Scaring voters about a Judge Phill Kline

Political observers are unsure of the prospects of the Nov. 4 ballot initiative on whether Johnson County District Court judges should be elected rather than appointed. To demonstrate the dangers of partisan election of judges, defenders of the status quo in Johnson County have erected a billboard saying, “Keep Phill Kline Off Our Court.” But such a future for the controversial Kline seems unlikely, given that he was clobbered by Johnson County voters in the 2006 attorney general’s race and then in August’s GOP primary for district attorney. Voters have long picked judges in Sedgwick County and about half of the state.