A Public Policy Polling survey released this week showing that only 37 percent of Kansans approve of Gov. Sam Brownback’s job performance was not particularly surprising, as polls conducted last year by SurveyUSA had similar findings. The approval rating mirrored the public’s opinion of Brownback’s plan for phasing out state income taxes, as only 37 percent of those surveyed supported it while 48 percent opposed it. Though Brownback had an edge against various Democrats in hypothetical matchups, it was striking how well the Democrats did even though the public knows little about them. For example, Brownback led Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer by only 4 percentage points, even though 68 percent of those surveyed didn’t know enough about Brewer to have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of him.
Surprising only a few Democrats in denial, Kansas Republicans took all the statewide and congressional races Tuesday, our editorial today noted, adding their voice to the noisy national chorus calling for less government, more fiscal discipline and no more unchecked Democratic control of Washington, D.C. As political satirist P.J. O’Rourke had predicted, it was less of an election than “a restraining order.”
Nationally, Republicans regained control of the U.S. House, as expected, but didn’t do quite as well as they had hoped in the Senate, though they still made considerable gains.
In Kansas, the election was bigger for the GOP than November 1994, when Democrats at least retained the state treasurer seat and claimed the insurance commissioner’s job (the latter for Kathleen Sebelius, who’d go on to fortify her party and win two terms as governor). This time, victory was exclusive to the Republicans.
For Gov.-elect Sam Brownback and the GOP lawmakers who lead and dominate the Legislature, the afterglow will give way to the demands of governing according to their tight-fisted principles. With Sebelius and Gov. Mark Parkinson out of office and a more conservative GOP majority in the Kansas House, Republicans will have much to do and no one to blame.
Republicans appear headed for a “clean sweep” in statewide races next week, according to the latest SurveyUSA poll sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12. GOP gubernatorial candidate Sam Brownback is leading Democrat Tom Holland by 27 percentage points. Secretary of state candidate Kris Kobach leads Democrat Chris Biggs by 21 points. State treasurer candidate Ron Estes is 15 points ahead of Dennis McKinney. The only marginally close race is for attorney general, where Republican Derek Schmidt leads Steve Six by 8 points, with 4 percent undecided.
Kansas newspapers that endorse candidates in statewide races have mostly been like-minded, preferring Jerry Moran for U.S. Senate, Sam Brownback for governor, Steve Six for attorney general, Dennis McKinney for state treasurer and Chris Biggs for secretary of state. Among the exceptions:
– “Democrat Tom Holland is more in touch with Kansas, more familiar with the challenges facing the state and better prepared to come up with solutions than his favored opponent, retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback.” — Kansas City Star
– “Democrat Steve Six is a native of Lawrence and son of Fred Six, a distinguished former judge of the Kansas Supreme Court. Republican Derek Schmidt, of Independence, is recognized as a leading member of the Kansas Senate. Both men have compiled good records but Six, as a Democrat, may be more inclined to support Obama. . . . This country cannot afford a second term for Obama. His efforts during the next two years, during which he could force whatever he wants down the throat of the country, mislead citizens, weaken the nation and take away guaranteed freedoms, must be stunted.” — Lawrence Journal-World
Twenty states have joined the lawsuit challenging the new health care law. Next week’s election could determine whether Kansas, Oklahoma and other states enter the fight as well — in Kansas’ case, going up against former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, now President Obama’s secretary of health and human services. As the website Congress.org noted, Republican gubernatorial front-runner Sam Brownback and GOP attorney general candidate Derek Schmidt both favor joining the suit. Meanwhile, Democrat Steve Six, whom Sebelius appointed attorney general, wants to stay out of it. Governing magazine views the Schmidt-Six contest as a toss-up, noting that “it’s expected to be a brutal election for Kansas Democrats this year” but that Six is “as strong a Democrat as the party has running in the state.”
A New York Times article on the Kansas gubernatorial race, and possible GOP congressional clean sweep, included some frank observations by leaders past and present. Among them:
– “The reality is, there will never again, ever, be a moderate Republican governor. Those days are over.” — Republican-turned-Democrat Gov. Mark Parkinson
– “We really don’t know what to expect from Sam.” — Kansas Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, about GOP gubernatorial candidate Sam Brownback
– “There is a huge difference between being a vote in a legislative body on policy issues and being chief executive. There is a certain pragmatism you have to bring every morning in order to serve the state.” — former Gov. Bill Graves, foreseeing that Gov. Brownback would move to the middle
Joan Heffington of Derby, who was defeated by U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback in the Republican Party primary for governor, must reimburse her campaign for a $159 wig, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission ruled that, much like clothing, campaigns couldn’t pay for a wig, because there would be no way to tell if the wig would be used only during campaigning and not during personal time.
