Posts Tagged ‘Kansas’
Two Republicans Seek AG Post in Kansas
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:47 Written by rslcpol Friday, 30 July 2010 09:55
From the OlatheNews.com:
The two Republicans running for Kansas attorney general agree on most issues, but they come to the campaign trail from very different backgrounds.
Ralph De Zago is the city prosecutor for Junction City. He has worked as a private attorney, a public defender and an assistant state attorney general. He is a U.S. Army veteran and can claim more experience in the courtroom than his opponent, Kansas Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt.
“Trial experience plus management experience of a large law office is the way to go,” De Zago said. “He (Schmidt) is coming from more of a political background. I’m not a politician.”
Tags: Kansas | Posted under Blog | No Comments
KS: GOP Races to Narrow Field for State Offices
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:48 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 29 July 2010 01:27
From hutchnews.com:
Experience and support for the new federal health care reform law are the defining issues in a Republican primary for Kansas insurance commissioner that will determine who holds the office for the next four years.
Republicans also must pick nominees in the Aug. 3 election for governor and attorney general, but each of those races has a candidate who’s expected to win easily.
In the insurance race, most Republicans expect incumbent Sandy Praeger, of Lawrence, to defeat insurance agent Dave Powell, of El Dorado. No other party has a candidate, meaning the outcome of the GOP race will determine whether Praeger keeps the office.
Tags: Kansas | Posted under State Legislature News | No Comments
KS: Secretary of State Candidate says state needs Referendum
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:49 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 28 July 2010 12:06
From cjonline.com:
Kobach is seeking the GOP nomination against Shawnee County election commissioner Elizabeth Ensley, of Topeka, and former National Association of Government Contractors administrator J.R. Claeys, of Salina. Candidates in the Democratic primary are Secretary of State Chris Biggs, of Junction City, and state Sen. Chris Steineger, of Kansas City, Kan.
Claeys said he supported the capacity of the public to gather signatures and place on ballots proposals for changing state statute or the constitution. He expressed skepticism Kobach had the leadership skill to bring about such a monumental change in Kansas government.
“It’s nice to see professor Kobach is talking about something the secretary of state does,” Claeys said. “It only took a year and a half of campaigning.”
Kobach, a Piper resident on leave from the University of Missouri-Kansas City law school, has focused much of his campaign on illegal immigration.
Biggs, appointed secretary of state by Gov. Mark Parkinson, said the proposal was “just another example of how Kris Kobach will try to use the secretary of state’s office to promote his personal, political agenda.”
Tags: Kansas | Posted under Secretaries of State | No Comments
KS: Money Comes in for Statewide Races
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 11:50 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 27 July 2010 01:12
From cjonline.com:
But the secretary of state’s race provided some surprises. State Sen. Chris Steineger spent almost twice as much on his Democratic primary campaign than incumbent Chris Biggs. Among the Republican candidates, Kris Kobach, a law professor who helped draft Arizona’s new immigration law, saw his spending dwarfed by that of a lesser-known rival, J.R. Claeys.
Kobach has grabbed most of the attention because of his work nationwide on immigration. His GOP primary opponents are Claeys, former chief executive of the National Association of Government Contractors, and Shawnee County election commissioner Elizabeth Ensley.
Kobach, of Piper, raised $61,308 from Jan. 1 through July 22, bringing the total for his campaign to $144,168, not including $56,047 of personal funds he contributed. His total spending was $124,572.
Claeys, of Salina, raised almost nothing this year and has received $35,827 since beginning his campaign in 2008. But he also has put $300,000 of his own funds into the race — and that allowed him to spend $282,003 this year, most of it on broadcast ads in mid-July.
Tags: Kansas | Posted under Attorney General News, Lieutenant Governor News, Secretaries of State | No Comments
KS: Republican AG Candidates Talk Experience
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 12:00 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 14 July 2010 01:19
From the Wichita Eagle:
Ask either of the Republican candidates for attorney general what makes him different from his opponent and both will give the same answer.
Experience, they say, sets them apart.
