Never in my lifetime have there been legislative races where more was at stake and also where the voters have such clear choices in most of the Kansas House and Senate districts. In most cases, it comes down to a choice between continuing the failed policies of the current administration or acknowledging openly that the current direction is not working. Turning the ship around will not be easy, nor can it be done in one legislative session. It will take years, but the cost of not starting that process in this election year is beyond the pale.
I urge each and every person reading this message to take seriously every opportunity they have to support the many quality moderate candidates of both parties who are seeking office in this critical and competitive election year. This can be done by either directly or indirectly motivating others to get involved. And it starts with many critical primary races to be settled on August 2nd. Priority here are key Republican-held districts where a challenger of high quality and commitment to problem solving is working hard, and with your help, these candidates can be part of the effort to restore sanity.
While the first benchmark will be in the Republican primary, I’d urge Democrats and Independents to understand that this is not a primary to sit out. I’m not encouraging changes to party registration, for which the deadline has already passed anyway. However, I’d remind you that—regardless of where you live—you know some of the Republican voters who will have the opportunity to send a message to the extremist members of their party. Make sure these voters know what is at stake and which Republican is on the side of restoring our state versus who will be a “rubber stamp” for the failed and damaging policies of the recent past. Many of these races will be close, where a handful of votes will make the difference, so don’t tell me you can’t have an impact.
For the incumbents seeking re-election, they have voting records which will clearly put them on one side or the other, and finding those specifics will be relatively easy, including the results of the Special Session. Given the number of incumbents not seeking re-election, a message in and of itself, those districts will require a little more work to educate voters on the decisions they’ll have in front of them. I suspect many of the candidates trying to replace an incumbent who was tied to the administration will work very hard to avoid being tagged with ties to the least popular governor in the United States. But, through public inquiry and engagement, it will be clear who believes in sustainably addressing the fiscal crisis, wisely investing in quality education and research, maintaining our infrastructure, and supporting the historical value of a nonpartisan, independent judiciary. This campaign season is off and running, and there are many problem solvers who will need your active support.
I urge each and every person reading this message to take seriously every opportunity they have to support the many quality moderate candidates of both parties who are seeking office in this critical and competitive election year. This can be done by either directly or indirectly motivating others to get involved. And it starts with many critical primary races to be settled on August 2nd. Priority here are key Republican-held districts where a challenger of high quality and commitment to problem solving is working hard, and with your help, these candidates can be part of the effort to restore sanity.
While the first benchmark will be in the Republican primary, I’d urge Democrats and Independents to understand that this is not a primary to sit out. I’m not encouraging changes to party registration, for which the deadline has already passed anyway. However, I’d remind you that—regardless of where you live—you know some of the Republican voters who will have the opportunity to send a message to the extremist members of their party. Make sure these voters know what is at stake and which Republican is on the side of restoring our state versus who will be a “rubber stamp” for the failed and damaging policies of the recent past. Many of these races will be close, where a handful of votes will make the difference, so don’t tell me you can’t have an impact.
For the incumbents seeking re-election, they have voting records which will clearly put them on one side or the other, and finding those specifics will be relatively easy, including the results of the Special Session. Given the number of incumbents not seeking re-election, a message in and of itself, those districts will require a little more work to educate voters on the decisions they’ll have in front of them. I suspect many of the candidates trying to replace an incumbent who was tied to the administration will work very hard to avoid being tagged with ties to the least popular governor in the United States. But, through public inquiry and engagement, it will be clear who believes in sustainably addressing the fiscal crisis, wisely investing in quality education and research, maintaining our infrastructure, and supporting the historical value of a nonpartisan, independent judiciary. This campaign season is off and running, and there are many problem solvers who will need your active support.
RSS Feed