Tom Sawyer (Kansas politician)

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Tom Sawyer (born April 15, 1958) is an American politician from the state of Kansas. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Born in Wichita, Kansas, Sawyer was first elected to the Kansas House of Represenatives in 1987. He became the party's House Leader, and through his 12-year legislative career served as both Majority Leader and Minority Leader.

In 1998 Sawyer won his party's nomination as candidate for governor, easily beating his next closest rival, the evangelical preacher Fred Phelps. In the general election, Sawyer lost in one of the largest landslides in state history, and only managed to win 23% of the popular vote against incumbent Republican governor Bill Graves.

After a brief absence from politics Sawyer was once again elected to the state legislature in 2002, and was re-elected in 2004.