Good morning everyone:
We hope everyone is healthy this Sunday morning. A very busy political week with key Farm Bureau endorsements, U.S. Senate candidates David Lindstrom and Susan Wagle calling out the GOP chairman for getting involved in the Republican primary and Gov. Laura Kelly announcing her plans to reopen the state’s economy.
Let’s waste little time and get down to business with the significant stories we published last week followed by important stories you may have missed but need to know…
- The biggest story of the week. Gov. Laura Kelly announced her plans for reopening the state amid the coronavirus pandemic. It’s not set in stone and could change as circumstances evolve.
- The governor’s easing of regulations for health providers has raised questions about whether it’s too lax and whether it goes far enough to shield physicians from lawsuits.
- A federal appeals courts struck down the state’s proof-of-citizenship requirement as unconstitutional and a violation of the motor-voter law. The court upheld a 2018 ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson.
- The Kansas Farm Bureau asked Republicans to unite behind Congressman Roger Marshall in the race for the U.S. Senate.
- Congressman Steve Watkins lost out on the Farm Bureau’s endorsement for the second election in a row.
- Republican state Sen. Ed Berger is drawing primary opposition from a Hutchinson anesthesiologist.
- Democrats have seen an extraordinarily large increase in turnout for the presidential primary after going to a mail-in ballot primary. The primary was set for May 2. The results are expected to be announced Sunday.
- U.S. Senate Democratic hopeful Barbara Bollier has scrapped a real tour bus for a virtual bus tour as she holds a series of online or telephone forums to meet Kansans.
- A teen who ran as a write-in candidate for governor is trying to unseat Democratic state Rep. Stan Frownfelter.
- State revenues plummeted in April as expected but the good news (if there is any) was that they were pretty close to the new, lower revised forecast issued last month.
Finance Council decision looms
A date you should mark on your political calendar: May 14.
That’s when the governor’s new emergency declaration ends, giving legislative leadership the power to decide whether to extend it for another 30 days.
The relationship between the Democratic governor and Republican leaders has been rocky in recent weeks after they revoked her order limiting the size of religious gatherings that set off a series of legal gymnastics.
Looking ahead, Kelly said in an interview Friday that she believes the state Finance Council will extend her order, which sets in motion her plan for gradually reopening the state amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The governor’s reasoning: No one wants to be seen as endangering the public health in an election year.
“I can vote count. I think we’ll be all right. I think we’ll be able to get that done,” Kelly said.
“I think that by and large, most of the legislators really understand that this is not the time to play politics,” she said.
“It’s not good for the people of Kansas, but also, quite honestly, it won’t be good for them politically,” she said.
“I don’t think any one of them going into an election year is going to want to be seen as obstructionists, somebody who put the health and safety of Kansans at risk for political reasons,” she said. “I think when it’s all said and done, the games are over and we’ll get it extended.”
House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. urged the governor to work more closely with legislative leadership.
“I can’t speak for other members, but I would like to see the governor do more than just talk about collaborating with other branches of government,” he said.
“The Finance Council isn’t a rubber stamp. Its members were elected by Kansans, and their input should be utilized.”
Meanwhile, Senate President Susan Wagle said Friday she was working on legislation to curtail the governor’s executive powers.
Wagle, a candidate for U.S. Senate, has been frustrated that Kelly isn’t moving fast enough to reopen the state’s economy.
“In other states, the people through their elected legislative leaders, have risen up and passed legislation to rein in an out-of-control governor,” Wagle said in a statement Friday.
“Sadly, the time has now come for us here in Kansas to do the same,” she said. “I am working on legislation right now to address Kansans’ concerns when the Legislature returns.”
New Lindstrom campaign manager
Republican U.S. Senate candidate David Lindstrom is bringing Dakotah Parshall on board as his new campaign manager.
Parshall, a Tarkio, Missouri, native, is leaving New Mexico, where he was managing Yvette Herrell’s congressional race for the state’s 2nd District.
Parshall ran Republican state Rep. J.R. Claeys’ races for the Kansas House in 2012, 2014 and 2016. He also ran Claeys’ unsuccessful run for secretary of state in 2010.
More recently, Parshall also managed Wink Hartman’s campaign for Kansas governor and later became deputy campaign manger for Kris Kobach’s run for governor.
“He is adept at grassroots campaigning and will work closely with Dave and me as we head into the last three months of the primary,” said Dave Owen, chairman of Lindstrom’s campaign.
This is the third change in staffing for the Lindstrom campaign.
