Kansas Meadowlark

Sean Tevis, a Democrat in State Rep District 15 in Olathe, has become somewhat of an Internet political celebrity with a story yesterday about his unusual Internet campaign in the Los Angeles Times of all places.

His campaign report filed yesterday with the Kansas Government Ethics Commission showed an amazing $96,512 raised, but almost all the money was raised on dates that correspond to the far-left’s 2008 Netroots Nation convention in Austin, July 17-20. Is it possible that Tevis’ campaign was little more than a Netroots Nation experiment? Did other candidates across the nation use this same trick to load their campaign coffers with cash as part of Netroots Nation? (more…)

Safe from easy public view in Topeka is a PAC report from 2004 that explains much about the election of Frank Denning for Johnson County Sheriff in 2004. With weak open records laws in Kansas, this PAC report can be purchased for $0.50/page if you know where to go and whom to ask at the Secretary of State’s office.

The brother and sister-in-law of Sheriff Frank Denning are his supporters, but how many know the amount of money Jim and Marearl Denning spent in 2004 to elect Frank Denning Sheriff? Isn’t $47,000 in “independent expenditures” to elect a relative to public office worthy of some public discussion? Yet, the Kansas City Star apparently has never asked why Denning’s brother, Jim, might be so interested in seeing him elected Sheriff in Johnson County? This shouldn’t be an issue in Denning’s re-election bid? (more…)

Jack Cashill published a five-piece series this week on WorldNetDaily about the battle between Phill Kline and Planned Parenthood. In case you missed the articles, here are the links:

1. Kansas bleeds once more, July 21
2. Targeting an ‘anti-choice extremist’, July 22
3. Pro-life Kline refuses to roll over, July 23
4. DA Kline tackles Planned Parenthood, July 24
5. Will Kline survive media onslaught, July 25

Voters in State Senate District 8 recently received a mailing from Tim Owens in his bid against Ben Hodge for Kansas Senate. This piece, “Protecting Kansas Seniors,” had this “paid for” messge:

“Paid for by Owens for Kansas House Committee, Donald Schrick, CPA, Treasurer.”

Several days ago in a mailing, the message was:

“Paid for by Owens for Kansas Senate Committee, Donald Schrick, CPA, Treasurer.”

Why does one say “Senate” and the other says “House”?

(more…)

Kansas has weaker campaign finance reporting laws than Missouri and sometimes Kansas political money can be found in reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission before reports are filed with the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission.

Earlier this year the Meadowlark reported the Greater Kansas City Chamber PAC, Awash With Cash, Formed New PACs to “Buy” Kansas Elections. It’s not clear how much of the Chamber’s political money will be used in Missouri and how much in Kansas, but reports filed by these three Missouri Chamber PACs on July 15 hint at what will be in their Kansas reports that are due next week. (more…)

Mary Ca Ralstin recently appeared at a candidate forum with her opponent, Brandon Kenig, to discuss education issues in Kansas. While Ralstin is a passionate advocate for education, she seems to act like a Democratic Party activist while calling herself a Republican. Is this deception, or advancing one’s political agenda, or both?

At the candidate forum, why was Ralstin not asked about policy questions related to teachers having drugs at school? Unbelievably, in 2005 Ralstin supported a teacher dismissed for having drugs in a high school parking lot. (more…)

Dr. Elizabeth Ann Sanders, a member of the Johnson County League of Women voters, asked the candidates in State Board of Education District 2 candidate forum: “Using the moderate-conservative continuum, how would you characterize … the majority of your political views, and please explain that characterization.”

In Kansas, the furthest left you can be politically is a “moderate.” The world “Liberal” in Kansas only refers to a city in southwest Kansas, and has nothing to do with political philosophy.

Dr. Sanders is a very smart woman (more…)

The Johnson County League of Women Voters (LWV) along with the Johnson County Community College (JCCC) hosted a forum recently for August primary candidates, which can now be viewed online. A recent Meadowlark article asked about the “tilt” in the panel discussions because the LWV is mostly a left-leaning group and is confusing “non-partisan” with “not political” in their promotion of the public forum.

The inclusion of Richard Voss on the panel to ask questions of candidates Steve Baru and Jeff Colyer in State Senate District 37 is a good example of the bias introduced by the LWV in this process. Remember: the JoCo LWV declined a request to provide transparency in how these forums were run. (more…)

The left-leaning Kansas City Star is confused about the political affiliation of Steve Baru, who is a candidate for State Senate District 37 against Jeff Colyer in the August Republican primary election. Recently the Star’s Prime Buzz blog asked about Baru: Republican or Democrat: You make the call.

The Star’s confusion isn’t surprising since Baru has run for public office as a Republican, Democrat, and an Independent. In the last two elections cycles Baru has been a “Republican for Moore” in support of Democratic Congressman Dennis Moore, and opposed other Republicans for Congress in earlier years. Has “Republican” Baru ever supported a Republican for Congress? What other political skeletons does Baru have in his political past?

What legal actions have been taken against Baru, and what public censures has Baru received as a financial adviser? (more…)

The Johnson County League of Women Voters is confused about the words “non-partisan” and “not political” and their concern for transparency in their candidate forums. (See the candidate forums online, or on local cable TV channels.) The JoCo LWV and Johnson County Community College sponsored these recent candidate forums.

The League is a completely political organization, supposedly interested in government transparency, but they declined requests to provide transparency about participation of their members in these recent forums.

The League should be commended for their public service in organizing these forums, but should be challenged about their use of JCCC government resources if they are not providing a level playing field to all candidates. This will be the first of several articles about the tilt in the JoCo LWV-JCCC candidate forums. (more…)