The decision by Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, to run for U.S. Senate next year already has three Republicans vying for the 1st Congressional District seat – state Sen. Tim Huelskamp of Fowler, former Sam Brownback aide Rob Wasinger of Hays and Pratt businessman Timothy Barker. But it’s been awfully quiet in the 4th District, where Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, also is expected to run for Brownback’s Senate seat. Perhaps the Kansas GOP’s Kansas Day hoopla in Topeka this weekend will turn up some contenders. Ditto the Kansas Democratic Party’s Washington Days next month. So far, speculation about possible GOP wannabes focuses on state Sen. Susan Wagle of Wichita, Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt (left) of Independence (yes, it’s in the 4th District, barely) and two Schlapps – son Matt (a former Tiahrt and Bush aide) and mom Sue, a Wichita City Council member. The most likely Democrats are state Reps. Raj Goyle (right) and Jim Ward of Wichita, Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer and Kansas Board of Regents vice chairwoman and Wichita investment adviser Jill Docking (who made a strong challenge to Brownback in 1996).
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28 Comments
The Schlapps are quite corrupt, they’d make a perfect fit for replacing Tiahrt. Republicans like consistency.
Maggotpunk, do you know when to just SHUT UP? Your hatred of Republicans is remarkable. I can’t think of anything good to say about Raj Goyle or Jim Ward. Ward has taken thousands of dollars in Tiller the Killer’s blood money. Nice.
Someone should take a long, careful look at how the previously city-owned Church of the Magdalene property at the corner of Woodlawn and Kellogg ended up in the hands of Schlapp/Tiahrt cronies, and for only 20% of its assessed value.
Are you listening, Wichita Eagle?
Damn good point, Thomas.
And who could forget that Matt Schlapp was part of the “white riot” that occupied and disrupted offices of the Florida re-count to insure that a full and fair re-count couldn’t happen.
Democracy is fine for RepubliCONs . . . as long as they win. When they don’t, yeah, not so much . . .
The Schlapps are a respectable family of leaders. Docking, Brewer, Ward and Goyle are all significant community leaders. None of them or their families should have to suffer disrespect for their willingness to compete to serve. We should be grateful that we may have such well qualified candidates to choose from.
National folk are telling me Matt Schlapp is certainly the favorite in the power circles of DC- I’m not sure someone who was the point man for Jack Abramoff in the White House is really right for Kansas, but, heck, what do I know?
On the Democratic said- I’m hoping Raj Goyle jumps in.
http://kansasjackass.blogspot.com
I could whole-heartedly support either Raj or Jim Webb.
Webb has an old DUI arrest though, and even though I love his politics, that may be too much to overcome.
Lonny–
KansasJack has a very good summary on his website–I cut and pasted some of it.
(BTW, great site, KSJack . . . I’ll be forwarding your site to my friends.)
Take yourselves back, way back, to the presidential election disaster that was 2000. In all of the mess that contained many, many memorable moments of political theatre, there’s just one to which I would like to draw your attention: The infamous “bourgeois riot” or, named for the brand of shirts all the boys were wearing, the “Brooks Brothers Riot.”
From the Washington Post:
This was when dozens of “local protesters,” actually mostly Republican House aides from Washington, chanted “Stop the fraud!” and “Let us in!” when the local election board tried to move the re-counting from an open conference room to a smaller space.
And from the Village Voice:
Instigated by an order from New York congressman John Sweeney to “shut it down,” dozens of screaming GOP demonstrators pounded on doors and a picture window at elections headquarters. The canvassing board, which had already found a net Al Gore gain of 168 votes, reversed a decision it had made a couple of hours earlier to begin a tally of the undervote.
The mob gang-rushed a local Democrat carrying a blank sample ballot. They threatened that a thousand Cubans were on their way to the headquarters to stop the count. Several people were “trampled, punched or kicked,” according to The New York Times.
If you want to read more about what amounted to a very successful attempt of on the part of the Republicans to intimidate election workers, we would direct you here, or here, or here, or here.
*******
These are not the actions of people who love democracy. Quite the contrary.
Raj is certainly more organized that most democrats that end up running against Tiahrt, and the fact that he almost raised more money for his state district than what Mr Betts did means he knows how to raise money. Jim Ward while a decent Rep has little charisma and I think his DUI would hurt him in a race
Capn do you ever quit slinging mud from your weird sites. Get over it already. We have a new prez and a whole new set of problems to deal with and you are reliving the 2000 election. Haven’t heard much from you about the Al Franken debacle. Not on your radar screen?
