It’s better if taxpayers don’t subsidize electioneering

Ever wonder why tax-paid spokesmen for the governor or attorney general are quoted making partisan statements in campaign news stories? It’s because under Kansas law, certain public employees of officeholders can be designated as “personal staff” and assigned to campaign-related tasks yet still receive their state employee salaries.
According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has 11 such staffers, Attorney General Phill Kline has eight, Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger has nine and Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh has about seven. One lawmaker and the state’s ethics czar suggested it’s been a nonissue, though Eric Carter complained during his GOP primary challenge of Praeger about her staffers’ campaign work. Both Sebelius and Kline have set rules for these staffers that are stricter than state law, but the propriety of any use of tax dollars for electioneering seems worthy of legislative debate. As Sebelius’ GOP challenger, Jim Barnett, told the Capital-Journal, “the law needs to be looked at so there’s no abuse.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman

3 Comments

  1. JWink
    Posted August 27, 2006 at 6:54 am | Permalink

    This use of paid state government employees to assist our elected state office holders to re-run for their offices must be a fairly new arrangement. I do remember that previous existing governors could utilize a driver from the highway patrol for campaign trips for the obvious reason of security for the Governor on these necessary campaign runs, parades and speeches.

    If state department heads such as attorney general, secretary of state, insurance commissioner and state printer now are able to use several state-paid staffers for campaign/political assistance, I find this reprehensible. This explains once again why it is virtually impossible to dislodge these incumbent office holders who already have name identification.

    Occasionally, over the years, a good candidate attempts to mount a campaign against an incumbent in one of our state-wide offices. Kansas is a physically large state with a small population particularly in western Kansas. A candidate can roll into a western Kansas county seat and be lucky to talk to 10 people … perhaps 100 total in a good day. It is mostly photo ops out in Greensburg and Meade, for example.

    The power of incumbency creates a potential stair-step to the Kansas Governor’s office for these elected state politicians — a bad deal for Kansas.

    I still say the best source of governors in Kansas is from the leadership of the Kansas legislature. In fact, my choice would be for the Kansas House of Representatives and State Senate to choose Republican and Democratic candidates for Governor from their best qualified. Or more likely and possible would be for a state caucus of political leaders of both parties to nominate the state-wide candidates.

    The current system allows candidates to in-effect nominate themselves by simply filing for the office. Then we continue to receive low quality governor candidates that we have here in Kansas this election cycle.

    Has anyone actually seen Sebelius or Barnett anywhere? Have they knocked on your door or walked through your neighborhood? Believe it or not, in past years candidates did get out and actually walk their districts.

  2. Joe Williams
    Posted August 27, 2006 at 10:27 am | Permalink

    What about the constituent surveys sent to people by state representatives? Using the frank? It mascarades very cleverly as a campaign flyer.

  3. JWink
    Posted August 27, 2006 at 1:25 pm | Permalink

    Joe W.: I had forgotten about that clever masquerade of campaign flyers, the vaunted: “I desperately need your advice so I will know how to vote next week. And, by the way, could you please enclose a teensy, weensy contribution of $500.”