{{short description|American lawyer and politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Biggs Pro Shot.jpg | image_size = | caption = | name = Chris Biggs | order = 30th | office = Secretary of State of Kansas | term_start = March 16, 2010 | term_end = January 10, 2011 | governor = Mark Parkinson | predecessor = Ron Thornburgh | successor = Kris Kobach | office2 = Kansas Securities Commissioner | term_start2 = May 7, 2003 | term_end2 = March 16, 2010 | governor2 = Kathleen Sebelius<br />Mark Parkinson | predecessor2 = David Brant | successor2 = Steve Wassom (interim) | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1958|10|14|mf=y}} | birth_place = Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. | party = Democratic | profession = Attorney | alma_mater = Kansas State University University of Kansas | spouse = | footnotes = }}
'''Chris Biggs''' (born October 14, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician who was the 30th Secretary of State of Kansas. He was appointed on March 16, 2010, by Governor Mark Parkinson to replace Ron Thornburgh who resigned on February 15, 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://governor.ks.gov/media-room/45-press-releases/618-031610--governor-parkinson-names-chris-biggs-kansas-secretary-of-state |title=03.16.10 : Governor Parkinson names Chris Biggs Kansas' Secretary of State | Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson |publisher=Governor.ks.gov |accessdate=2010-06-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612000656/http://governor.ks.gov/media-room/45-press-releases/618-031610--governor-parkinson-names-chris-biggs-kansas-secretary-of-state |archive-date=2010-06-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On Nov. 2nd, 2010, he was defeated for election to a full term by a wide margin.
Biggs Served as Kansas Securities Commissioner from 2003 until his appointment as Secretary of State.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cjonline.com/news/legislature/2010-03-16/parkinson_names_biggs_sos |title=Parkinson names Biggs SOS |publisher=CJOnline.com |date= |accessdate=2010-06-18}}</ref> Prior to that, he served as Geary County Prosecutor from 1989 to 2003 and as a public defender from 1983 to 1988.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hall |first=Mike |url=http://cjonline.com/stories/103002/dec_ag.shtml |title=Biggs, Kline tout records |publisher=CJOnline.com |date=2002-10-30 |accessdate=2010-06-18}}</ref>
In 2002, he was the Democratic nominee for Attorney General. Though he lost to Republican Phill Kline by only 0.5%, he declined to request a recount.<ref>{{cite web|author=Chris GrenzThe Capital-Journal |url=http://cjonline.com/stories/111202/bre_agrace.shtml |title=Kline wins AG race; Biggs won't seek recount |publisher=CJOnline.com |date=2002-11-12 |accessdate=2010-06-18}}</ref>
==Early life== {{BLP unreferenced section|date=May 2017}} Biggs was born on October 14, 1958, in Kansas City, Missouri, as the youngest of five children. His family settled in Manhattan, Kansas, when Chris was a child. His father, John, ran a local hardware store and served as a state restaurant inspector. His mother, Bernice, was a staff secretary at Kansas State University. He graduated from Manhattan High School in 1976.
==Education== Biggs graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Kansas State University in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work. He attended the University of Kansas School of Law, graduating in 1983.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
==Legal career== Upon graduation from law school, Biggs started working as a public defender for the 8th Judicial District in Kansas, based in Junction City. His first case was an argument in front of the Kansas Supreme Court.
In 1988, Biggs was elected to serve as the prosecutor for Geary County, and was subsequently re-elected three times.<ref>{{cite web|author=John Hanna |url=http://cjonline.com/stories/121807/sta_226498715.shtml |title=On list of potential A.G.s, Biggs ranks high |publisher=CJOnline.com |date=2007-12-18 |accessdate=2010-06-18}}</ref> In the 14 years he served as prosecutor, he tried over 20,000 cases; the most notable of these was the trial of Sabine Davidson. Davidson was charged with unintentional second-degree murder in the death of an 11-year-old boy who had been mauled by her three Rottweilers. Biggs’ prosecution of Davidson resulted in a conviction of second-degree murder and a sentence of 12 years in prison—the first conviction of its kind in the nation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4179/is_19990714/ai_n11731398/ |title=Report: Dog owner tried to flee country | Topeka Capital-Journal, The | Find Articles at BNET |publisher=Findarticles.com |date=1999-07-14 |accessdate=2010-06-18}}</ref> The trial earned Biggs the 1998 Kansas Outstanding Prosecutor Award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kscblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/supreme-court-applicant-christopher-e-biggs/ |title=Supreme Court Applicant: Christopher E Biggs « Kansas Supreme Court Blog |publisher=Kscblog.wordpress.com |date=2008-12-15 |accessdate=2010-06-18}}</ref>
==2002 election for Attorney General== In 2002, incumbent Attorney General of Kansas Carla Stovall chose not to seek re-election. Phill Kline, a former state legislator, emerged from a bruising Republican primary, defeating David Adkins; Biggs ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ballotpedia.us/wiki/index.php/Chris_Biggs |title=Chris Biggs - Ballotpedia |publisher=Ballotpedia.us |accessdate=2010-06-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812045233/http://ballotpedia.us/wiki/index.php/Chris_Biggs |archivedate=August 12, 2011 }}</ref>
Biggs was endorsed by the Mainstream Coalition, the Fraternal Order of Police, the ''Kansas City Star'', the ''Wichita Eagle'', former Attorney General Vern Miller, and the ''Topeka Capital-Journal''.
