John Paul Kline Jr. (born September 6, 1947) is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota's 2nd congressional district from 2003 to 2017.

[12][13] He voted to repeal parts of the firearms ban for Washington, D.C.[14] He described himself as "a collector of antique guns and a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment".

"[16] He spoke in support of education reform designed to encourage parent involvement and teacher accountability.

"[18] In remarks made to fellow representatives, Kline said, "we are watching a massive growth of government power, size, and spending, and I deem that unacceptable.

[21] His campaign site stated that "he opposed Obamacare because it is a seriously flawed law that was too big, was passed too fast, and does too much harm.

[24] Kline made his first run for office in 1998, when he challenged 6th District Democratic incumbent Bill Luther and lost, taking 46% of the vote.

During the campaign, Luther came under fire when one of his supporters, Sam Garst, filed for the race under the banner of the "No New Taxes Party."

This was done in retaliation for an ad the National Republican Congressional Committee ran in support of Kline that accused Luther of being soft on crime.

Kline then defeated Democratic Burnsville City Councilwoman Teresa Daly to win a second term in 2004 and former FBI Special agent and whistleblower Coleen Rowley, one of Time magazine's "Persons of the Year", with 56% of the vote in 2006.

[1][29] In the 2014 election cycle, Kline's largest campaign contributor was the Apollo Group, a corporation that owns several for-profit educational institutions.

[30] In 2014, he was the "winner" of comedian Bill Maher's "Flip a District" from a group of 16 semifinalists nominated by viewers nationwide.

[31][32] The Star Tribune reported Kline planned to raise $100,000 to counteract the notoriety brought by Maher's campaign.