The future of the Kansas Democratic Party may be riding with the fortunes of Attorney General Stephen Six, Secretary of State Chris Biggs and State Treasurer Dennis McKinney. Each are unelected incumbents who were appointed by Democratic governors to fill out the unexpired terms of their predecessors who resigned.
Each has fulfilled their duties admirably since taking office, but toil in relative obscurity because these offices do not generally command front-page coverage. Moreover, each is trying to win despite stiff political crosswinds that will make victory difficult.
Much of these Kansas Democrats' campaign hopes rest on factors largely outside of their control. With the economic recovery stalled and the presidency and Congress controlled by Democrats, Democratic incumbents all over the country are in serious jeopardy.
Exacerbating this trend in Kansas is the weak Democratic candidates at the top of the ticket. Tom Holland, the Democratic nominee for governor and Lisa Johnston, its nominee for U.S. Senate are underfunded and largely unknown, especially in comparison to their respective Republican opponents, Sam Brownback and Jerry Moran. Holland will be lucky to garner 45 percent of votes and Johnston maybe only 40 percent, and therein lies the problem for down-ballot Democrats.
The top of the ticket will not provide much of a political windbreak to help shield them against the negative national forces.
On the positive side for Democrats, all three of these races are interesting, which should help to disconnect them from the national trends.
The most compelling of these three contests is for secretary of state, pitting Chris Biggs against Republican challenger Kris Kobach. Both are experienced candidates, who have lost major bids in the past. If Biggs is to win, he must find some way to counter Kobach’s populist campaign to “stop voter fraud,” which Kobach views as being product of illegal aliens and felons who are improperly registered as voters. It matters little that Kobach’s claims leave many county clerks – who actually register voters and run the elections in Kansas – scratching their collective heads wondering what he is talking about: Any campaign with illegal immigrants as its centerpiece will have traction in 2010. Kobach, however, does have an Achilles’ heel. The Federal Elections Commission found that while he was Kansas State Republican Party chair, the state party accepted illegal contributions and failed to pay both state and federal taxes. Not exactly a resume builder when one is running for a glorified records keeping position like secretary of state.
The attorney general’s race features two qualified attorneys who arrived at this race through different political tracks.
Stephen Six practiced law for a decade before being appointed by Governor Sebelius as district court judge in 2005. Three years later, Governor Sebelius appointed Six attorney general, replacing Democrat Paul Morrison, who resigned under the cloud of a sex scandal. His Republican opponent is Derek Schmidt, majority leader of the Kansas Senate from Independence. Schmidt has bided his time and eaten his fair share of rubber chickens, waiting for the right election cycle to run for statewide office. Watch for this race to swing on mandatory health care requirements of the federal Healthcare Reform Act, derisively know as “Obamacare” among Republicans, which Schmidt believes should be challenged all the way to the Supreme Court and Six argues is a waste taxpayers’ dollars. The little technicality of whose legal opinion is correct will not matter in determining the outcome of this contest.
Most races for state treasurer are akin to watching paint dry. This contest is different only because the personal story of the current state treasurer, Dennis McKinney, is so compelling. McKinney, a resident of Greensburg, survived the F-5 tornado that destroyed his hometown and his residence. The Greensburg story still commands our collective attention.
Of course, there is more to McKinney than this tragedy. As a representative in Kansas House, he worked his way up to become the house minority leader. Unlike others who serve in similar capacities in other state legislatures, McKinney earned the respect of both his Democratic and Republican colleagues.
His opponent is the county treasurer from Sedgwick County, Ron Estes, who has a late start in getting his campaign up and rolling. In late July, Estes had raised less than $10,000, compared to about $175,000 for McKinney. Even though in a red state like Kansas, having the Republican Party label behind your name is enough for a candidate like Estes to win, candidates like McKinney, who are qualified and have a compelling personal story often overcome this deficit.
Only four short years ago, Governor Sebelius and Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson sailed to an easy triumph over their unknown and underfunded GOP challengers. Other Democrats like Morrison and Nancy Boyda won too, aided by Sebelius’ popularity. The tide, however, is now working against Democrats in Kansas and there is little left of Sebelius’ political footprint with Parkinson’s decision to not run for governor. Given that both of the last two popularly elected Democratic governors served first in a down-ballot statewide office, a win by one or two of these Democrats may be the only way to save the party from a decade of political oblivion. Winning in this political environment will be a difficult task for all three of these Democrats to be sure, but it’s not impossible.
