Good morning everybody:
The week ended on a climactic note with state Supreme Court Justice Carol Beier’s surprise retirement announcement and the governor’s late afternoon appointments to the Kansas Corporation Commission and the Board of Tax Appeals.
The good news for the week: Mrs. SSJ has finished binge watching seven seasons of “Melrose Place.” The bad news: The future of baseball this year and what the season could look like seem murky at the time we are writing this.
Now, let’s get down to business with the most significant stories we published last week and other news you may have missed but need to know.
- A look at how the ACLU’s influence has evolved in Kansas.
- Republican Congressman Roger Marshall turns his attention to Bob Hamilton in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate.
- State Supreme Court Justice Carol Beier announces her retirement.
- Gov. Laura Kelly nominates utilities lawyer to the Kansas Corporation Commission.
- Governor withdraws her nominee to the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals.
- State Rep. Ken Corbet recovers from a tractor accident.
- Republican Amanda Adkins secures endorsements from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in the 3rd District congressional race.
- The Legislature’s top tax expert is retiring after 34 years.
- State Supreme Court Justice Caleb Stegall defended the governor’s appeals court nominee against criticism for his work as a criminal defense attorney.
- Kansas Democrats elect former U.S. Senate candidate Usha Reddi as nationalcommitteewoman.
- Kansans for Life splits its endorsements in Kansas congressional races.
Mail ballot requests break 100,000
The number of requests for mail ballots has surpassed the 100,000 mark, more than double the number requested in 2018.
The secretary of state’s office reported on Friday that 107,345 advance voting applications have been processed, compared to 51,455 in 2018.
Almost 6% of the state’s registered voters have asked for a mail ballot.
The number of advance ballot requests has been skyrocketing in the last couple months with the threat of the coronavirus hanging over the elections.
At the end of April, there had been 12,809 requests for mail ballots. It grew to 24,897 by May 10. By the end of May, the number reached 57,687.
Here are the top five counties by the percentage of voters who have requested mail ballots:
- Republic, 25.7%
- Trego, 24.9%
- Stafford, 21.3%
- Edwards, 20.7%
- Sheridan, 20.5%
Here are the top five counties by the number of requests for mail ballots:
- Johnson, 32,722
- Douglas, 12,566
- Sedgwick, 8,168
- Leavenworth, 8,077
- Butler, 5,471
More mail balloting new
Mail ballots have become all the rage with the coronavirus pandemic hanging over us.
Kansans are asking for them in droves, more than the number requested for the 2018 and 2016 primaries. Here’s a wrapup of news you may have missed on the hottest election issue of 2020.
Secretary of State Scott Schwab last week explained his concerns about moving to an all-mail-ballot election. Here’s more coverage of Schwab’s visit to Binswanger Glass, which is manufacturing and shipping Plexiglass screens for polling places.
NPR offers this informative primer on everything you would want to know about mail balloting. Meanwhile, here’s a look from The Hill newspaper on where each state is on mail voting. In other news:
- Iowa saw a primary turnout record as absentee voting surged.
- Iowa Senate Republicans want to bar the secretary of state from mailing absentee ballot requests without a written voter request.
- South Carolina also saw a massive increase in requests for mail ballots leading up to last week’s election.
Senate candidates oppose mandatory vaccines
Two of the major Republican candidates for U.S. Senate said Saturday that they oppose government-mandated vaccines for children.
Appearing in a forum broadcast on Facebook by Republican Women United, Kris Kobach and David Lindstrom said decisions about vaccines should be left to parents.
The question about the vaccines came up during the forum in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The question: “Where do you stand about mandated vaccines and medical freedom and more parent choice when it comes to vaccines? Do you stand with parent choice or do you stand with some of the mandated vaccines and why?”
Lindstrom answered first.
“First of all, I believe in parent choice,” Lindstrom said. “There are roles of government, and one of those roles is to protect the vulnerable and at risk. Their role is not to determine what parents do with their own children.”
Kobach echoed that view.
“I oppose government-mandated vaccines,” he said. “Certainly, vaccines are something that parents may elect to choose or adults may elect to take if they wish.
