Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly taps Commerce Secretary David Toland to be new top deputy

Dec. 14--TOPEKA -- Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has chosen Commerce Secretary David Toland as the next lieutenant governor, selecting a political ally who has spent the past two years cultivating relationships with business and civic leaders across the state.

Kelly, 70, now heads toward re-election season with a young and relatively new face in Kansas politics as her top deputy. Toland, 43, also hails from a small-town background, a potential asset as Democrats try to chip away at Republican strength in rural areas.

But Toland, who served as Kelly's campaign treasurer, has encountered tough Republican opposition in the past. His Senate confirmation as secretary of the Kansas Department of Commerce in 2019 was nearly derailed by GOP efforts to draw abortion politics into the fight over his nomination.

His appointment as lieutenant governor doesn't require Senate approval.

He also leads an often-scrutinized agency that administers controversial economic incentive programs--including tax breaks for businesses--that have drawn both bipartisan support and opposition. Toland says he has worked to rebuild the agency and restore efforts to draw in foreign investment, aid small businesses and deescalate the incentive border war in the Kansas City area.

Kelly revealed Toland's selection on Monday, less than a week after she named current Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers to the position of Kansas Treasurer. The current treasurer, Republican Jake LaTurner, was elected to Congress and will resign in a few weeks. Under Kansas law, the governor selects the replacement.

"David recognizes that economic prosperity doesn't happen in a vacuum, that new capital investment must be complemented by a top notch education system, a dynamic infrastructure program nimble enough to support changing needs, access to affordable health care and a culture that values diversity and inclusion," Kelly said.

In Kansas, the lieutenant governor has few formal duties but is often a second public face for the administration, taking meetings the governor cannot attend and assuming a share of the meet-and-greets, ribbon cuttings and other ceremonial functions that fill up schedules. Sometimes they also take the lead in certain policy areas; Rogers focused on rural issues, for example.

Kelly said Toland will continue on as commerce secretary while serving as lieutenant governor. Toland described his new role as "blending" together both offices.

"We will continue to build on this momentum through smart and transparent economic development strategies," Toland said.

Republicans immediately attacked Toland's appointment. Kansas GOP chairman Mike Kuckelman called Toland a "liberal partisan" and said Republican supermajorities in the Legislature ensure Kelly's "liberal agenda is dead on arrival for the remainder of her term."

Kelly's office released 18 statements from business, civic and political leaders praising Toland. "We have the deepest regard for David Toland whose leadership was instrumental in securing the economic Border War truce between Kansas and Missouri," Joe Reardon, president and CEO of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, said in one such statement.

Kelly brushed aside questions about the political value of Toland's appointment. She emphasized Kansas remains in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and "we're focused entirely on that."

Kuckelman treated a re-election campaign by Kelly as an open question on Monday, predicting that "should she decide to run for re-election," she would be defeated.

Asked about speculation she is selecting Toland to set him up to run for governor if she chooses not to campaign again, Kelly said there's "nothing I can say that will stop that speculation," before adding that she appoints individuals who are the most qualified.

For its part, Kelly's campaign operation has told supporters it is preparing for a re-election bid.

"Laura is eager to look ahead to the future, but the only way we'll be able to ensure she continues fighting for us as governor is if we start preparing for her re-election right now. The sooner we start planning, the more prepared we'll be when Election Day is here," Kelly's campaign said in a November fundraising email.

Some lieutenant governors have gone on to higher office. Others fade into the political background once their terms are over. Of the seven Kansas lieutenant governors in the past 20 years, two became governor, one was elected to Congress and one was selected to serve in another statewide office.

Toland remains a relatively new presence in statewide politics. He is a native of Iola, a city of 5,700 about two hours southwest of Kansas City and holds degrees in political science and public administration from the University of Kansas. He held several jobs in the Washington, D.C., mayor's office before returning to Kansas in 2008.

In Iola, he led Thrive Allen County, a health advocacy and economic development agency. Toland pushed the county to raise the tobacco purchasing age to 21 from 18, a campaign that angered some residents. His opponents included Virginia Crossland-Macha, who was vice chair of the Kansas Republican Party at the time of Toland's 2019 nomination as commerce secretary.

His nomination became embroiled in statewide abortion politics after Kansans for Life, the state's leading anti-abortion group, linked Toland to a memorial fund for assassinated Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller. The attack on Toland centered on grants totaling about $19,000 Thrive Allen received from the fund.

The money was used to help pregnant women quit smoking and obtain long-term, reversible contraception. None of the money was used for abortions, Thrive Allen officials have said.

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