# David Haley

David B. Haley (born October 29, 1958) is a Democratic member of the Kansas Senate, representing the 4th district (Kansas City, Kansas / eastern Wyandotte County) since 2001. From 1995 to 2001, he was a Kansas Representative. He ran unsuccessfully for Kansas Secretary of State in 2002 and 2006.
Haley (by 2023), became the longest-serving member currently in the Kansas Senate. As of February, 2025, he remains in office.
He is the son of politician George W. Haley and nephew of Pulitzer Prize winner Alex Haley.

## Early life and education

Hayley was raised in Wyandotte County, Kansas (part of metropolitan Kansas City, Kansas). Haley's father, George W. Haley, was one of Kansas' first African-American state legislators -- the first African-American ever elected to the Kansas Senate -- and in the 1990s and early 2000s, the U.S. Ambassador to The Gambia. His his mother, Doris, was a schoolteacher. Hayley's uncle was Pulitzer Prize winner, Alex Haley (author of the influential African-American historical novel Roots and its associated historic TV mini-series, and co-author of The Autobiography of Malcolm X).
The younger Haley attended his father's alma mater, Morehouse College in Atlanta. He later graduated from Howard University law school in Washington, D.C., before returning to Wyandotte County.

## Political career

Haley first ran for a seat in the Kansas House of Representatives in 1994. When he won the primary election for that seat, the incumbent resigned and Haley was appointed to fill out his predecessor's term. Haley won the general election for that seat, and continued in the House until elected to the Senate in 2001.
Haley represents the 4th Kansas Senate District. Both his House and Senate districts have been in demographically-diverse (largely African-American) Wyandotte County, in the metropolitan Kansas City area. The district is one of one of state's the poorest districts (16% of the county's residents live in poverty), and one of the most diverse -- racially and ethnically -- in Kansas. Residents are 43% Black, 37% white, and about 24% Hispanic.
In February, 2025, Haley was the subject of intense political attention, when he threatened to become the lone Democrat to vote with Republicans to provide a crucial swing vote to override Governor Laura Kelly's veto of a controversial flat tax bill, which had been passed by the Senate's large Republican majority. Haley explained that, for his low-income district, which had seen little infusion of tax dollars by either Republicans, or by Democrat governors, the bill (which included exemptions for personal income under $6,000) neither hurt nor helped his district. Seen as a power-play, his position on the issue generated great pressure on him from both parties, each side threatening retribution for an opposing vote.

## Issue positions

Haley has advocated for criminal justice reforms (including abolition of the death penalty), the legalization of marijuana, and constantly urged increased investment in eastern Wyandotte County.
Where David Haley stands on some of the issues (according to his website):
* Fiscally conservative
* Stronger penalties for animal cruelty
* Campaign finance reform
See also: Sen. Haley on the issues from Project Vote Smart

## Committee assignments

In 2010, in addition to being a member of the Kansas Sentencing Commission, Haley served on these legislative committees:
* Judiciary
* Public Health and Welfare
* Joint Committee on Children's Issues
* Joint Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice Oversight
* Joint Committee on Health Policy Oversight
* Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations
In the 2025 session, he was assigned to these committees:
* Judiciary
* Local Government
* Transparency and Ethics
* Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations
* 2023 Special Committee on Civil Asset Forfeiture
* Joint Committee on Special Claims Against the State
* 2024 Special Committee on Centralized Pooled Collateral and PMIB Modernization
and was appointed to the:
* Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission
* Alvin Sykes Cold Case DNA Task Force

## Sponsored legislation

In 2010, Haley's proposed legislation included:
* Two bills relating to crime and punishment
* A bill requiring a paper trail for electronic voting
* A bill proposing the President be elected by popular vote
* A bill to abolish the death penalty, which died after a 20-20 tied vote in the Senate in 2010.
In 2025, Haley's proposed legislation included:
* SB140 - Allowing cities, counties or other local units of government to raise the minimum wage by ordinance, resolution or law.
* SB154 - Limiting the amount of fees, taxes and other charges on a utility bill assessed by a board of public utilities.
* SB171 - Creating the veterans first medical cannabis act to regulate the cultivation, distribution, sale, possession and use of medical cannabis.
* SB177 - Declaring Juneteenth National Independence Day to be a legal public holiday, and closing state offices for certain legal public holidays.
* SB178 - Requiring judicial foreclosure tax sales, by public auction, to be held in-person, at a physical location in the county.
* SB179 - Providing that payment of special assessments for years other than the year being redeemed is not required for purposes of partial redemption of homesteads with delinquent property taxes.
* SB182 - Requiring a person convicted of an offense, which resulted in the incapacitation or death of a victim who is the parent or guardian of a minor child, to pay restitution in the form of child support.
* SB183 - Increasing the penalties for criminal discharge of a firearm if another person was present.
* SB186 - Creating the crime of "deprivation of rights under color of law," and providing a civil action for victims.
* SB187 - Providing for payment of interest in civil actions for wrongful conviction, and directing the attorney general to seek damages for the state from any person who knowingly contributed to the wrongful conviction, and prosecute ouster and criminal proceedings as warranted.
* SB211 - Abolishing the death penalty, and creating the crime of "aggravated murder."

## Major donors

The top contributors to Haley's 2008 campaign, according to OpenSecrets:
    Senate Democratic Committee of Kansas, Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, Kansans for Lifesaving Cures, Pipefitters Local Union 533, Deffenbaugh Industries, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee of Kansas, Kansas Contractors Association, Carpenters District Council of Kansas City
His largest donor groups were from energy/natural resources companies and political parties.