(Updated to reflect legislative reaction to Facebook posts about Kelly).
Good morning everyone:
Such a crazy week with three gubernatorial forums, including one in which Gov. Jeff Colyer was jeered several times on stage and another that brought down abortion-rights supporters even more so against former state Rep. Josh Svaty.
In between all of that, we had Democratic state Rep. Jarrod Ousley turning down an endorsement from MainStream Coalition’s political action committee.
Endorsements are streaming in and, of course, we ended the week with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders announcing that he’s coming to Kansas to campaign for Democrats Brent Welder in the 3rd Congressional District and James Thompson in the 4th.
Those are just some of the major headlines, so let’s go deeper because there’s plenty out there to cover.
Teacher not endorsed by teachers’ union
How is it that Tom Niermann, a teacher, didn’t get the endorsement of the largest teachers’ union in the Kansas 3rd District congressional race?
The Kansas National Education Association passed on endorsing in the 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary last week, similar to how it approached the governor’s race.
We asked KNEA lobbyist Mark Desetti about why the group wouldn’t endorse one of their own.
It’s simple. The KNEA believes all the candidates in the race, including Brent Welder, Sharice Davids, Sylvia Williams, Mike McCamon and Jay Sidie, will support public education.
“We have the same problem that we do in the Democratic primary in the governor’s race,” Desetti said.
“Everyone of those candidates is really good. They’re all viable. We don’t know what’s happening in that race. We would be well served by anyone of them,” Desetti said.
But why not back the teacher?
“Our PAC guidelines say that being a teacher or even being a KNEA member does not guarantee you a recommendation,” Desetti said.
Desetti said the group would like to see who comes out of the Democratic primary before making an endorsement.
Watkins invests heavily in congressional race
Republican Steve Watkins has put close to a half million dollars of his own money into the 2nd Congressional District primary race.
The Army veteran and outdoor adventurist lent his campaign another $300,000 during the last quarter, bringing his total to $475,000 in personal campaign loans.
For comparison purposes, he’s raised $138,101 from individuals for the election cycle.
Watkins has been in the news a lot recently, first over a political action committee that his dad set up to help his campaign and then reportedly flirting with the idea of running as a Democrat.
Of course, candidates in this race are putting gobs of their own money into their campaigns.
Reports show that former House Speaker Doug Mays lent his campaign $101,000 as of the end of the second quarter on June 30.
Meanwhile Republican state Sen. Caryn Tyson had lent her campaign $155,000 through March 31. State Sen. Steve Fitzgerald reports borrowing $300,000 for the campaign.
Orman associate mocks Sen. Kelly
Maybe Greg Orman’s camp already thinks state Sen. Laura Kelly will emerge from the Democratic Primary in the governor’s race.
A key supporter, Wichita lawyer Scott Poor, took to Kelly’s gubernatorial Facebook page and ridiculed her work as a recreational therapist, derisively asking whether she was “certified to work with the monkey bars as well as the teeter totter.”
The Eagle’s Jonathan Shorman reports on the posting, noting that Kelly worked as recreational therapist in a job that used recreation to help children with mental illness. The post has sparked a backlash from several women lawmakers who were offended that someone affiliated with the Orman campaign would take aim at Kelly’s professional work life.
I worked with children at a museum. Prior to that, I was a waitress. Hope that that’s okay with this guy. #ksleg https://t.co/aWPHU7jKI3
— ❄️Stephanie Clayton❄ (@SSCJoCoKs) July 14, 2018
I had several “real” jobs before the most challenging: full time mom to Jane and Ella. Guess which one prepared me most for #ksleg? https://t.co/4iGQff0fYr
— Patty Evans Markley (@pemarkley) July 15, 2018
Orman campaign strategy is baffling. They unfairly insult the work of women on social media & yet apparently expect that approach will get them votes.
Don’t vote for Greg Orman.
We gave him his chance in 2014.
Remember how he lost.
Don’t let him lose another race for us. #ksleg https://t.co/7BzV2EfcpS— Rep. Nancy Lusk-Overland Park (@NancyLusk) July 15, 2018
A spokesman for the Orman campaign told the Eagle that the comments didn’t reflect the position of the candidate.
The Other Ron Estes revealed
Kudos to KMUW for getting what might be the first interview with Ron M. Estes about his campaign against Congressman Ron Estes in the Republican primary. However, there are still more questions about the origins of his candidacy than answered here.
Kobach defends ICE
Republican gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach was in Wichita Saturday, defending Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Making America Great Rally. The Wichita Eagle said the event drew about 80 people. Here’s the coverage.
Planned Parenthood, NFIB Endorsements
We’ve promised to bring you as many different endorsements on this website as possible. Here are a couple that fell through the cracks last week, one from Planned Parenthood and another from the National Federation of Independent Business.
Democratic primary and guns
In case you missed it late last week, The Associated Press’ John Hanna takes a thorough look at the gun issue in the Democratic gubernatorial primary where former state Rep. Josh Svaty has been pressing state Sen. Laura on her gun votes in the Legislature.
Svaty, Kelly, Brewer profiled
On Sunday morning, the good folks at McClatchy published their profiles on Democratic gubernatorial candidates Josh Svaty, state Sen. Laura Kelly and former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer.
Colyer snippets
Here’s some coverage of Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer this weekend, first a question-and-answer session with the governor in the Capital-Journal, then his call for ending in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants and a stop in Riley County.
Fitzgerald explains western civilization comments
Republican congressional candidate Steve Fitzgerald held a news conference last Thursday where he explained his comments about western civilization and barbarism. The comments gained national attention when they were reported by CNN a week ago. We won’t go into all the details, but here are stories about the news conference giving his side of the story from the Capital-Journal and the Lawrence Journal-World.
Concealed-carry applications plummet
The number of Kansans applying for new concealed-carry licenses has reached its lowest number since the licensing program started in 2006.
For fiscal year 2018 ending on June 30, the attorney general’s office received 4,896 concealed-carry applications.
The number is down from 14,221 applications in fiscal year 2014, two years before the Legislature allowed people to carry concealed handguns without a permit.
The highest number of concealed-carry applications submitted to the state was in fiscal 2013 when it received 25,361 applications. Here’s a chart showing the trend in applications.
The Kansas Legislature recently reduced the application fee for concealed-carry licenses for the 2019 fiscal year.
The application fee for new applicants was lowered to $112 from $132.50. The cost for license renewals is still $25.
The future of moderate Republicans
The Lawrence Journal-World’s Peter Hancock goes deep with this exploration of how the moderate wing of the Kansas Republican Party lost its mojo and why it might not find it. A great Sunday read.