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The future of the Kansas Democratic Party may be riding with the fortunes of Attorney General Stephen Six, Secretary of State Chris Biggs and State Treasurer Dennis McKinney. Each are unelected incumbents who were appointed by Democratic governors to fill out the unexpired terms of their predecessors who resigned.
Each has fulfilled their duties admirably since taking office, but toil in relative obscurity because these offices do not generally command front-page coverage. Moreover, each is trying to win despite stiff political crosswinds that will make victory difficult.
Much of these Kansas Democrats' campaign hopes rest on factors largely outside of their control. With the economic recovery stalled and the presidency and Congress controlled by Democrats, Democratic incumbents all over the country are in serious jeopardy.
Exacerbating this trend in Kansas is the weak Democratic candidates at the top of the ticket. Tom Holland, the Democratic nominee for governor and Lisa Johnston, its nominee for U.S. Senate are underfunded and largely unknown, especially in comparison to their respective Republican opponents, Sam Brownback and Jerry Moran. Holland will be lucky to garner 45 percent of votes and Johnston maybe only 40 percent, and therein lies the problem for down-ballot Democrats.
The top of the ticket will not provide much of a political windbreak to help shield them against the negative national forces.
On the positive side for Democrats, all three of these races are interesting, which should help to disconnect them from the national trends.
The most compelling of these three contests is for secretary of state, pitting Chris Biggs against Republican challenger Kris Kobach. Both are experienced candidates, who have lost major bids in the past. If Biggs is to win, he must find some way to counter Kobach’s populist campaign to “stop voter fraud,” which Kobach views as being product of illegal aliens and felons who are improperly registered as voters. It matters little that Kobach’s claims leave many county clerks – who actually register voters and run the elections in Kansas – scratching their collective heads wondering what he is talking about: Any campaign with illegal immigrants as its centerpiece will have traction in 2010. Kobach, however, does have an Achilles’ heel. The Federal Elections Commission found that while he was Kansas State Republican Party chair, the state party accepted illegal contributions and failed to pay both state and federal taxes. Not exactly a resume builder when one is running for a glorified records keeping position like secretary of state.
The attorney general’s race features two qualified attorneys who arrived at this race through different political tracks.
Stephen Six practiced law for a decade before being appointed by Governor Sebelius as district court judge in 2005. Three years later, Governor Sebelius appointed Six attorney general, replacing Democrat Paul Morrison, who resigned under the cloud of a sex scandal. His Republican opponent is Derek Schmidt, majority leader of the Kansas Senate from Independence. Schmidt has bided his time and eaten his fair share of rubber chickens, waiting for the right election cycle to run for statewide office. Watch for this race to swing on mandatory health care requirements of the federal Healthcare Reform Act, derisively know as “Obamacare” among Republicans, which Schmidt believes should be challenged all the way to the Supreme Court and Six argues is a waste taxpayers’ dollars. The little technicality of whose legal opinion is correct will not matter in determining the outcome of this contest.
Most races for state treasurer are akin to watching paint dry. This contest is different only because the personal story of the current state treasurer, Dennis McKinney, is so compelling. McKinney, a resident of Greensburg, survived the F-5 tornado that destroyed his hometown and his residence. The Greensburg story still commands our collective attention.
Of course, there is more to McKinney than this tragedy. As a representative in Kansas House, he worked his way up to become the house minority leader. Unlike others who serve in similar capacities in other state legislatures, McKinney earned the respect of both his Democratic and Republican colleagues.
His opponent is the county treasurer from Sedgwick County, Ron Estes, who has a late start in getting his campaign up and rolling. In late July, Estes had raised less than $10,000, compared to about $175,000 for McKinney. Even though in a red state like Kansas, having the Republican Party label behind your name is enough for a candidate like Estes to win, candidates like McKinney, who are qualified and have a compelling personal story often overcome this deficit.
Only four short years ago, Governor Sebelius and Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson sailed to an easy triumph over their unknown and underfunded GOP challengers. Other Democrats like Morrison and Nancy Boyda won too, aided by Sebelius’ popularity. The tide, however, is now working against Democrats in Kansas and there is little left of Sebelius’ political footprint with Parkinson’s decision to not run for governor. Given that both of the last two popularly elected Democratic governors served first in a down-ballot statewide office, a win by one or two of these Democrats may be the only way to save the party from a decade of political oblivion. Winning in this political environment will be a difficult task for all three of these Democrats to be sure, but it’s not impossible.
