A judge on Friday ordered state Sen. Julia Lynn’s name removed from the general election ballot after lawyers agreed she had certified her medical hardship with a doctor’s signature.
During a brief court hearing Friday morning, lawyers for the secretary of state and the senator agreed on a set of facts, including a doctor’s signature that met the requirement of state law.
Shawnee County District Judge Tom Luedke signed the order shortly after the hearing, officially bringing an end to Lynn’s 14-year tenure in the Senate.
Secretary of State Scott Schwab had denied Lynn’s request to be removed from the ballot because it wasn’t signed by a physician.
State law requires a medical hardship to be certified with the signature of a medical doctor. The law does not define the words “signature” or “signed.”
The senator’s initial request for a medical hardship contained the printed name of the doctor along with a nurse’s signature.
The senator later provided supplemental certification consisting of an emailed version of the same document containing the doctor’s handwritten signature.
On Sept. 3, the doctor signed a sworn affidavit stating that the original certification filed with the secretary of state displayed his signature.
Both sides agreed that the medical certification submitted to the secretary of state on Sept. 1 complied with state law.
Part of the problem was blamed on the fact that the secretary of state’s office did not receive the letter requesting the hardship until about 15 minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline on Sept. 1.
The secretary of state’s office said its election staff was not specifically told on Sept. 1 that the type-written name and address constituted the doctor’s “fully authorized signature.”
“Our office consistently works with candidates to ensure election timelines and supplemental materials meet statutory requirements,” Schwab said in a statement.
“For some odd reason, Senate staff and the candidate failed to coordinate with our office to guarantee compliance with state law and, instead, waited until the last minute to submit the required documents,” he said.
“This issue was made unnecessarily complicated with unsolicited opinions from outside entities and supplemental information being provided to our office well after the Sept. 1 deadline,” he said.
Lynn was running for a fourth full term in the Kansas Senate in District 9. She was facing Democrat Stacey Knoell in the general election.
Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, Lynn was appointed in 2006 to replace the late Kay O’Connor in the Senate.
The case was up against a hard deadline, since ballots must be sent to overseas military and government personnel by Sept. 19.
GOP precinct leaders have a week to convene and nominate a replacement, who will have less than two months to raise money and campaign for the seat.
A meeting to nominate a replacement is already planned for next Wednesday.
A number of names have already been floated, including former Lt. Gov. Dave Owen, former state House candidate Wendy Bingesser and Beverly Gossage, who ran for state insurance commissioner in 2014.
Gossage offically announced her candidacy on Facebook Friday morning.
“Should I earn the support of the precinct leaders on Wednesday, we will immediately launch an aggressive seven-week campaign ahead of the general election.
“This is a daunting task to organize a campaign in such a short time but with your support, we can assure a victory in November.
“I look forward to your her help – both financially and grassroots – as we take on this endeavor together.”
District 9 is centered in Johnson County, covering all or parts of De Soto, Gardner, Lenexa and Olathe.
Former Congressman Kevin Yoder only won the district by 3 percentage points two years ago. Gov. Laura Kelly won the district by 8 percentage points.
The district went for President Donald Trump with 53% of the vote in 2016 and for former Gov. Sam Brownback with 53% of the vote in 2014.
