Leadership races in the Kansas Legislature generally don’t look anything like your typical retail campaign.
No television ads. No mailers. No aggressive social media campaign. Maybe that will start to change.
Republican state Rep. Blake Carpenter has found a novel way to campaign for leadership this year: by video
Carpenter sent an email with an embedded video to lawmakers making his case for House majority whip. He is running against Rep. J.R. Claeys for the position.
It’s a departure from traditional snail mail where lawmakers send letters or jot out emails campaigning for leadership positions.
The three-minute video, set to background music with a crystal blue sky as a backdrop, explains how Carpenter wants to use technology to track legislation and show how members of the Republican caucus lean on bills.
The Derby lawmaker, just elected to a third term in the Kansas House, also is proposing a mass texting system for GOP leadership to communicate with the rest of the caucus.
Carpenter, who’s been shooting his own videos for about a year, said he hopes the campaign grabs his colleagues’ attention.
“It’s different,” said Carpenter, who even keeps a green screen for shooting video in his statehouse office.
“I would rather be different than act like everybody else. Hopefully, that kind of puts me a little bit ahead,” he said.
Claeys, who just won a fourth term to the House, also is running for the leadership post.
“Counting votes is important, not just to make the case that a bill is ready for floor action,” Claeys said in a statement.
“Accurate vote counts also give members the confidence to push their bills through the process.”
Claeys said he wants to work with lawmakers to make sure they have the best intelligence available so they can make the best decisions about legislation.
