Each brings baggage to his statehouse campaign.
There’s Republican Adam Thomas, charged with election perjury.
There’s Democrat Chris Haulmark, accused of emotionally abusing women.
There’s Republican Michael Capps, accused of emotionally abusing children.
And there’s Democrat Brandon Woodard, cited twice for drunken driving.
Nevertheless, each pushes forward this campaign season — with varying degrees of success — in the face of a flurry of postcards, mailers and news stories that might beset even the best candidate running for office.
They’re raising money. They’re appearing at forums. They’re collecting endorsements. And a couple of them might even win.
Add in Republican House candidate Jim Price, who has a robbery conviction on his record from 1990, and there’s five candidates for the Legislature with troubles they have to account for this season. Price has indicated he’s not running an active campaign. He raised no money during the last reporting period.
It’s unusual for Kansas, generally more staid politically over the years when compared to places such as Louisiana, Kentucky or Mississippi.
“Kansas is not a scandal state,” said Washburn University political scientist Bob Beatty. “The strange thing about it is if there’s some kind of wave election, it’s possible some of these candidates may survive because of the massive turnout of party members.”
Beatty also argued that problems faced by local candidates could easily get lost amid the advertising clutter generated by other campaigns for Congress and governor.
“There’s so much noise from the governor’s race, the congressional races and Trump, it might be harder this time to localize some of the elections,” he said. “We’re also in an unusual year where we have the Trump factor where part of the dynamic is (voters) don’t believe some of this stuff.”
Only a couple of the candidates would discuss their ongoing campaigns. Two of the candidates — Thomas and Haulmark — couldn’t be reached. Thomas didn’t return email messages, and neither did Haulmark’s campaign manager.
Capps, who lost endorsements from the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Kansans for Life and the Family Policy Alliance, discussed his campaign in an email.
“I am spending the majority of my time meeting people door to door,” Capps said. “People have been both positive and encouraging at the door. There has been very little talk about any of the false accusations.”
Capps added that he’s keeping his campaign positive, “realizing Kansans have very real issues that they are wrestling with and need a state representative who listens and works for their needs.”
The Wichita Republican, who was selected in July to fill out the last several months of Chuck Weber’s term, has moved ahead with his campaign, although he was rejected by his own party after the abuse allegations surfaced.
Capps reported raising about $7,600 for his campaign in the last quarter, of which $7,500 came out of his own pocket. His Democratic opponent, Monica Marks, raised about $12,800.
The Kansas Department for Children and Families conducted an investigation concerning Capps and affirmed the accusation.
However, Capps appealed the decision, and the finding was later reversed due to a technical error.
Over in House District 15, Democrat Chris Haulmark also continues campaigning after he was accused of emotionally abusing several women, charges he denies.
He also didn’t report a loan on a campaign finance report for his abandoned congressional campaign.
Haulmark raised about $5,800 for the campaign in the last quarter, including $1,090 from the Johnson County Democratic Central Committee and $500 from the Kansas National Education Association. The Democratic Central Committee and the KNEA donations were made before the abuse allegations grabbed media attention in October.
His Republican opponent, former state Rep. John Toplikar, meanwhile, has raised about $17,400, and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce political action committee has made about $1,900 in independent expenditures in the race.
The Democratic Party has distanced itself from Haulmark. He also does not appear on the KNEA’s list of general election endorsements after getting the group’s support in the primary. Women for Kansas also announced after learning of the allegations that it was removing the “A” grade it had given Haulmark. The MainStream Coalition also pulled its support for him.
On Oct. 20, Haulmark posted a message on his Facebook page announcing that he was putting the abuse allegations to rest and focusing on the election. He posted a 70-minute video with captions rebutting the allegations in American Sign Language.
Haulmark also used his Facebook page to respond to mailers sent out against him and raise issues against Toplikar.
Haulmark used Facebook to revisit a 2008 incident when Toplikar was accused of stealing a couple of his opponent’s campaign signs. The incident was caught on video and went viral, making national news.
Haulmark also has used Facebook to talk about issues like the state sales tax on food and to generally promote his candidacy.
“I am a proven community leader, a born fighter, and understand what it’s like to be overlooked and undervalued,” he wrote. “While my opponent is talking about working with politicians, I am talking about working with you.”
Haulmark said in a Facebook post Oct. 23 that there were at least four mailings against him, including one summing up all the news headlines ranging from the abuse allegations to the unreported campaign loan.
“My opponent and the Kansas Republican Party have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on mailers against our campaign,” he wrote. “Obviously they feel like this is a close race and are using their checkbook to make a difference.”
Toplikar could not be reached for comment for this story.
Elsewhere in Olathe, Adam Thomas is campaigning to overcome a perjury charge and questions about his residency to defeat Democrat Deann Mitchell in House District 26.
Thomas was charged with one count of election perjury last summer stemming from questions about where he lived when he filed to run for the Kansas House in May.
Democrats contend that Thomas misrepresented an Olathe duplex as his address within the House district when he filed to run for the Legislature.
Thomas’ lawyer has promised a vigorous defense, saying the candidate didn’t do anything wrong. He called the criminal charge “dirty politics at its worst.”
There was an effort to get Thomas kicked off the ballot, but a state elections panel ruled in his favor.
Thomas is running in a Republican district that went 59 percent for Trump and 57 percent for Brownback in 2014.
He’s raised about $4,800 for the campaign in the last quarter, including $500 from the Johnson County Republican Central Committee, $500 from the president of Lewis Legal News personally and another $500 from Lewis Legal News the company. He’s also received outside help from the Kansas Chamber of Commerce PAC, which spent about $5,300 in independent expenditures in the race.
Meanwhile, Mitchell has raised about $16,600. As of Oct. 25, she had about $8,500 on hand to about $72 for Thomas.
Thomas has signs out and has attended at least one candidate forum.
An independent dark-money group — the Save Kansas Coalition — has sent out a mailer against Thomas.
“Adam Thomas belongs behind bars. Not in the state House,” the mailer reads.
A former Spring Hill city councilman also posted a roadside sign reading, “Say No to CARPETBAGGING,” a reference to the residency issue. “Make sure the person you are voting for lives in our district.”
In House District 30, Democrat Brandon Woodard is campaigning against Republican Wendy Bingesser to win a seat that has been held by conservative lawmakers Randy Powell and Lance Kinzer. However, the district went for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Paul Davis in 2014, giving Democrats hope for picking up a seat.
However, Woodward has been cited twice for driving under the influence, once in 2012 and again in 2014.
On the second offense, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 180 days in jail, The Kansas City Star reported. He served five days and was put on probation for two years. He received diversion on the first drunk-driving charge.
Nevertheless, Woodard’s raised $32,000 for his campaign in the last quarter, more than double his Republican rival as of Oct. 25.
Woodard, in an interview, acknowledged that the DUI issue has come up as he campaigns.
“We’ve had a few voters bring it up at the door, which has given me the opportunity to take the time to acknowledge it and apologize and let them known it was 4 1/2 years ago,” Woodard said.
“I am not aware of our opponent using it,” Woodard said, “but I am certainly willing to answer those questions if voters have them.”
