Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s political action committee started a campaign Tuesday challenging claims from Republican Senate candidates that they worked with the governor to responsibly cut taxes and keep partisanship out of the statehouse.
The Middle of the Road PAC launched a series of five similar ads against Republican state Senate candidates Kellie Warren of Leawood, Adam Thomas of Olathe, Mike Thompson of Shawnee, TJ Rose of Olathe and Jeff Klemp of Lansing.
Kelly argues that each of those candidates are running ads that misrepresent their voting record in the Legislature as the Nov. 5 general election approaches.
“I’m disappointed by the misleading ads extreme Republican candidates are running about their record,” Kelly said in a statement.
“Make no mistake: These candidates did not work with me to deliver for Kansans. They worked against me, constantly playing political games,” Kelly said.
Kelly is targeting districts that she won in 2022 and will be pivotal in deciding whether Republicans will lose their supermajority in the Senate, something they’ve held since 1993, according to the Kansas State Library.
Sen. Warren is running for reelection in Senate District 11 against lawyer Karen Thurlow. Sen. Thompson is running against real estate agent Andrew Mall in District 10.
Rep. Thomas is running against Stacey Knoell, executive director of the state African American Affairs Commission, in District 23. And in Senate District 5, Klemp is challenging state Sen. Jeff Pittman of Leavenworth.
Kelly is crafting ads rebutting mailers or digital ads produced by Republican Senate candidates who say they are for public schools but supported school choice legislation that would have allowed public tax money to be used for private education.
Kelly takes aim at a digital ad with Sen. Warren where she emphasizes the importance of education and says she worked with Kelly to end the litigation over school finance.
It’s one of five ads with Kelly looking into the camera and criticizing each candidate that the ad targets. The Kelly ads only target Senate candidates, although House Republican candidates have taken a similar approach in saying they’ve worked with Kelly.
“For three years, Kellie Warren blocked our common sense plan to immediately eliminate the sales tax on food,” the ad says. “She cut funding for our public schools, and spearheaded the ban on abortion without any exceptions.
“Kellie Warren puts partisan games above what’s best for Kansans.”
Senate Republicans accused the governor of lying.
“It is a sure sign of the Democrats’ desperation that the governor of the state has resorted to going on camera and telling outright lies to the people of Kansas,” Senate President Ty Masterson said.
“The governor herself has repeatedly touted the full funding of schools, which she couldn’t have achieved without the votes of Mike Thompson, Kellie Warren, and Adam Thomas – and that TJ Rose and Jeff Klemp enthusiastically support.
“And no one voted to ban abortion or block the elimination of the state sales tax on food.
“While stunning and outrageous, it’s also quite sad and a stain on the governor’s office,” Masterson said.
Staffers for Masterson run a nonprofit group called the Liberty First Project that has been running ads in various races across the state, including Warren’s Senate campaign.
Meanwhile, Stand Up Blue Valley, made up of parents in the Blue Valley School District, has criticized Warren for getting backing from “voucher supporters.”
“Don’t be fooled by the constant campaign commercials, costly mailers, multiple texts, and hundreds of signs in medians. Kellie Warren votes AGAINST BV kids in the KS Legislature,” said the group, which has a political action committee.
Other Republicans running in Johnson County have weaved Kelly into their campaign ads this cycle, something that also has been rebuked by Stand Up Blue Valley. Kelly carried Johnson County with 59% of the vote in 2022.
House Majority Leader Chris Croft and state Reps. Carl Turner of Leawood and Laura Williams of Lenexa have run ads saying they worked with Kelly.
Stand Up Blue Valley disputes their claims, saying at least in the case of Turner and Croft, “they tried over and over and over to cut taxes drastically and irresponsibly, which would’ve wrecked the state budget and public schools’ funding with it.”
Only Croft responded to questions about his mailer, which said he worked with Kelly to “provide a long-term funding solution – without raising taxes.”
Croft voted for the bill in 2019 that met the demands of a state Supreme Court order to adequately fund education. Warren also voted for that bill when she was in the House.
The House voted 76-47 and the Senate voted 31-8 to pass a plan that put about $90 million into schools in 2020 and 2021 each, with the money intended to cover the cost of inflation to comply with the Supreme Court’s mandate.
“The mailer simply states the truth,” Croft said.
“Since serving in the Legislature, I’ve always supported fully funding our schools, and I’ve worked across the aisle to do so,” he said.
“We’ve proven we can fully fund our schools and pass responsible tax cuts at the same time,” he said.
