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| predecessor3=[[Alan Cranston]]

| relativesrelations=[[Milward Simpson]] (father)<br>[[Pete Peter K. Simpson]] (brother)

'''Alan Kooi Simpson''' (born September 2, 1931) served [[Wyoming]] in the [[U.S. Senate]] from 1979 to 1997. Despite his connection to the [[Republican Party]], he is a [[liberal]] on social issues. He originally benefited from the [[conservative]] reputation of his father, [[Milward L. Simpson]], who served Wyoming in the U.S. Senate from 1962 to 1967 , after having been governor of Wyoming from 1955 to 1959. Simpson has been an advocate of fiscally conservative positions and argued strongly for entitlement reform. He However, on social issues, he supports [[abortion]] and [[same-sex marriage]]. Simpson is most known for the [[Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986|Simpson-Mazzoli Act]], which granted amnesty to three million illegal aliens. He was a leader co-chairman of the Simpson/Bowles committee. Since leaving the Senate, Simpson has taught at his ''alma mater,'' the University of Wyoming at Laramie.

:'''''Any education that matters is "liberal." All the saving truths, all the healing graces that distinguish a good education from a bad one or a full education from a half empty one are contained in that word.'''''

In the 2002 gubernatorial election, Simpson accused two [[primary]] candidates, [[Ray Hunkins]] of Wheatland and Bill Sniffin of Lander, of having lied about the record of [[Eli Bebout]], Simpson's choice for the party nomination. Simpson claimed that Hunkins and Sniffin had misrepresented Bebout's position on nuclear waste dumping and water rights: "These gents running for governor - I mean Ray Hunkins and Bill Sniffin - wouldn't seem to know the truth if it bit 'em on the fanny."<ref name=billings>{{cite web|url=http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/simpson-apologizes-to-hunkins/article_60ca4c80-ff54-50b5-b492-4e765674fe1d.html|title=Simpson apologizes to Hunkins|date=August 27, 2002|publisher=''Billings Gazette''|location=Billings, Montana|accessdate=April 19, 2016}}</ref> Simpson subsequently apologized to Hunkins.<ref name=billings/> Bebout won the nomination but was defeated in a close vote by the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Dave Freudenthal in the [[general election]].  In July 2022, Simpson cut a television commercial for liberal Republican U.S. Representative [[Liz Cheney]] and attacked former President [[Donald Trump]], who has endorsed her primary challenger, Harriet Hageman. Simpson called Trump "a vicious animal" who "poisoned democracy." He declared the party of which he was a former assistant Senate leader has become "a cult" under the influence of Trump.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-vicious-animal-who-poisoned-democracy-ex-gop-sen-alan-simpson/ar-AAZFZz6?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=69876ea5f6a446ecae99ef70bdcfd75b|title=Trump "Vicious Animal" who "Poisoned Democracy|publisher=msn.com|accessdate=July 17, 2022}}</ref>