(Updated to reflect comment from Wagle’s office)
Senate President Susan Wagle’s chief of staff said Thursday he had been let go because of a disagreement over whether he should work on her campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Harrison Hems, who had been on Wagle’s state Senate staff since 2013, said he was released last week because of a difference of opinion over whether he should work on the U.S. Senate race.
Wagle is seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in a field that includes Congressman Roger Marshall, former Secretary of State Kris Kobach, former Johnson County Commissioner David Lindstrom and conservative commentator Bryan Pruitt.
“It was not my choice to leave, but we just had a difference of opinions and that’s kind of where we landed,” Hems said.
Hems, who has been the senator’s chief of staff since 2015, said Wagle wanted him to work for her U.S. Senate campaign. He said he thought that would be inappropriate since he was a state employee.
“To me it’s a federal race. I’m a state employee. I’m being paid state dollars,” Hems told the Sunflower State Journal in an interview.
“The difference of opinion was I didn’t want to work on the race because I didn’t feel like I could legally.”
Hems acknowledged he was not aware of any law that would have prevented him from working for the federal race. He just didn’t believe it was the right thing to do as part of her state staff.
“I think it’s kind of a gray area because it’s not a common thing that happens,” he said. “Obviously, we’re political staff, so we can help with (state) Senate races and stuff like that for the caucus.
“To me it was just this is a federal race. I’m being paid state dollars. In my mind, it was not the best use of taxpayer dollars.”
Wagle’s office released a statement late Thursday, calling Hems’ departure amicable.
“Sen. Wagle wishes Mr. Hems and his family the best and has offered him her full recommendation in any future employment ventures,” the statement said.
“However, to infer that he was pressured to take part in any of Senator Wagle’s political ventures could not be further from the truth and is simply wrong,” the statement said.
Hems said in an interview earlier in the day on Thursday that he anticipated that Wagle would dismiss his claims.
“The rumors are going to be the rumors. I know why I was let go,” Hems said. “I’m sure Susan will try to defend it as much as she can. It is what it is.”
He added that he was still passionate about the political process and Kansas in general.
“It just became increasingly clear that the focus of the office has changed,” he said.
This is the second staffer Wagle has lost since July. Communications director Shannon Golden left Wagle’s office to become executive director of the Kansas Republican Party.
State campaign finance law allows legislative staffers to spend their time working on political campaigns, but they are prohibited from using state resources.
State law does not cover federal campaigns, meaning Hems could have worked on Wagle’s federal race.
Hems said he is now looking for work. He’s been involved in Kansas politics for about a decade, working as the outreach coordinator for the Kansas House majority leader in 2011 and later as the coordinator of the Office of Governmental Affairs at the state transportation department.
He became Wagle’s legislative director in 2013 before moving up to chief of staff in 2015.
