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Jason Kander

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Jason David Kander (born May 4, 1981) is an American attorney, author, veteran, and politician. A Democrat, he served as the 39th secretary of state of Missouri from 2013 to 2017. He had previously served as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives from 2009 to 2013. Before entering politics, he was an intelligence officer in the Army National Guard, achieving the rank of captain.

He was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate for Missouri in 2016, narrowly losing the election to Republican incumbent Roy Blunt. After the Senate election, Kander founded an organization called Let America Vote, a campaign dedicated to ending voter suppression. He was declared a candidate in the 2019 Kansas City mayoral election but dropped out on October 2, 2018, after revealing that he suffered from PTSD and depression.

Kander serves as president of national expansion at VCP (Veterans Community Project), a non-profit organization serving homeless and at-risk veterans with tiny homes, wrap-around support services, and emergency assistance.

Kander was born on May 4, 1981, in Overland Park, Kansas, the son of Janet (née Secor), a juvenile probation officer, and Steve Kander, a police officer who later ran a small business. His father is Jewish, and Kander was brought up in a Jewish household that he describes as "Reform but not very observant." 

He was raised in Shawnee, Kansas, with his younger brother, Jeff, and several troubled children that his parents fostered. He graduated from Bishop Miege High School in 1999, where he played baseball and was a member of the debate team. He attended American University in Washington, DC, where he studied political science.

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