Brownback’s primary performance a bellwether for November polls
By Bryan Lowry, The Wichita Eagle | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Brownback faced a grassroots challenge from
Chapman Rackaway, a professor of political science at
"It would mean there's a pretty wide swath of Republican voters that aren't satisfied with the governor. It's truly the best referendum on the governor," Rackaway said on the Friday before the election. "I think at 25 percent that's when alarm bells go off."
At the time the race was called Winn was polling at 39 percent. However, she was unwilling to concede.
"We keep climbing, and Brownback keeps falling. In the political realm, I am a no one compared to Brownback. But people are voicing their opinion. With only 13 percent of the votes counted, I am not giving up. When the polls are 100 percent in, then we will talk."
Those Winn voters might not necessarily support House Minority Leader
Davis issued a statement saying Kansans are deeply concerned "about the direction
Senate Majority Leader
"It's a possibility. There's of course a faction of liberal Republicans that are drawn towards the Obama agenda -- they're going to support Davis," Bruce said.
He said the governor's challenge would be to educate the public and define Davis between now and November. "And I think having that contrast is going to bolster
Libertarian candidate Keen Umbehr, an attorney from Alma, also will be on the November ballot.
Brownback theorized that some of the votes against him were from people who don't think he is conservative enough, but Winn did not run on a particularly conservative platform.
Winn was motivated to enter politics after her son
Winn ran on a platform of reforming the state's felony murder laws, legalizing marijuana and ending incarceration for non-violent drug offenders.
Brownback gritted his teeth when talking to reporters on his way out of the
"The election's about choices. They're not going to be voting on a moderate Democrat. This is a liberal Democrat with a long voting record of increasing taxes, of bigger government," Brownback said. "That's your choice."
"I think you've got a number of people very mad about the direction of America and what
"I've answered the question," Brownback said when asked about Winn's comparatively liberal platform.
It was a grassroots effort: Winn had raised about
With 2,717 of 3,487 precincts reporting, Secretary of State
Kobach was drawing about 65 percent of the vote. Morgan was standing at about 35 percent.
Morgan has been an outspoken critic of the proof-of-citizenship law, which Kobach championed, that has left more than 18,000 prospective voters in suspended registration status. He has also attacked Kobach for his out-of-state state activism on immigration and other issues.
Kobach has attacked Morgan as too liberal. His campaign sent out a news release suggesting that Morgan should change his political party affiliation to Democrat.
A showing for Morgan of above 30 percent could be good news for Democrat
Insurance commissioner
The race for insurance commissioner was a bit of a free-for-all, according to Rackaway, with five Republican candidates, all self-identified conservatives.
Selzer will face Democrat
All of the Republican candidates -- Selzer, Gossage,
"If you want to play on the lack of popularity of a certain politician, turning them into your straw man is a pretty effective campaign tactic. So it's not surprising that Obamacare becomes their boogeyman. Otherwise, the insurance commissioner deals with incredibly technical issues that most folks pay not a bit of attention to," Rackaway said.
Rackaway said that focusing on the Affordable Care Act is a way for a candidate to get voters to feel a personal stake in a race further down on the ticket.
"They don't know about how health insurance might be regulated in the state, but they know they don't like Obamacare. Boom! There you go, you got them with that issue," Rackaway said. "It's window dressing. There's going to be very little that the insurance commissioner can do other than rhetorically to fight Obamacare."
Selzer is a certified public accountant who lives in
Shultz has served in
Toplikar also served in the House and is now a member of the
Powell worked as an insurance agent for 37 years.
Gossage owns
Reach
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