Parshall is replacing Kansas political operative Karl Hansen, who left early last month.
Hansen joined the Lindstrom campaign last fall to replace Chris LaCivita and the Arlington, Virginia, consulting firm FP1 Strategies.
Kansans weigh in on COVID-19 response
A new national poll gives some insight into what the American public – and Kansans – think about response to the coronavirus.
Generally, the American public – Republicans and Democrats alike – was overwhelmingly cool to the idea of reopening the economy immediately.
Meanwhile, the poll suggests that Kansans, too, agreed with waiting to reopen the economy and were generally supportive of how the state government has responded to the health crisis.
The poll of almost 23,000 people across all 50 states revealed that just 7% wanted the economy opened immediately. In Kansas, 12% wanted the economy reopened immediately.
Twenty-six percent supported opening after more than eight weeks, of which 35% were Democrats, 16% Republicans and 26% independent. In Kansas, that was 18%, the poll showed.
Twenty-one percent supported waiting four to six weeks, of which 20% were Republican, 22% were Democrats and 21% were independent. In Kansas, that was 22%.
Eighteen percent supported waiting two to four weeks, of which 22% were Republicans, 13% were Democrats and 19% were independent. In Kansas, that was 22%.
Seventeen percent wanted to wait six to eight weeks, of which 13% were Republican, 22% were Democrats and 17% were independent. In Kansas, that was 12%.
The poll was done as a joint venture of The Network Science Institute at Northeastern University; The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School; and the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers. The poll was done April 17 to 26.
The poll found that there was substantial agreement that the state governments have responded properly to address the pandemic.
The survey found that 73% of the 491 Kansans polled on this question believed that state government had responded to the public health emergency about right.
About 14% thought the state overreacted, while another 14% thought it didn’t take the issue seriously enough, the poll showed.
The poll showed that 69% of the 496 Kansans surveyed on this question approved of the way Gov. Laura Kelly responded to the outbreak. Fifteen percent disapproved while 17% were undecided.
Thirty-two percent of those surveyed from Kansas were Republican, 35% were Democrat and 28% were independent.
By comparison, Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had an approval rating of 83%, Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was at 81%, and Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker were at 80% each.
The poll also found that at least 80% of those polled in Kansas approved of restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the virus, including including stay-at-home orders, mandatory closure of nonessential businesses, cancellation of major sports and entertainment events, and closing schools.
For instance:
- 92% of Kansans said they somewhat or strongly approved of government asking people to stay at home.
- 83% of Kansans said they somewhat or strongly approved of government requiring most businesses to close.
- 89% of Kansans said they somewhat or strongly approved of government closing K-12 schools.
- 90% of Kansans said they somewhat or strongly approved of the government limiting restaurants to carry out.
- 47% of Kansans said they somewhat or strongly approved of government tracking cell phone location to find out who was in contact with someone who was sick.
Here’s a link to the complete survey, which has all kinds of interesting poll nuggets worth reading.
New anti-Kobach ad
Last week brought us a new ad against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kris Kobach.
The ad is from the Keep Kansas Great PAC, which commissioned a poll earlier this year that showed U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall barely leading the field of Republican candidates but within the margin of error of Kobach.
The new ad features reports of Kobach’s demands to become President Donald Trump’s immigration czar, including a jet to visit the border every week.
Kobach said the ad was either false or misleading because it described the Club for Growth as an “anti-Trump organization” and stated that it was funding his campaign.
He also said the ad was false because it said he had demanded a private jet in exchange for a government job.
He demanded the ad be withdrawn from the airwaves and issued a news release Friday saying it had been taken down.
The Kobach campaign received notice Friday morning at 11:45 from Cox Media Group’s vice president of national and political sales saying the ad was being pulled because it had not been satisfactorily substantiated.
“We have reviewed the spot and asked the issuing party for substantiation for that statement. We have not received satisfactory substantiation for the statement, and therefore are removing the spot in question,” said the email from Jill Meiser.
The Kobach campaign on Friday announced that the ad had been removed based on the email it received.
However, the Sunflower State Journal obtained a copy of a subsequent email to the Keep Kansas Great PAC from Cox Media’s corporate counsel, LaTonya T. Washington, saying the ad would continue to be broadcast.
The email was sent at 6:12 p.m. eastern time Friday to the PAC’s legal counsel, Chris Ashby. The early evening email from Cox indicated that the ad has been substantiated.
A Kobach spokeswoman said that the campaign was notified Saturday that the ad would run.