“Government mandates, what you put in your body, are not only unwise, they’re unconstitutional,” he said.
“The government can no more force you to take a vaccine than the government can force you to eat something or drink something. You have control over what it is that’s put in your body, and we have to remember that.”
The other major Republican candidates — Roger Marshall and Bob Hamilton — did not participate in the forum.
Kobach and Lindstrom were joined by self-described Republican socialist Brian Matlock.
Matlock said he would accept the recommendations of the scientific community.
But he added, “It probably depends on the vaccine and the severity of the disease it’s preventing.”
Supreme Court horse race
Gov. Laura Kelly will get her third appointment to the seven-member state Supreme Court with the retirement of Justice Carol Beier in September.
Who knows how the field will shape up for the nominating commission, which will screen the candidates and recommend three to the governor.
But the past could be a good indicator.
Here’s a look at the candidates who have either been recommended for a seat on the court or finished just outside the top tier of candidates.
It may give you some idea what to look for when the next justice is picked, although there is no guarantee that the same candidates will apply again.
When the commission recommended a replacement for Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, the three top candidates were:
- Kansas Appeals Court Judge Thomas Malone
- Assistant Solicitor General Steven Obermeier
- Former Supreme Court deputy counsel Keynen Wall
The governor appointed Wall to the seat on the court.
A review of the voting process shows District Judge David Ricke and Wichita lawyer Kristen Wheeler were just on the outside of making the final three applicants seeking to replace Nuss on the court.
When the commission recommended Justice Lee Johnson’s replacement, it sent these names to the governor:
- District Judge Evelyn Wilson
- Deputy Attorney General Dennis Depew
- Obermeier
Wilson got the job.
Other candidates just outside the top three were Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Melissa Standridge, Appeals Court Judge Malone and Washburn University law professor Randall L. Hodgkinson.
As a refresher, here are the candidates who applied to replace Johnson and the candidates who sought to take Nuss’ spot on the bench.
And here are short bios on the five lawyers and the four nonlawyers who recommend three candidates to the governor.
Tax board spared
The Kansas Board of Tax Appeals won’t grind to a halt after all.
Gov. Laura Kelly’s decision last week to withdraw a nominee to the board left the panel with just one member.
State law requires the votes of two members for any final order to be issued by the three-member board.
However, Kelly on Friday nominated Thomas Browne Jr. of Topeka as the board’s chief hearing officer, subject to Senate confirmation. Browne works for the Kansas Revenue Department.
The chief hearing officer can fill in temporarily when there are vacancies on the board.
Terms for two of the members — Jay Cooper and Devin Sprecker — lapsed in April, 90 days after the date their term ended as provided for in state law.
Kelly announced the nomination of appraiser Robin Marx for the board on April 13, a day before the terms of the previous members expired.
The governor said last Thursday that she withdrew the appointment after it wasn’t acted on during the recently completed special legislative session.
The confirmation was expected to be controversial since Marx drew opposition from a couple of influential business groups.
Kelly said she plans to resubmit his nomination when the Senate convenes again next year.
There was an attempt by the Legislature to extend the terms by 180 days to give the governor more time to fill the position.
But Jody Allen, now serving as the board’s executive director, said it was her understanding that the bill contained the wrong year — fiscal year 2021, not the current 2020 fiscal year — and wasn’t implemented.
The bill allowed for a board member “to continue to serve for a period of 180 days after the expiration of the member’s term during fiscal year 2021.”
Earlier this year, the board delayed 149 tax appeals cases through the end of June because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The board is remodeling its meeting room to meet health protocols and is expected to be completed by July. There are 18 cases scheduled for July.
2nd District Congressional debate
A debate between Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner and Congressman Steve Watkins is set for July 14, three weeks before the Republican primary in the 2nd Congressional District.
It was still unknown whether former Department of Administration Secretary Dennis Taylor will meet the criteria to participate.
He has to have a website up and running and have raised $50,000 by June 30 to participate. He already has the website.
