Good morning everyone:
So much happening from across the state last week with gubernatorial forums everywhere from Parsons to El Dorado to Kansas City to Lawrence to Topeka.
There’s also a pretty big under-the-radar abortion ruling and a curious story out of Kansas City about Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s friendship with a trial attorney with ties to President Donald Trump’s family and organized labor.
Governor’s race
Here’s a roundup of various gubernatorial forums – Democrat, Republican, bi-partisan – from a variety of sources, including one in El Dorado and another in Topeka where vouchers were a primary topic of the conversation.
The Democratic candidates met Saturday at a forum at Kansas City, Kan. Community College where state Sen. Laura Kelly said she wants to reverse KanCare and former state Rep. Josh Svaty said he wants to let local governments decide whether to pay prevailing wage.
There also was a forum on Saturday night in Parsons where Secretary of State Kris Kobach won a straw poll with 51 percent of the votes cast.
He was followed by Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer with 19.5 percent and Jeff Colyer with 17 percent. Here’s some coverage – as limited as it might be.
And just in case you missed it, here was our coverage of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce event, which brought together six major gubernatorial candidates from both parties. Lots of interesting talk about schools, budget cuts, taxes and electrical power.
Selzer made a little news last week with this story from WIBW where he talks about bridging the urban-rural divide. He also re-emphasizes wanting to reduce the size of the state workforce. And guess what? He wants to “lean in on costs”- his favorite phrase of the 2018 gubernatorial campaign.
In Clay Center, Selzer said the state should be run like a business. He also appeared on KCUR where he discussed how he plans to separate himself from a crowded field that includes Colyer and Kobach. He touts a track record of success and the fact that he’s the only gubernatorial candidate who’s a certified public accountant.
Former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer also appeared on KCUR last week, talking about how he’s trying to distinguish himself in a Democratic primary that includes Kelly and Svaty. He also discussed how his experience as mayor would serve him as governor and why he wants to be governor. Take a listen.
Gov. Colyer is everywhere these days, but here’s a piece out of Hutchinson where he talked about how much money the state’s privatized Medicaid program known as KanCare has saved the taxpayers.
Svaty got some coverage last week when he visited Baxter Springs where he talked about education, transportation and natural resources.
As always, you can never go a week without some kind of story about Kobach, this time from the KC Star about his friendship with a trial lawyer who connected him to Donald Trump Jr. as well as labor unions.
Also, here’s a podcast that Kobach did with the good folks at the Topeka Capital-Journal.
Abortion
While everyone is waiting for the big abortion ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court another ruling slipped by on Friday with very little attention when a state appeals court upheld a 2013 state law banning lawsuits for so-called “wrongful births.”
In a wrongful birth lawsuit, parents of a child born with health defects sue a physician claiming they should have been told about a fetus developing abnormally so they could have made a decision about carrying the pregnancy to term.
Here’s the story from Kansas News Service as well as a link to the opinion in the case. Also last week, Gallup released new polling data showing that Americans remain closely divided on the issue.
Kansas economy
The number of unemployed workers fell to its lowest level in 18 years as the state added almost 2,000 jobs in May. The number of Kansans looking for work dropped to below 50,000 for the first time since 2000, the state Labor Department reported. Here are stories from the Lawrence Journal-World, the Topeka Capital-Journal and the news release from the Kansas Department of Labor.
What form is easiest to register to vote
The Hutch News takes an interesting look at what form Kansans think is easier to register to vote: the state form or the federal form. Democrats prefer the federal form, because it doesn’t require proof-of-citizenship such as a birth certificate. The GOP, meanwhile, stands by the state form, saying it supports the state’s voter ID law and the proof-of-citizenship requirement for prospective Kansas voters.
Governor’s races getting pricey
Something to watch out for here in Kansas. USA Today reports that television spending in this year’s gubernatorial races now totals more than $132 million nationwide. It’s almost double the $69 million spent at the same point in governor’s races during the 2014 midterm election, the newspaper reports.
DiMaggio, Mantle and…Laura Kelly?
For years, Joe DiMaggio patrolled center field for the Yankees. Then it was Mickey Mantle with his splendid combination of power and speed. Oh, how state Sen. Laura Kelly wanted to be next in the line of great Yankee center fielders.
Sharing a little bit about herself during a gubernatorial forum Saturday, Kelly revealed her goal growing up was to one day replace the Mick in center field. “I loved sports when I was a kid,” Kelly said. “My ambition was to replace Mickey Mantle in center field for the New York Yankees. I’m not kidding, I really wanted to do that.” Unfortunately, that job eventually went to Bobby Murcer.
Kelly’s comment came in response to a question about describing a pivotal time growing up and what she would tell her younger self today. She talked about growing up in an era when there were barriers that hindered women from advancing. “I think if I had one regret it is that I allowed those barriers to influence some of the decisions I made through 25.”
She encouraged young people at the forum to not let barriers – real and perceived – limit them. “Find people who will work with you to help you find your dreams and follow them. I don’t want you to be all grown up like me and regret you made those decisions. Just live your dream.”
Editors note: I wanted to replace Willie Stargell at first base for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Loved his windmill swing. But I never developed the same left-handed power he possessed. Now, I write.
Kobach passes on Revenue Department IT contract
There are very few topics Kobach won’t take on as he runs for governor. However, he took a pass on one last Thursday when he was asked about the state Revenue Department’s no-bid, multi-million dollar information technology contract.
“I don’t know enough about that specific deal to opine,” he said. “I want to be careful. If I’m going to criticize someone I want to know my facts on it. I don’t know if it was sufficiently transparent or not. But I can look into that.”
A precinct committee candidate and the word “assassin”
It just seems to reason that “assassin” is one of those words you might want to avoid in any kind of political context in politics. Used the wrong way, it just might get you a visit from the U.S. Secret Service. So it is we have this story out of Hutchinson where a woman running for Democratic precinct committeewoman used the word “assassin” in a Facebook post that some people thought was political. Go figure. It turns out that Carmalee Winebrinner of Inman says it was a joke. Here’s the story from the Hutch News.
Prevailing wage study
We post this in the context of the three major Democratic candidates for governor calling for the state to let local governments decide whether to pay prevailing wages on public projects. The 2016 study by a researcher at the University of Missouri-Kansas City concludes that repealing prevailing wage laws in Kansas did not necessarily hold costs down on projects. It examined more than 1,300 projects from 2005 to 2016. The prevailing wage law was repealed in 2013. The study found that construction costs increased after prevailing wage was repealed. Here’s the study and draw your own conclusions.
K-State horticultural center closing
Citing budget cuts, Kansas State is closing it 120-acre horticultural research center in Haysville. No specific date has been set for the closure. Here’s a report from The Associated Press and the news release announcing the closing.
Environment
The Sierra Club last week went to court to challenge the state permits issued for a Phillips County hog production facility. The Capital-Journal has the details.
