Kenny Hulshof
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's9th district
In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2009
Preceded by	Harold Volkmer
Succeeded by	Blaine Luetkemeyer
Personal details
Born	Kenny Charles Hulshof (1958-05-22)May 22, 1958 (age 67) Sikeston, Missouri, U.S.
Party	Republican
Spouse	Renee Hulshof
Education	University of Missouri, Columbia (BS) University of Mississippi (JD)

Kenny Charles Hulshof^[1] (/ˈhʌlsɒf/; born May 22, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer who representedMissouri's 9th congressional district in theUnited States House of Representatives. He was the unsuccessful nominee of theRepublican Party forGovernor of Missouri in the2008 election.

Hulshof was born inSikeston, Missouri, and is of Dutch, German, and Irish descent. Hulshof attended theUniversity of Missouri and earned hisJ.D. from theUniversity of Mississippi School of Law. Prior to serving in Congress, Hulshof worked in the public defender's office and as a special prosecutor for the Missouri attorney general's office. As a special prosecutor, Hulshof was detailed to capital cases. In 1992, Hulshof sought to be nominated by the Boone County Republican Committee as a replacement for Prosecuting Attorney Joe Moseley, who had won election to a legislative seat and had to resign to take his new post. Hulshof was defeated by Kevin Crane. In 1994, the Ninth District Republican Committee selected Hulshof to replace University of Missouri political science professor Rick Hardy as GOP candidate for Congress.

Despite a late start in the race, Hulshof captured 45% of the vote and nearly beat nine-term incumbent DemocratHarold Volkmer. The district had historically had a character similar toYellow Dog Democrat districts in the South, but Volkmer was thought to be vulnerable after Hardy nearly unseated Volkmer in 1992 even asBill Clinton easily carried the state.

Hulshof immediately began preparing to challenge Volkmer again in 1996. Hulshof had to first win the Republican primary against Harry Eggleston. Hulshof won the primary by 168 out of 38,000 votes cast. During the general election, Volkmer attacked Hulshof as being a puppet ofNewt Gingrich; Hulshof responded that Volkmer voted twenty times to raise taxes in twenty years. Hulshof won the election by a 49%–47% margin, becoming only the third Republican to win it since 1893. He would never face another contest anywhere near that close, and was reelected five more times, never dropping below 59 percent of the vote. Hulshof made known his desire to run forGovernor of Missouri in 2004, but withdrew in favor of then-Secretary of StateMatt Blunt, who won.

Hulshof's voting record in the House wasconservative. Among other issues, he voted againstabortion andsame-sex marriage, while supporting thedeath penalty and thePatriot Act.^[2]

Hulshof isRoman Catholic, and is active in the St. Thomas MoreNewman Center on the campus of his alma mater, theUniversity of Missouri. In 2005, Hulshof joined the all-Congressional band theSecond Amendments, to play for U.S. troops stationed overseas during the period betweenChristmas andNew Year's Eve. Hulshof played the drums.

There had been rumors in Washington and back in Hulshof's district in Missouri that he might leave Congress to become theUniversity of Missouri System president.^[3] Hulshof confirmed the rumors after his candidacy became common knowledge. However, the university's board of curators ended up voting to offer the position to another graduate, who declined the offer. The Board selectedGary D. Forsee for the President of theUniversity of Missouri SystemArchived 2010-05-27 at theWayback Machine in 2008.

When Governor Blunt announced he would not be seeking re-election in 2008, Hulshof announced on January 29 that he would run for governor. Hulshof defeated State TreasurerSarah Steelman in the MissouriRepublican Gubernatorial primary, held on August 5, 2008, winning with a margin of 49% to 45%, with Scott Long receiving 5% and Jen Seivers 1%. Hulshof was defeated by four term Missouri Attorney GeneralJay Nixon, theDemocratic Nominee, in the general election held on November 4, 2008.^[4]

Hulshof now works as a lobbyist for Kit Bond Strategies, based in St. Louis, Missouri.

A 2008 Associated Press investigation found five cases where Hulshof was accused of prosecutorial misconduct, primarily withholding exculpatory evidence. At least two cases in which Hulshof served as prosecuting attorney have been overturned on judicial review and one case in which the judge set aside the conviction.

In the first case Hulshof prosecuted Joshua Keezer for murder. He tried the case withoutphysical evidence,DNA,fingerprints, a murder weapon, or anyeyewitnesses.^[5] Kezer was convicted and sentenced to 60 years inprison.^{[citation needed]} Kezer was set free after a Cole County Circuit judge overturned the conviction. Hulshof publicly stated that he remained convinced of Keezer's guilt.^[5]

The second case, overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court in January, 2013, involved the 1990 murder of aLivingston County woman in her home nearChillicothe.^[6] Mark Woodworth of Chillicothe, then 16 years old, was convicted in the shooting death of 40-year-old Cathy Robertson as well as the wounding of her husband. Hulshof, at the time an assistant Missouri Attorney General, was brought in as a special prosecutor in the original trial.^[7]On June 4, 2011, Hulshof was questioned regarding evidence in the Woodworth case.^[7] A special master determined that a series of letters written between the original trial judge and various prosecutors was not offered to Woodworth's defense attorneys.^[6] The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that there was aviolation of the Brady v. Maryland evidence rules and overturned the conviction.^[8]In spite of prosecutorial misconduct, the Missouri Bar did not publicly admonish or punish Hulshof for his conduct.

• House Ways and Means Committee
  • Subcommittee on Health
  • Subcommittee on Trade

• Biography at theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at theFederal Election Commission
• ProfileArchived 2007-09-26 at theWayback Machine atSourceWatch
• Appearances onC-SPAN

• 1958 births
• 21st-century United States representatives
• American people of German descent
• American people of Irish descent
• American politicians of Dutch descent
• American prosecutors
• Catholics from Missouri
• Living people
• Members of the United States Congress who became lobbyists
• People from Sikeston, Missouri
• Republican Party United States representatives from Missouri
• University of Missouri alumni

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