“Many times ‘changing the school-finance formula’ is code for ‘cutting school funding,’” state Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, wrote in a commentary. She noted that many commissions have struggled with how to develop a fair and equitable formula to fund schools that will fit all the various sizes and shapes of our 289 districts. And she advised voters: “When candidates say that they want to reform school finance, ask them how they will do that and maintain high standards and quality education.” So how would GOP gubernatorial candidate Sam Brownback do that?
It’s disappointing that GOP gubernatorial candidate Sam Brownback endorsed GOP secretary of state candidate Kris Kobach’s campaign to stop voter fraud — a virtually nonexistent problem in Kansas. Brownback said he would work with Kobach, if they are elected, to require Kansans to show proof of citizenship before registering to vote and to show a photograph identification card when casting a ballot. “This will help reduce instances of voter fraud,” Brownback said — even though there have been only seven cases of alleged fraud referred to local, state or federal authorities in five years, and only one of those cases was prosecuted. What is particularly disappointing is that Brownback, who has spoken movingly in the past about not demonizing illegal immigrants, associated himself with Kobach’s fearmongering claims about illegal immigrants voting.
“I believe in the Kansas way, not the Obama way,” GOP gubernatorial candidate Sam Brownback said, vowing to fight federal health care reform, which he called “an abomination.” Well, what exactly is the “Kansas way”? An estimated 350,000 Kansans lack health insurance, according to new census estimates. And during his 16 years in Congress, Brownback hasn’t done much to help them or to curb rising health care costs. Meanwhile, thanks to the reform law, more than 260,000 Kansans will get a tax credit beginning in 2014 to help reduce the cost of private health insurance, according to a new report from Families USA.
A spokeswoman for Sam Brownback’s gubernatorial campaign said that Democratic opponent Tom Holland confused Brownback’s school finance reform plan with one proposed last week by Rep. Arlen Siegfreid, R-Olathe. “Speaker Pro Tem Arlen Siegfreid’s plan is not our plan,” Sherriene Jones-Sontag said. OK, so what is Brownback’s plan? So far, Brownback has mostly made broad statements about wanting to “break the cycle of litigation.” He has said he supports letting local voters decide whether to spend more of their own tax money on education — which sounds similar to what Siegfreid proposed. Brownback needs to clear up the confusion and explain to voters specifically what he supports.
Democrats in Kansas — particularly those who live in northeast Kansas — were shocked to learn that Alfred Murguia is a district chairman for a group called Democrats for Brownback. Murguia, who is a member of one of the most-prominent Democratic families in Wyandotte County and the state, said he is supporting Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., for Kansas governor because “he has shown me that he’s willing to listen.” But Murguia also has more pragmatic reasons: He thinks Brownback is a slam dunk to win over state Sen. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, and Murguia wants Brownback’s help with infrastructure, education and housing needs. Still, Kansas City Star columnist Steve Kraske compared Murguia’s decision with quarterback Joe Montana’s leaving the San Franciso 49ers for the Kansas City Chief and with LeBron James’ decision to bolt hometown Cleveland for Miami. “It’s all that,” Kraske wrote.
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you may just get there.” — Sedgwick County Commissioner Tim Norton (in photo), arguing unsuccessfully for the county to approve a grant application for regional planning
“When we left Topeka, someone said, ‘Good luck. Don’t melt.’” — Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., on his four-day, 1,000-mile bus tour of the state
“Please welcome our Democrat friends. Smile you’re on camera.” — Sign held by a Brownback staffer over the head of a guy tracking the road trip for Democratic opponent Tom Holland
With the suspense of the primaries over, state Sen. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, can be expected to gain more attention for his long-shot gubernatorial bid against Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan. But a new Rasmussen Reports survey of likely voters put Brownback at 57 percent support and Holland at 34 percent, with just 6 percent undecided and with 33 percent saying they know too little about Holland to have any opinion of him. That’s a dismal spot to be in, no matter the month. Meanwhile, 58 percent of those polled by Rasmussen Reports approve of the job performance of Democrat Gov. Mark Parkinson, who declined to run for the office.
If it was dead-wrong to pass a temporary 1-cent sales-tax increase this year to balance the state budget and invest in transportation, as most conservative Kansas Republicans believe, why is it also wrong to repeal that tax hike once Sen. Sam Brownback becomes governor? Yet Brownback suggested Monday, while unveiling his “Road Map for Kansas,” that he would not pursue a repeal if elected, focusing instead on a general-fund spending freeze and a reallocation of resources. Of course, forgoing a repeal also spares Brownback the pain of making gruesome cuts to education, social services and more.
In a Rasmussen Reports poll indicating Sam Brownback’s lead over Democratic challenger Tom Holland (59 to 31 percent) is holding strong in the governor’s race, the bigger news was that 69 percent of Kansans surveyed support repealing the health care reform (compared with 60 percent nationally). Meanwhile, 27 percent of Kansas voters surveyed consider themselves members of the tea party movement, compared with just 16 percent nationally.