The political action committee has raised $155,000 and had $142,000 on hand as of March 31.
The PAC raised $100,000 from the Ameta Corp., a firm based in Leawood that state records show was created in 2001 to promote and develop real estate, manufacturing and health care. The company’s president is Daniel R. Tasset.
The company shares the same mailing address as Nueterra Capital, where Tasset is listed on the firm’s website as chairman.
Nueterra Capital invests in early- and growth-stage health care companies, according to its website.
Also, Jeremy Tasset, one of the officers of Ameta, is listed as chief executive officer of Nueterra Capital.
The Keep Kansas Great PAC also raised $50,000 from the POET PAC, which backs candidates who support the biofuel and agriculture industries.
The PAC has hired FP1 Strategies, an Arlington, Virginia, firm whose consultants include Chris LaCivita, who helped Pat Roberts defend his Senate seat in 2014.
The PAC also hired the Virginia firm of political operative Travis Smith, ex-chief of staff to former Congressman Kevin Yoder. The firm, Creative Direct, is working as a mail vendor.
The PAC just reported spending $63,500 for a television ad buy with FP1 and another $23,769 with Creative Direct for direct mail.
With all that out of the way, here’s the ad:
Kobach’s new China ad
Former Secretary of State Kris Kobach released a new ad Friday blaming the Chinese Communist Party for allowing the spread of the coronavirus around the world. Here’s the ad:
New Bob Hamilton video
Republican businessman Bob Hamilton released a new video for the U.S. Senate race Friday. Here’s the ad.
Senate race turmoil
Republican U.S. Senate candidate David Lindstrom last week condemned state GOP chairman Mike Kuckelman for asking him and Senate President Susan Wagle to leave the Senate race.
Lindstrom went on local radio and said Kuckelman should resign.
Wagle also made a radio appearance where she said Kuckelman was a Roger Marshall supporter and was trying steer the primary the congressman’s way.
Here’s a link to podcasts of Lindstrom’s and Wagle’s appearances on Pete Mundo’s KCMO talk show from last week.
Lindstrom’s appearance is about eight minutes long while Wagle’s is about 10 minutes. Both are worth listening to this Sunday.
There also is a podcast of Kuckelman’s appearance on the show from the week before where he explains his actions.
Here’s more coverage of the controversy from the Capital-Journal and KSNT Television.
New image likeness rules
Kansas lawmakers this year started working on legislation allowing college athletes to profit from their names, likenesses and images.
But will it still be needed after the NCAA’s top governing board came out in favor of compensating student athletes?
The Kansas bill, like many others introduced across the country, would open the door for student athletes to make deals with video game producers, clothing manufacturers and shoe companies, among other marketing opportunities.
The legislation was an outgrowth of a nearly decadelong battle pitting star college athletes against the NCAA over how their images are used commercially.
But last week, the NCAA announced that its Board of Governors supported a rule change allowing student athletes to be compensated for third-party endorsements.
This could potentially have implications for states nationally as they move toward letting student athletes receive compensation for the images.
Here’s important coverage of last week’s significant announcement from NPR, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, The Associated Press, ESPN and the National Law Review.
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran chairs the Commerce subcommittee that’s been reviewing the issue on Capitol Hill.
On Friday, Moran and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the ranking member on the subcommittee, issued a joint statement responding to the NCAA’s action.
Moran and Blumenthal thought the NCAA was making progress but not enough to “bring their rules in line with the modern student-athlete experience.”
“We look forward to hearing more specific suggestions from the NCAA’s deliberative process,” they said.
“We will continue working with the NCAA, student-athletes, advocates and our colleagues in the Senate to ensure student-athletes are treated fairly.”
Prison struggles with COVID-19
The Associated Press reports that Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration stopped the early release of some prisoners last week as a way of holding down the spread of the coronavirus.
The AP’s John Hanna reports the state released six inmates last week but couldn’t free any more because of an outbreak that had led to fears the state would send infected prisoners into the community.
Those six inmates are now under house arrest for the rest of their term, the AP reports.
The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the state to force the release of some inmates to keep a check on the spread of COVID-19.
As of Saturday, there were 255 inmates with confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 250 were reported at Lansing. There have been two deaths blamed on the virus.
The large number of inmates infected with COVID-19 at Lansing is attributed to the increased testing of all residents in an open-dormitory living unit.
Ninety-one corrections staffers, including 86 at Lansing, have confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Kansas ethanol struggles
An interesting story from the Hutchinson News about how the state’s ethanol industry is struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic as gas prices plummet.