If Raj Goyle runs and doesn’t win, the 4th District is simply a lost cause for Dems. If he can’t do it, there isn’t a donkey in this town or any other who could get it done. That said, a match up between Goyle and Matt Shlapp would really be a sight to see, I’d pay to watch a race like that.
Raj had big outside backers when he ran for state rep the first time around. He raised over $250,000 from outside sources. This to win a job that pays $23,000. I said then he was aiming for bigger game and this would fit the bill.
He has done some things in the state that I liked. But his ACLU experience before coming back to Kansas showed his very liberal side. It could be an interesting race.
okobserver
Posted January 30, 2009 at 10:37 am | Permalink
Raj had big outside backers when he ran for state rep the first time around. He raised over $250,000 from outside sources. This to win a job that pays $23,000. I said then he was aiming for bigger game and this would fit the bill.
He has done some things in the state that I liked. But his ACLU experience before coming back to Kansas showed his very liberal side. It could be an interesting race.
________________________________________
Actually, he raised more like $102,000 in 2006 and a vast majority of the individual contributions came from Kansans, specifically, Wichitans.
I agree though, it could be very interesting indeed.
Re: Sed county democrats
Outside money for raj = good
Ouside money for Inga Taylor = bad
Got it!
I hope that “oustide money” baloney comes back to bite your democrats, not only ON the ass, but I hope it bites your asses completely OFF!
farmgrrl,
It’s not good or bad, it’s fair game. Raj has been called out for accepting outside money and so was Inga. The only difference was that he won regardless. If a candidate accepts outside money or help, they have to expect some criticism.
Thanks for the compliment- I love my little blog :-)
“Raj has been called out for accepting outside money”
NOT by his own party! The democrats defended him.
But it was that same party that called out Inga.
Hypocrisy, thy name is…
Thanks CapnAmerica for alerting me to Kansas Jack’s web-site. I’ve book marked it.
You’re right, the Dems defended him because he was called out by his opponent, just like Inga was called out by her opponent and since it was a primary, of course that opponent was a Dem. The Democratic Party itself didn’t say anything one way or the other though until after the race was over.
Further, what they said was that out-of-state funds were used to influence a Kansas state election. They didn’t say it was wrong, they didn’t say it shouldn’t be done. They said that it was done and that those who did it decided to call the winner a bigot rather then conceding gracefully.
All of that being said, I supported Inga in the race and I would have been thrilled if she’d won. It simply came down to politics. It’s part of the game. If a person wants to play, they need to be prepared.
“Webb has an old DUI arrest though,…”
It’s too bad that would come into play. Depending on how “old” it was. After a while, come on, it’s over. The Eagle likes to say, “why don’t more people run for political office”, then they dig into the past and show why “more people don’t run for political office”.
Who needs it?
There was nothing graceful in what the Victory Fund did when Inga Taylor lost her primary. Nothing at all.
One of the reasons that the Dems have been wandering in exile since the late 70’s was their death embrace of “identity politics.”
If Dems were Dems because they were black or women or gay or poor–then by definition, Republicans were white, straight, male and rich . . . which is pretty much how it shakes out these days.
I’m Dem because I believe in economic justice. I think Elton John copes with discrimination against gays pretty well.
He’s rich.
Raj Goyal is a stand up person. Very well educated, bipartisan and I know him personally.
Although I very rarely vote Democrats, because a majority of them are Leftist Socialist who are bad for government, Raj is no leftist. Pro-Democrat, Yes, but he is somebody I will support and vote for. He is a pro-business and freedom conscious Democrat. He is one of the rare good ones, and I’m glad there are quite a few in Wichita.
And that is coming from a Libertarian. But there are some Democrats I do like, not just local, but on the national level as well.
hmmmm…. Wonder who the Libertarian candidate is going to be?
“Sigh” I wish the Libertarians were more organize and professionalize. They’ll never get elected unless they do.
Barack Obama said it repeatedly, “I don’t want anyone to vote for me because I’m black. I want them to vote for me because I’m the best candidate.”
Well obviously crappy, the vast majority of Obama voters didn’t listen to him.