Though the odds look grim, today’s rollout of the Holland-Kultala gubernatorial ticket signals that Democrats have no intention of losing quietly to the GOP’s Brownback-Colyer team. Casting themselves as the moderate alternative, state Sens. Tom Holland of Baldwin City and Kelly Kultala (in photo) of Kansas City, Kan., had choice words for the leadership offered by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan. — “part of the problem,” “failed policies,” “divisive agenda,” “partisan record of saying one thing and doing another,” “Washington greed, negligence and working more for the special interests than for the common good.” Kultala is a one-termer in the Senate, but brings her experience as a Piper school board member and a commissioner in the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City. Still, in all but the northeastern part of the state, Holland’s announcement is a case of “Tom Who?” picking “Kelly Who?”
Gov. Mark Parkinson left the Kansas Democratic Party “high and dry” when he refused to run for re-election and chose a lieutenant governor who also pledged not to run, wrote Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “Despite a respectable Democratic candidate in Tom Holland, the election is all but over,” the website predicted. “Republicans will retake the governor’s office with current U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback. This is a remarkable example of the governing political party imploding. The GOP can count this one as in the bag.”
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., had a 50 percent approval rating overall in the most recent SurveyUSA poll, sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12. But one demographic Brownback isn’t doing that well with is senior citizens. Those surveyed who were 65 years old and older gave Brownback a 42 percent approval rating and a 53 percent disapproval rating. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who had a 57 percent overall approval rating, had 47 percent approval and 46 percent disapproval among senior citizens.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., joked during a meeting in Lawrence Monday that he had a foolproof plan to win the governorship in 2010. He recalled how he recently met with members of the Dinka tribe of south Sudan. They told him that they have 10 members in their tribe who play basketball and are more than 7 feet in height. “So I’m thinking, if we can get three in Kansas — one at KU, one at K-State and one at Wichita State æ.æ.æ. this is all over.”
Two years from now, Kansans will be looking at more political upheaval than usual, with the jobs of the term-limited Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and self-term-limited Sen. Sam Brownback both up for grabs. It’s more than possible they could swap jobs. The Republican said Thursday that he’s “going to look at the governor’s race.” As for whether Democrat Sebelius might run for his Senate seat, he said: “It’s a free country. She can do what she wants to do. I don’t think she’s going to win this position. Kansas is a conservative state.” True, but don’t forget that Sebelius already has won four statewide races, compared with Brownback’s three.
All the attention went to the offense taken over what Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said about Kansas wine during a Seattle appearance last week. She had other observations about Kansas, though, recalling that at the time of her 2002 election, “I think Kansans, like many American people of a variety of faiths, were alarmed at interference by those who sought to impose their tenets of belief in our public life. If you want to teach creationism, do it in a theology course, but don’t interfere with science classes.â€
She also said: “Most Kansans consider themselves religious — and connect with a specific religion — but don’t want religion practiced in the courtroom or the public schoolroom. A lot of people felt that social justice, the (Iraq) war, poverty — the plight of the least of our brethren — should be what people of faith concern themselves with.â€
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Never mind what voter registration numbers say about Kansas. Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has easily won a second term, thanks to her crossover appeal to moderate Republicans and the weak challenge by state Sen. Jim Barnett of Emporia. Now Sebelius needs to spend some of the political capital she earned at the polls on moving the state further forward. That will mean reaching out more to the GOP-controlled Legislature and being more vocal and visible.
As for the Kansas Republican Party: It still hasn’t learned the lesson of the 2002 election, which was that Democrats can and will capitalize on its ideological split.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The state budget — and the re-election campaign of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius — got a big boost last week as new budget estimates projected that the state will collect $299 million more in tax revenue this fiscal year than originally forecast. That means there should be more than enough money to fully fund the state’s three-year school finance plan. And it makes it even tougher for GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Barnett to convince voters that the Kansas economy stinks and that Sebelius is to blame.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
If Gov. Kathleen Sebelius wins a second term Tuesday, will she serve it to the end? Asked that question Thursday by the Topeka Capital-Journal, Sebelius clearly left the door open for another opportunity to intervene between now and her term-limited departure in January 2011 — say, as a vice presidential candidate on a Democratic ticket in 2008 or a Cabinet post in a Democratic White House. She said: “It’s my intention to serve if voters give me that opportunity.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
A Public Policy Polling survey released this week showing that only 37 percent of Kansans approve of Gov. Sam Brownback’s job performance was not particularly surprising, as polls conducted last year by SurveyUSA had similar findings. The approval rating mirrored the public’s opinion of Brownback’s plan for phasing out state income taxes, as only 37 percent of those surveyed supported it while 48 percent opposed it. Though Brownback had an edge against various Democrats in hypothetical matchups, it was striking how well the Democrats did even though the public knows little about them. For example, Brownback led Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer by only 4 percentage points, even though 68 percent of those surveyed didn’t know enough about Brewer to have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of him.