Though Kline led in the polls throughout the race, the final tally was too close to call on election night; in the end, Kline won by 0.5% of the total vote (4,287 vote margin out of 821,107 cast).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kssos.org/textonly/elections/elections_statistics.html |title=Kansas Secretary of State - Text Only - Elections Statistics |publisher=Kssos.org |accessdate=2010-06-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502000223/http://www.kssos.org/textonly/elections/elections_statistics.html |archivedate=2007-05-02 }}</ref>
==Kansas Securities Commissioner== In May 2003, Governor of Kansas Kathleen Sebelius named Biggs to be the Kansas Securities Commissioner, saying that Biggs "was a good fit."<ref>{{cite web|author=JOHN HANNAThe Associated Press |url=http://cjonline.com/stories/053003/bre_biggs.shtml |title=Sebelius taps Biggs for securities position |publisher=CJOnline.com |date=2003-05-30 |accessdate=2010-06-18}}</ref> As Securities Commissioner, Biggs personally prosecuted Thomas Etheredge, founder of the failed Wild West World theme park north of Wichita, for securities fraud; Etheredge was convicted on seven of nine counts and sentenced to five years in prison.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kansas.com/2010/04/03/1253242/etheredge-sentenced-to-5-years.html |title=Etheredge sentenced to 5 years in prison | Crime & Courts | Wichita Eagle |publisher=Kansas.com |date=2010-04-03 |accessdate=2010-06-18}}</ref>
==Secretary of State== In January 2010, Biggs announced his candidacy for Secretary of State. On February 15, 2010, then-Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh announced his resignation in order to run for governor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://electls.blogs.wm.edu/2010/03/22/weekly-wrap-up-15/ |title=Weekly Wrap Up |work=State of Elections |publisher=William and Mary Law School |date=March 22, 2010 |accessdate=July 21, 2017}}</ref> After interviewing 15 candidates, Governor Mark Parkinson chose Biggs to fill the vacancy.<ref>{{cite web|author=CR Construction & Remodeling 785-312-0581 |url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/mar/16/parkinson-set-announce-new-secretary-state/ |title=Parkinson chooses securities commissioner as new Secretary of State / LJWorld.com |publisher=.ljworld.com |date=2010-03-16 |accessdate=2010-06-18}}</ref>
Biggs was only the second (after Larry Ryan) Democratic Secretary of State in Kansas since statehood, and was the first in nearly 60 years.
==2010 Election== Biggs faced a primary challenge for the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State by Kansas State Sen. Chris Steineger, whom he defeated with a 60%-40% victory in the August 3rd election.<ref name="kssos.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.kssos.org/elections/10elec/2010PrimaryOfficialResults.pdf |title=Kansas Secretary of State, 2010 Primary Election, Official Vote Totals |publisher=www.kssos.org |date=2010 |accessdate=2017-05-16}}</ref> On the Republican side, a three-way battle for the nomination was won by Kris Kobach, a University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor and former Kansas State Republican Party chairman; he defeated Shawnee County Elections Commissioner Elizabeth Ensley and JR Claeys, capturing 51% of the vote.<ref name="kssos.org"/>
On November 2, 2010, Kobach defeated Biggs by a margin of 59%-37%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kssos.org/ent/kssos_ent.html|title=2017 Unofficial Kansas Election Results|website=www.kssos.org|access-date=2010-11-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803122206/http://www.kssos.org/ent/kssos_ent.html|archive-date=2016-08-03|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Personal life== Biggs is an accomplished bluegrass musician. He has won several awards for his guitar-playing skills, including three straight third-place finishes at the National Flatpicking Championships held each year at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wvfest.com/contests/bycontest.html?contestid=1 |title=National Guitar Flat Pick Championship Archives - All Winners |publisher=Wvfest.com |date=2008-05-17 |accessdate=2010-06-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517095325/http://www.wvfest.com/contests/bycontest.html?contestid=1 |archivedate=2011-05-17 }}</ref> He was the Kansas Guitar Picking Champion in 1982, 1990, 1994, and 2024 as well as the Kansas Banjo Picking Champion in 1994.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kansas State Fiddle & Picking Championship Winners |url=https://fidpick.org/winners/ |access-date=2025-07-07}}</ref>
He now performs regularly in a duo with Ken Gustin, and plays banjo with a gospel group, North Forty, headed by his long-time friend, Al Bowyer. He also performs with Scott Tichenor, a friend and renowned mandolin player from Lawrence, Kansas. He has performed with Steve Hinrichs as a duo, and periodically performs with other area musicians, including Robert Rosenberg, Alice Boyle, and Bob Atchison.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://biggsandgustin.com/chris-biggs-bio |access-date=2025-07-08 |title=BiggsandGustin }}</ref>
He has been involved in several civic organizations: Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Rotary International, the Kansas County and District Attorneys Association, the Kansas Bar Association, and the Kansas Bluegrass Association.
Biggs lives in the Flint Hills with his son.
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[http://www.kssos.org/ Kansas Secretary of State]
{{S-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=Dan Lykins}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Kansas Attorney General|years=2002}} {{s-aft|after=Paul J. Morrison}} {{s-bef|before=David Haley}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Secretary of State of Kansas|years=2010}} {{s-aft|after=Jean Schodorf}} {{S-off}} {{Succession box|title=Secretary of State of Kansas|before=Ron Thornburgh|after=Kris Kobach|years=2010–2011}} {{S-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biggs, Chris}} Category:Living people Category:1958 births Category:Secretaries of state of Kansas Category:Kansas Democrats Category:District attorneys in Kansas Category:Public defenders Category:Kansas State University alumni Category:University of Kansas School of Law alumni