Senate Majority Leader Larry Alley says his chief of staff will step aside in January regardless of what happens with the upcoming leadership elections.
Alley sent a text to senators Friday night indicating Eric Rucker will step down in January to “explore other opportunities.”
Alley’s announcement came amid his effort to get reelected Senate majority leader even as some senators grumble that Rucker has had an outsized influence as chief of staff.
It was an issue that bubbled up in 2021 when Alley first ran for Senate majority leader and ultimately prevailed over Republican Sen. Jeff Longbine.
Now, Alley is facing a challenge from Republican Sen. Chase Blasi of Wichita, a former chief of staff for the Senate president who was just elected to his first full term in the Senate.
In an interview early Friday night, Alley said Rucker’s decision to leave was not related to the leadership election.
“Eric’s been a good soldier for us,” Alley said. “He did a good job.”
Alley kept Rucker – a former state senator – when he was elected majority leader in 2021.
He inherited Rucker from former state Sen. Gene Suellentrop, who was forced to leave the majority leader position after he was charged with drunk driving.
Alley said he kept Rucker and Kathy Sachs, policy and research director, to allow for a smooth transition when he became majority leader.
“They’ve done a great job for me,” he said. “I have no complaints whatsoever.
“I’m pleased with the support I’ve gotten from Eric and Kathy. I couldn’t ask for a better group,” he said.
Rucker could not be reached for comment.
Alley said complaints about Rucker date back to when he worked for Suellentrop.
“It’s water under the bridge, a long, long time ago and somebody’s just wanting to stir up trouble so they can get somebody else in the majority leader’s office,” he said.
Three years ago, Rucker addressed criticism about his influence in the Senate.
“How do you quantify influence?” Rucker asked in an interview with the Sunflower State Journal at the time.
“I can’t compare past chiefs of staff to myself,” he said.
“Even with the two years that I was a member of the Senate, I never really had the occasion to quantify the influence that other chiefs of staff in the president’s, the vice president’s and the majority leader’s offices were exercising,” he said.
Rucker said he had the freedom to engage his bosses — Suellentrop and Alley — and offer his insights.
Rucker has had a presence in Kansas politics for years.
He had been a top lieutenant to Kris Kobach when he was secretary of state and former Attorney General and Johnson County District Attorney Phil Kline.
He was an assistant secretary of state under Kobach for eight years and had been chief deputy district attorney under Kline.
He was appointed in 2019 to replace Vicki Schmidt when she left the Senate after she was elected insurance commissioner.
But a year later, he was defeated in the 2020 Republican primary by Brenda Dietrich.
Rucker also has worked as a county attorney for Dickinson County and as an assistant county attorney in Jefferson County.