The half-hour debate will be broadcast by KSNT and moderated by Washburn University political scientist Bob Beatty. It also will be broadcast by KSNF in Pittsburg. It will run from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
LaTurner used the debate announcement to call on Watkins to participate in at least four additional debates before the Aug. 4 Republican primary.
“Kansans have plenty of questions for the current congressman about his voting record and repeated ‘mistakes’ during his first term in office. They deserve answers,” LaTurner said in a statement.
“I challenge Rep. Watkins to meet me on the debate stage for this and at least four additional debates throughout the district so that Kansans can hear from his own mouth why he continues to use their hard-earned money on self-serving ads, why he is accepting campaign contributions from liberal donors, and why he is under investigation for felony voter fraud,” he said.
Watkins’ campaign spokesman, Bryan Piligra, sidestepped a direct question about whether Watkins would participate in more debates with LaTurner.
“We have already agreed to debate Jake on July 14,” Piligra said in an email.
“We are looking forward to comparing LaTurner’s self-serving record as a tax-and-spend career politician versus the Congressman’s record of working with President Trump to deliver conservative victories for Kansans.”
New TV ads
Here’s the latest round of television ads from political campaigns from across the state, including one from Tracey Mann out in the 1st District and the latest from Club for Growth against Roger Marshall as well as the latest ad from Bob Hamilton.
Club for Growth/Marshall
Tracey Mann
Hamilton-Immigration
Marshall/Hamilton
Campaign commercial snafu
Roll Call has this little insidery story about how U.S. Senate candidate Bob Hamilton’s then-unaired campaign ads fell into the wrong hands as strategists tested them with focus groups.
The newspaper reported that the campaign texted a link to a survey where respondents could view five different ads and offer their reactions.
“Since the survey would likely have only allowed the respondent to view the ad one time,” the newspaper reported, “the link fell into the hands of someone particularly astute and interested enough to be prepared to record the ads with their phone as they played on a laptop screen.”
Coronavirus changing lives
More than three-quarters of Kansans are at least concerned about the coronavirus, a new poll commissioned for Kansas News Service showed.
Seventy-eight percent of the 616 people surveyed said they were either concerned or very concerned about the virus.
However, just 32% of white respondents reported feeling very concerned, in contrast to 55% of nonwhite respondents.
Nonwhite respondents were also more likely to personally know someone who had been infected with the virus (35%) compared to their white counterparts (21%).
The poll also found that 58% of people surveyed said this period has been stressful for themselves and their family.
The survey reveals how Kansans believe that the virus is changing their lives. 
The survey also provided some insight into how Kansans feel about the ongoing debate over opening the economy when balanced against combating the virus.
Thirty-six percent of those polled said there has been too much emphasis placed on reopening the economy when compared to combating the spread of the virus.
Twenty-seven percent said there has been a “good balance” between reopening the economy and the fight to stop the spread of the virus.
Twenty-four percent said there has been too much emphasis on stopping the spread of the virus when balanced against reopening the economy.
Ivanka Trump controversy
The firestorm over Ivanka Trump’s planned virtual graduation address to students at WSU Tech continued into a second week, this time with calls for the Wichita State University president to be fired for canceling the speech.
Trump’s address was nixed a little more than a week ago in response to criticism of President Donald Trump’s response to nationwide demonstrations over the death of George Floyd.
The school announced Trump’s address on June 4 and abruptly canceled it the same day after criticism surfaced.
Here’s coverage of the latest developments at WSU from The Associated Press, KWCH, KAKE and Inside Higher Ed.
Former senator endorses Kris Kobach
Former Republican state Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook last week came out in support of Kris Kobach in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate.
“As a pro-life Catholic who has fought to defend innocent life in the Kansas Senate, I know Kris Kobach would be the most effective pro-life voice in the U.S. Senate,” Pilcher-Cook said in a statement.
“He is articulate and doesn’t back down. We need him there fighting for us.”
Pilcher-Cook served nearly three full terms in the Senate before retiring from the Legislature earlier this year.
She represented District 10, which covers parts of Overland Park, Shawnee, Bonner Springs, Merriam and Lake Quivira.
