By Roxie Hammill
Sunflower State Journal
Republican 3rd Congressional District candidate Sara Hart Weir came out swinging at primary opponent Amanda Adkins during a debate Tuesday night, charging Adkins with contributing to a political action committee that supports Democratic candidates.
The remarks were apparently in response to a recent ad supporting Adkins that plays up Weir’s work for former U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore’s campaign when she was a recent college graduate.
The ad suggests Weir is “playing dress-up” as a Democrat in Republican clothing.
Weir also addressed criticism of her appointment by a Democratic Maryland governor to a commission on police training.
As former CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society, she became involved in a 2013 case in which a young man with Down syndrome died after being restrained by police at a movie theater.
“I bring this up because of the hypocritical nature of the campaign my opponent Amanda Adkins continues to run,” she said.
Weir called Adkins out three times, noting that Adkins, a Cerner executive, had contributed to a company PAC that supported Kansas Democrats Barbara Bollier, who is running for U.S. Senate, and Gov. Laura Kelly for her 2022 reelection bid, among others.
“Up until seven months ago, Amanda, you were contributing to a corporate PAC that was supporting liberal Democrats,” Weir said.
“Funneling money to these liberal Democrats goes against everything we stand for as conservative Republicans.”
Adkins responded that she is a solid Republican, having once been chair of the Kansas GOP, founder of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Excellence in Public Service Series for Republican women and a contributor to the Kansas Chamber of Commerce PAC, as well as the Cerner PAC.
“There Sara goes, attacking business again,” Adkins said.
She called Cerner “one of the best examples of innovation here in the Kansas City community to transform health care here and across the globe. I stand proudly with 15,000 associates who are affiliated with that entity.”
Adkins and Weir have clashed over the ad supporting Adkins, which was paid for by the Heartland USA PAC in which Adkins’ father, Alan Landes, was the primary donor.
Adkins did not repeat the ad’s claims at the debate, instead using her rebuttal time to express support for Cerner and her family.
The Olathe debate sponsored by the Johnson County Republicans featured four of the five GOP candidates for the seat now held by U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Democrat.
Also appearing were Mike Beehler and Adrienne Vallejo Foster. Candidate Tom Love, a former state representative from Overland Park, did not attend.
Beehler and Foster each talked up their professional experience. Foster, former mayor of Roeland Park, said that as the only Latina running, she’d be able to get Republican votes out of Wyandotte County for the general election.
Beehler, a retired Burns and McDonnell executive, touted his credentials as a businessman and said he wants to start planning a “Sunflower Corridor Task Force” to build a sustainable, smart city at the abandoned munitions depot full of hazardous waste in De Soto.
He portrayed himself as the best “free-market capitalist,” saying he is concerned about the national debt and would cut foreign aid, funding for laboratories that had made wrong predictions about the coronavirus pandemic and funds for such entities as NPR and public television.
He also noted that he stood with protesters in Topeka against the business shutdown in response to the pandemic.
Foster said, “I find that interesting because as he was walking outside, I was actually in my office working with over 240 of our small businesses,” filling out federal aid forms to help them stay open.
“Government should not be dictating when our businesses open and when they close. Government should not be dictating when I can go to church and when I cannot. Government should not be dictating if I should wear a mask or should I not wear a mask,” she said, adding that businesses should make their own decisions about what’s best for their employees.