Law enforcement seizures
The Associated Press reports that Kansas law enforcement agencies are seizing a disproportionate amount of property from young African-American and Hispanic male drivers.
The AP says that a Kansas Bureau of Investigation analysis shows that African-Americans, who comprise 6% of the state’s population, were involved in 20% of the reported seizures.
Hispanics, who constitute 12% of the Kansas population, were involved in 20% of the seizures.
Rural Kansas and reopening the economy
The AP’s John Hanna takes the pulse of rural Kansas on the governor’s plan to reopen the state’s economy as it tries to dig out from the economic damage inflicted by efforts to slow down the spread of the virus.
Michigan coronavirus politics
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly should be thankful she’s not in Michigan.
First, there’s the litigation.
A judge last week found that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order didn’t violate the constitutional rights of Michigan residents. More coverage on that from Fox News.
Then there was the protest.
Hundreds converged on the Michigan Capitol on Thursday, calling for the reopening of state businesses as lawmakers debated whether to extend the governor’s disaster declaration before it expired at midnight.
Lawmakers voted down extending the declaration, leading Whitmer to issue a new disaster declaration with an executive order.
Here’s a good piece from the Detroit Free Press describing the split between the Democratic governor and the Republican-controlled Leislature.
High court considers business closure order
The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to hear a case from Pennsylvania challenging the governor’s executive order closing businesses considered nonessential in an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has already rejected the lawsuit, and it’s now on appeal to the highest court in the land. It is believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court has given the state of Pennsylvania until Monday to respond to the lawsuit.
House District 22 primary
Democratic state Rep. Nancy Lusk isn’t running for reelection, and there’s a Democratic field forming to replace her.
Last week, Randen Smith of Overland Park filed to run in the Democratic primary against Lindsay Vaughn for House District 22 in northern Overland Park.
Smith said Friday he was working and didn’t have time to discuss anything about himself until later this week.
Smith was listed as an investor when he contributed $100 to Democrat Matt Calcara’s campaign for the state House in 2018.
Vaughn, meanwhile, runs the volunteer program at Literacy KC. She worked as a field organizer on Congresswoman Sharice Davids’ campaign in 2018.
Vaughn has support from Lusk and various other Johnson County Democrats.
She has endorsements from former U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom, state Sen. Dinah Sykes and state Reps. Brett Parker, Brandon Woodard, Jarrod Ousley, Rui Xu and Jerry Stogsdill.
House District 22 has decidedly leaned Democratic over the years.
The district went for Gov. Laura Kelly in 2018, Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, Democrat Paul Davis in the 2014 governor’s race and President Barack Obama in 2012.
The district was last represented by a Republican in 2011-12, when the seat was held by Greg Smith.
Medicaid expansion
It’s been a long time since we’ve talked about Medicaid expansion in Kansas. The issue has stalled in the Legislature after the constitutional amendment on abortion failed to pass.
Meanwhile in neighboring Missouri, Medicaid expansion is getting closer to going on the ballot this fall.
Expansion advocates believe they have secured enough signatures to get the issue on the ballot.
They submitted about 350,000 signatures, which is believed to be double what’s need to get on the ballot.
Here’s coverage from the Springfield News-Leader, The Associated Press and The Hill newspaper.
In memoriam
Condolences go out to a couple lawmakers and a lobbyist who lost parents recently.
Republican state Rep. Barbara Wasinger’s mother, Bobbie King, passed away April 23 in Savannah, Georgia. She was 93.
Described as an avid bridge player, King sold real estate for 50 years, well into her 80s.
She is survived by three daughters, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to GHC Foundation (Hospice), P.O. Box 15665, Savannah, Georgia, 31416.
Republican state Sen. Rob Olson’s father, Richard, passed away April 25. He was 83.
Richard Olson served in the Army in the 38th regiment in the 2nd infantry division out of Fort Lewis in Washington state.
He served as a sergeant for two years. After returning home, he continued his education at Chanute Community College and received his degree as a land surveyor.
The family suggests donations to the Korean War Veterans Association Memorial — Contributions, at P.O. Box 407, Charleston, Illinois, 61920
Statehouse lobbyist Whitney Damron’s father, Paul, passed away April 26. He was 87.
The longtime funeral home owner with a passion for fishing is survived by his wife, Janice, and all of their children as well as his brother, John.
The family suggests memorial contributions to the Topeka Rescue Mission in care of Davidson Funeral Home, 1035 North Kansas Avenue, Topeka, 666068.