Marshall’s special fundraising guests
Former Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer and former Congressman Kevin Yoder will headline a fundraiser in Mission Hills at the end of the month for Congressman Roger Marshall in his bid for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate.
They will be the special guests at a “patio party” hosted by Terry and Marianne Kilroy, George and Babs Morris and Nick and Mary Ann Powell.
The fundraiser is sponsored by a who’s-who of Republican donors in the Kansas City area, including construction executive Terry Dunn, Dalton Hermes, development attorney Korb Maxwell, Mike Haverty, Anne and J.B. Hodgdon, and others including physician Mark Allen, the grandson of legendary Kansas basketball coach Phog Allen.
Pompeo news
It was revealed last week that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s wife, Susan, was the focus of a continuing investigation by the State Department’s inspector general.
The Kansas City Star reports that Susan Pompeo’s name came up 23 times in a transcript of a congressional interview with fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick
Linick said he had been looking into potential misuse of government resources by the Pompeos before he was fired by the president at Pompeo’s behest.
Here’s more coverage of the release of the transcript from ABC News, CNN, and National Public Radio. The Associated Press reported that Pompeo said that the inspector general was removed because he failed to do his job.
Emergency orders dispute
Laura Kelly isn’t the only governor in the country who had to wrestle with a legislature over emergency disaster orders stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week, Pennsylvania lawmakers passed a resolution directing Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to terminate the coronavirus disaster emergency that he had issued March 6 and extended on June 3. Here’s more coverage from Fox News.
Wolf says legislators can’t end the disaster declaration and detailed the impacts. And there seems to be a lot of confusion whether over Pennsylvania lawmakers really can force the governor to end the declaration. On Friday, the governor asked the state Supreme Court to intervene in the dispute.
Of course, Kansas has been there, done that.
Interim Medicaid director
The state health department has named Christiane Swartz as the interim state Medicaid director. Swartz has served in a variety of management positions in the Medicaid arena for the state during the last 20 years. Most recently, she has worked as the director of operations and chief operations officer.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment will start a search for a permanent Medicaid director. The previous director, Adam Proffitt, left to become operations finance manager for Amazon in the Kansas City area.
Murnan named to Children’s Cabinet
House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer last week named Democratic state Rep. Monica Murnan to the Kansas Children’s Cabinet.
Murnan has served in the Kansas Legislature since 2017 and is the ranking minority
member on the House Health and Human Services Committee.
She also serves on the Social Service Budget Committee, Rural Revitalization Committee, and the bipartisan Early Childhood Caucus.
“Throughout her career and during her time in local and state government, Rep. Murnan has demonstrated an incredible commitment to the children of Kansas,” Sawyer said in a statement.
“She has a long history of prompting investments in our youngest Kansans. With her knowledge of programs and policies necessary to align and coordinate a robust system of early childhood services across the state, Murnan is determined to ensure equitable access and quality programming for all Kansas kids.”
The Cabinet is made up of 15 members. Five voting members are appointed
by the governor and four voting members appointed by legislative leadership. Six are ex-officio members from various state agencies.
Republican debates
The Kansas Republican Party announced last week that the next U.S. Senate debate will be held in Wichita on June 24.
The debate, which will focus on health care, will be held at the Century II Concert Hall.
It will start at 7 p.m. Craig Andres of KSNW-TV will moderate the debate.
The final GOP debate will be held on July 15 in Atchison.
In memoriam
Former Wichita Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Carl Brewer passed away last week. He was 63. Brewer ran for governor in the 2018 Democratic primary with running mate Chris Morrow, the former mayor of Gardner. They came in second behind Gov. Laura Kelly and her running mate Lynn Rogers. Here is a recap of Brewer’s passing from last week with coverage from KWCH, KSN, and the Hays Post.
Kelly issued this statement on Brewer’s passing: “Carl was an outstanding mayor, served for more than two decades in the Kansas National Guard, and was a strong supporter of the Kansas Labor community. I have no doubt the impact of his contributions to our state will be felt for generations to come. Carl truly embodied all of the best qualities of what it means to be a Kansan, and he will be dearly missed.”
