A Kansas House candidate is apologizing for incorrectly claiming the endorsement of a Douglas County Commissioner.
Christina Haswood posted an apology on Facebook on Wednesday for publicly saying that she had the endorsement of Douglas County Commissioner Nancy Thellman.
“It was a miscommunication that I take full responsibility for and I completely understand her desire to simply stay neutral in a crowded primary as many others are doing,” Haswood said in a statement.
“I apologize furthermore to my opponents, A.J. Stevens and Brandon Holland, for gaining an unfair advantage with incorrect information.”
Haswood is running as a Democrat for the House District 10 seat that is coming open with Eileen Horn’s decision not to run for reelection.
She faces primary opposition from Stevens, the former Baldwin City Council president, and Holland, a liquor store manager and the son of state Sen Tom Holland.
In an interview, Haswood said that as a new candidate she got swept up in the enthusiasm of her campaign. She said she mistook excitement for an endorsement.
“I contacted many people in the beginning and they were all very encouraging,” she said. “It’s my fault. I’m taking full responsibility.
“Being a new candidate, I wanted to make things right.”
Stevens said Haswood reached out to her to apologize. He said he appreciated her gesture of honesty.
“I would commend her for coming forward with it,” he said.
Holland said he also appreciated Haswood’s personal apology.
“Ideally, that’s not cool. That is a pretty big mistake in my opinion,” Holland said. “She rectified it, or tried to.”
Haswood said she has double checked and confirmed endorsements with Horn, Lawrence Mayor Jennifer Ananda and four Democratic legislators.
House District 10 includes parts of Lawrence and Baldwin City and is heavily Democratic.
Kelly carried it by 42 percentage points in 2018 over Kris Kobach two years ago.
The district went for Hillary Clinton with 56% of the vote in 2016 and Paul Davis with 69% of the vote in the 2014 governor’s race.
