Swenson always was a maverick

As if a gaping budget hole weren’t dramatic enough, state Rep. Dale Swenson further stirred things up in Topeka this week by exchanging the “R” that has always followed his name for a “D.” OK, this surprises no one who has long watched the Wichitan vote in ways that put him at odds with the GOP and in favor with labor unions and other blue-collar causes. Only Swenson can say whether the postelection timing was a matter of plan (though that didn’t stop the Kansas GOP from accusing him of lying to voters). And only District 97 voters can say whether Swenson’s switch matters, assuming he runs again in 2010 for a ninth term.

10 Comments

  1. JWink
    Posted January 14, 2009 at 6:07 am | Permalink

    The last sentence in the opening EAGLE commentary above is key: “AND ONLY (LEGISLATIVE) DISTRICT 97 VOTERS CAN SAY WHETHER SWENSON’S SWITCH MATTERS.”

  2. thomaswitt
    Posted January 14, 2009 at 6:21 am | Permalink

    Swenson didn’t leave the Republicans; the Republicans left him. His voting record hasn’t shifted much one direction or the other over the past 14 years, and I doubt switching parties is going to have that much impact on how he continues to vote.

    The Republicans keep lurching further and further to the extreme edge of their party, and they’re leaving many traditional Republicans out in the cold. Swenson isn’t the first switcher, and he won’t be the last.

  3. Boxlock20
    Posted January 14, 2009 at 8:45 am | Permalink

    Typical lying Democrat.

  4. TomPaine
    Posted January 14, 2009 at 9:17 am | Permalink

    Swenson’s always been a RINO its been no secret that he supports many democratic causes( so does Schodorf) Their was a lawmaker in KC that recently switched from D to an R.

  5. WAR
    Posted January 14, 2009 at 9:47 am | Permalink

    You know you just can’t trust those Swedish Americans.

  6. BlueJay
    Posted January 14, 2009 at 10:48 pm | Permalink

    GOOD for Swenson!

    I don’t know how long he has been a Republican. For myself, it took about three years to grow up and realize the world was a little bit bigger than me.

  7. Monkeyhawk
    Posted January 15, 2009 at 1:19 am | Permalink

    A few of us remember the Republic Party of the Nancy Landon Kassabaum era.

    Conservative, but with a brain.
    Moderate, but with a moral compass.
    Liberal in her willingness to engage opposition, try to understand them even when she disagreed.

    Today, now that the inmates have taken over the Kansas Asylum Legislature, Senator Kassebaum would be sneered at as a “RINO.”

    “My opponent voted to make bombing abortionists’ homes a CRIME! –
    I’m Brenda Landwehr and I approved this message.”

    It doesn’t take much of a “maverick” to back away from the crazies that run the Kansas Republic Party these days.

    More likely, it takes an active gag reflex.

  8. Chrisfrommactown
    Posted January 15, 2009 at 7:04 am | Permalink

    I got news for you. We called her a RINO then. Voting twice to uphold “sick Willies ” veto of a partial birth abortion ban does not a Republican make.

  9. shocker3
    Posted January 16, 2009 at 1:12 am | Permalink

    Dale has always been an independent who votes to represent his district. He will continue to do so.
    He is now one of several currently elected officials in the capitol who have recently switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party.

    The others include Rep. Cindy Neighbor (former Republican representative from Johnson County) Rep. Lisa Benlon (a former republican rep. from Johnson county) and Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson (former Republican State Senator and former State Republican Party chairman).

  10. Skeptic
    Posted January 24, 2009 at 9:12 pm | Permalink

    Swenson was one of the Republicans who refused to support that “dirty coal” plant that would have emptied the aquifer in the Holcomb area and would have supplied power to Texas and Colorado, rather than Kansas.

    In the midst of the worst economic crisis since the ’30s, the Republicans apparently intend to waste this entire session fighting over the permit for that plant, just as they did last year.