Less than a year after changing parties, Democratic state lawmaker Barbara Bollier announced Wednesday morning that she’s running for the U.S. Senate.
“I became a public servant for the same reason I became a doctor – to help people,” the longtime state legislator said in a statement.
“Like most Kansans, I’ve watched Washington become so dysfunctional that it can’t get anything done. And while Congress does nothing, Kansas families are struggling,” she said. “I’m running to be the voice of reason in Washington that Kansans deserve.”
Bollier joins a Democratic primary field that already includes former U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom and Manhattan Mayor Pro Tem Usha Reddi.
Former Congresswoman Nancy Boyda withdrew from the race last week, a decision that, for some, foreshadowed Bollier’s decision to run.
Grissom has already essentially been campaigning for months, although he didn’t make it official until July.
He reported raising $468,000 in the third quarter, which was more than some Republican U.S. Senate candidates. He had about $366,000 on hand at the end of the quarter.
Reddi, meanwhile, reported raising about $61,000 during the quarter.
Bollier, 61, is about to complete her first term in the state Senate after she was elected to the chamber in 2016. She served in the Kansas House from 2010 through 2016.
Over the years, Bollier has been an ardent supporter of abortion rights, Medicaid expansion and an advocate of laws intended to reduce gun violence.
Bollier’s candidacy raises questions about whether she might draw primary support from former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Emily’s List, two potent forces within the Democratic Party.
In a September interview, Sebelius told the Sunflower State Journal that she wasn’t in a hurry to make an endorsement in the U.S. Senate primary, instead wanting to give the field a chance to fill out more.
“I am not even sure who all is running on the Democratic side,” Sebelius said in an interview. “I am watching with great interest, but don’t plan to make any early endorsements.”
Last year, the influence of Sebelius and Emily’s List could be seen in the governor’s race. Both supported Laura Kelly, who overwhelmed the Democratic field and later was elected governor.
Emily’s List was particularly influential in the Kansas 3rd Congressional District, where it helped newcomer Sharice Davids surge past a field of Democratic candidates. Davids entered the race relatively late – just months before the primary – and was eventually elected to Congress.
Political strategists will be closely watching whether Sebelius and Emily’s List back Bollier and what effect that has on Grissom’s fundraising.
Washburn University political scientist Bob Beatty said Kelly may have forged a path for Bollier to follow in the U.S. Senate race, rising from a little-known state senator to the governor’s office.
“It’s maybe a path that obviously Barry Grissom just may not have, because right now there are a lot of female candidates out there and there’s a lot of momentum for female candidates,” Beatty said. “That is part of the political landscape right now.”
Beatty said the door could be open for Bollier – as former moderate Republican – to cobble together the same coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans that Kelly used to win the governor’s race.
“I am not writing Grissom off. Obviously he’s a very viable candidate. He very well could run away with the nomination,” Beatty said. “Early on, I see a little of the Laura Kelly potential here in Bollier with the added bonus, which is Bollier being a former Republican.”
A retired anesthesiologist, Bollier made a national splash last year after leaving the GOP, saying she could not belong to the party of President Donald Trump.
The Mission Hills lawmaker said the party was no long in step with her values. She specifically condemned a state Republican Party resolution that opposed “all efforts to validate transgender identity.”
Bollier’s willingness to cross party lines to endorse Democrats like Kelly and former congressional candidate Tom Niermann made some other Republican leaders furious.
Last year, Senate President Susan Wagle – who also is running for the U.S. Senate – stripped Bollier of her vice chairmanship on the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee after backing Niermann in the Democratic primary for the 3rd Congressional District.
Bollier had also indicated that she would vote for Kelly if she won the Democratic primary for governor. Bollier later went on to cut an ad for Kelly during the governor’s race.
Here is Bollier’s opening video:
