas Livestock Association, an affiliate of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, National Association of Wheat Growers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsed Marshall, as many Republican voters saw it as a crucial issue in a farm state.

In early 2012, Huelskamp introduced legislation that would ensure military chaplains could not be "directed, ordered or required to perform any duty, rite, ritual, ceremony, service or function that is contrary to the conscience, moral principles or religious beliefs of the chaplain, or contrary to the moral principles or religious beliefs of the chaplain's faith group."

The language appeared to be related to permitting same-sex marriages on military bases in states where such unions are permitted.

On February 16, 2012, during a contentious three-hour House Budget Committee hearing with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Huelskamp warned of what he considered to be the looming threat of an economic crisis similar to the one then taking place in Europe.

Huelskamp accused Geithner and the entire Obama administration of failing to correct the U.S.'s debt crisis, which he believed would lead the country down the same path.

Geithner replied that Huelskamp had an "adolescent perspective on how to think about economic policy."

Moreover, two Democrats ran for the primary Jim Sherow, a Kansas State University professor, and Bryan Whitney, a 2013 Wichita State University grad.

Both LaPolice and Sherow critiqued Huelskamp for his failure to work with other Members of Congress and voting against Farm Bill.

Huelskamp narrowly defeated LaPolice in the Republican Primary with only 55% of the vote.

Huelskamp failed to receive the endorsement of the Farm Bureau and the Kansas Livestock Association.

Huelskamp went on to win the general election with 68% of the vote.

On August 2, Huelskamp was defeated in the Republican primary by Roger Marshall, an obstetrician from Great Bend, by 58% to 42%.

Marshall's supporters argued Huelskamp's combativeness hurt the district.

After the United States Supreme Court declared the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional on June 26, 2013, Huelskamp immediately announced that he would introduce a constitutional amendment to restore the Defense of Marriage Act.

He was succeeded by Roger Marshall, who defeated him in the 2016 Republican primary.

Known for his strong social conservatism, Huelskamp was the chairman of the House Tea Party Caucus from February 2015 until the end of his term on January 3, 2017.