For Ralph DeZago, it’s his experience in the courtroom, as a trial attorney, knowing the ins and outs of the justice system.
For Derek Schmidt, it’s his experience in state government, wading through the bureaucracies of different agencies as the Kansas Senate majority leader.
Tags: Kansas | Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
KS: Democrats Spar Over Secretary of State Race
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 12:06 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 7 July 2010 09:45
From LJWorld.com:
An ongoing feud among Democrats in the Kansas Senate has spilled over into the party’s primary for secretary of state.
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka e-mailed 27,000 Democrats last month, announcing his endorsement of incumbent Chris Biggs and urging fellow Sen. Chris Steineger of Kansas City to withdraw from the race.
Hensley, who has spent the better part of three decades in the Statehouse, said Democrats stood the best chance in more than 60 years of holding onto the secretary of state’s office. Biggs was appointed in March by Democrat Gov. Mark Parkinson to finish the unexpired term of Republican Ron Thornburgh, who left for a job in the private sector.
Tags: Kansas | Posted under Secretaries of State | No Comments
KS: Republican Takes floor at Secretary of State Candidate Forum
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 12:36 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 17 June 2010 01:25
From LJWorld.com:
The forum, sponsored by Johnson County Young Republicans, took place at Barley’s Brewhaus in Shawnee.
Voting regulations came to the forefront of Kobach’s decision to run for secretary of state, he said. “Certain groups (such as ACORN) … are pushing for lighter voter laws. In my view that is breaking down the laws,” he said.
Kobach said one way to ensure fair elections is to implement a photo identification requirement to ensure citizens vote only once and illegal aliens are not voting.
“If we do we will create a model that other states can use,” he said. “Each illegitimate vote negates a citizen’s vote. If we pass a photo ID law, which Brownback will sign, the ACLU will sue. I’ve already drafted a law, but we need to be able to defend it. If I’m lucky enough to be elected Kansas secretary of state, I’ll defend it.”
Tags: Kansas | Posted under Secretaries of State | No Comments
Hotly Contested Races in Kansas
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 12:36 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 16 June 2010 01:33
From sunpublications.com:
Normally a rather unpretentious race, the Republican primary between former state GOP Chair Kris Kobach, J.R. Claeys, Salina, and Shawnee County Election Commissioner Elizabeth Ensley could provide the most fireworks of all.
Claeys’ campaign manager is Christian Morgan, who was Kansas Republican Party executive director in 2007 and 2008 when Kobach was party chair. An audit initiated by the Federal Elections Commission for those two years has implicated Kobach and Morgan for financial mismanagement that includes failure to pay state and federal taxes, approving questionable expenditures, and acceptance of illegal contributions.
Tags: Kansas | Posted under Attorney General News, Secretaries of State | No Comments
Former AG John Ashcroft Campaigns for Republican in KS
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 12:44 Written by rslcpol Friday, 11 June 2010 01:03
From LJWorld.com:
Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft is campaigning in Kansas for Republican Kris Kobach, saying his political protege is more than qualified to be secretary of state.
Ashcroft spoke at a campaign luncheon Thursday in Topeka. He was scheduled to speak at an event later in the day in the Wichita suburb of Andover.
Kobach was an adviser to Ashcroft in the U.S. Justice Department from 2001 to 2003. Ashcroft says Kobach helped with the agency’s reorganization following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Tags: Kansas | Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
KS: Appointed Democrat AG Wants to be elected this time
Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 12:52 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 3 June 2010 01:57
From CJonline.com:
Attorney General Steve Six officially launched his campaign Thursday during stops in four cities by touting a record as an “independent” Democrat dedicated to law and order.
Six, a former Douglas County District Court judge appointed to the job more than two years ago, was to make appearances in Johnson County, Topeka, Wichita, and Pittsburg.
He said at a Statehouse rally with supporters that he would run on a record of “real results” and highlight his independent approach to issues rising to the Kansas attorney general’s office. Just as significantly, he has avoided crisis since appointed by then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Tags: Kansas | Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments