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Light withdraws bid for re-election: Will others follow?

May 20th, 2010
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And will an un-elected Democrat Secretary of State give Republican candidates the run around?

State Representative Bill Light

State Representative Bill Light withdrew his candidacy for re-election to the Kansas House May 12. Light was facing a strong conservative challenge in the August primary by Dan Widder of Ulysses.

In a Hutchinson News article, Light claimed that his retirement had nothing to do with his conservative challenger, even claiming that he didn’t know Widder. However, the article notes that Light filed for re-election in January and told the Hutchinson News in November that he liked to file in January before the start of a legislative session, “so that all will know my intentions.”

When contacted, Widder stated that he had attended a legislative coffee a few weeks ago where he questioned Light about the upcoming budget debate. While he didn’t disclose his planned challenge to Light, he said that Light certainly knew who he was.

So apparently something happened during this legislative session that changed Light’s mind about serving another term. That something, I believe, is Light’s realization that voting for a massive tax increase and facing a serious conservative challenger meant his chances at winning another term were little to none.

When asked about Light’s withdraw, Widder reiterated that it changed nothing as far as he is concerned.

“I don’t plan to do anything differently,” Widder stated.

In his bid to be placed on the ballot, Widder and campaign volunteers collected the signatures of more than 175 registered Republicans in his district. Widder stated that he contacted the Kansas Secretary of State’s office prior to beginning to collect signatures and asked what the procedures were for being placed on the ballot via petition. Widder’s campaign then collected the signatures and submitted them to the Sec. of State’s office.

However the Sec. of State rejected the petitions stating that they needed to be signed by the volunteers that collected the signatures, according to Widder. So he directed all volunteers that collected signatures to sign the petition and resubmitted it to the Sec. of State’s office.

Once again, Widder said, the petition was rejected. This time another contact in the Sec. of State’s office said that each page of the petition needed to be signed on the back with the volunteer that collected those signatures. Widder stated that he simply put all the signatures together into one petition and had all volunteers sign together. Further, the Sec. of State’s office claimed that volunteers should have only signed and dated the petition after collecting all of the signatures. Due to time constraints and lack of communication with the Sec. of State’s office, Widder elected to file by fee.

Widder claimed that he made numerous phone calls to the Sec. of State’s office before beginning to collect signatures and at no time did anyone detail to him that volunteers must sign the back of each petition page they collected. Widder said each time he called he seemed to get a different reason why he couldn’t file via petition.

The Sec. of State’s office is currently being held by un-elected Democrat Chris Biggs. Biggs is one of five Democrats holding statewide office that were not elected but rather appointed by either former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius or current Gov. Mark Parkinson. Both Sebelius and Parkinson appointed only Democrats, regardless of the party affiliation of the previous office holder.

And as this Kansas Liberty article notes, Bigg’s appointment also means that the state’s three person canvassing board is now held entirely by unelected Democrats. The board is tasked with verifying the state’s election results.

The 124th House district may be a template for the rest of the state and a significant sign of how the August elections may pan out. Gov. Parkinson and other Democrats claim that they will be rewarded for raising taxes on Kansas families, but Light’s withdraw seems to indicate that liberal Democrats and Republicans know otherwise.

Democrat Dennis Moore also withdrew for re-election this year after voting in favor of national health care and multiple bailouts. The two situations are eerily similar.

Raj Goyle a “NO” vote on the budget?

May 8th, 2010
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Raj Goyle, D-Wichita

Only two House Democrats voted against the massive budget bill in the House yesterday, one that will require the largest tax increase in Kansas history. One was Patrick Maloney of Kingman. He replaced Dennis McKinney, who is one of many Democrats to be appointed to a statewide seat. The other was Raj Goyle of Wichita.

Goyle is a former ACLU attorney and liberal member of the Kansas House. Goyle is running for Congress in the fourth congressional district around Wichita, and just recently was the only House Democrat who voted to end the corporate income tax in Kansas. This vote was very out of character for him, and this weekend’s budget vote was even more strange.

Goyle has a measly 9% rating with APF-Kansas for the 2009 legislative session.

Could it be that Goyle is now voting how he knows the voters in Wichita want him to vote, just so he can get elected to Congress and then later vote however he wants, a la Dennis Moore?

Nahhh, that’d never happen.

Schodorf struts pro-abortion agenda, downs HB 2115

May 5th, 2010
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Kansas Senator and KS-04 Congressional candidate Jean Schodorf

When push came to shove, State Senator Jean Schodorf clung to her pro-abortion beliefs and was the deciding vote in downing HB 2115, a compromise abortion reporting law that fell one vote short of a veto override in the Senate.

Schodorf claims that she’ll be working on a “compromise” bill in the future, but I wouldn’t hold my breathe. Former Governor and abortion cheerleader Kathleen Sebelius vetoed a similar piece of legislation last year. If Schodorf was serious about passing something meaningful then she should have been working on it during this session rather than waiting for another inevitable veto from current pro-abortion Gov. Parkinson.

The Senator further claims that she sided with pro-abortion legislators because of the way the bill was brought forward in the, “dark of the night.” One wonders if this distaste for the process covers tax increases and budget bills. I’m willing to bet it doesn’t. Her “reasoning” is nothing more than a lie, and if Schodorf votes in favor of a tax package not thoroughly vetted in committee then she’s nothing more than a hypocrite.

Couple this with the fact that next year there will be a different Governor who’s veto pen legislator’s won’t need to worry about and her vote was absolutely pointless. Pointless unless her aim was to make her pro-abortion beliefs crystal clear for far left activists. If that was the point, then she’s performed quite well.

See also:

  • Lone State Senator with Congressional Ambitions Kills KS Abortion Override

    • “During Senate action today, Sen. Schodorf announced she was emailing an invitation to Kansans for Life and Planned Parenthood to meet with her to create a ‘compromise bill. Sen. Schodorf’s 11th hour announcement was the height of hypocrisy as she has already supported this exact language in 2008 — prior to her re-election. After she was elected, she voted AGAINST the provisions of HB 2115 in 2009, as she did again today.”

  • “Mainstreet Republican”

Huelskamp first on the air

Apr 13th, 2010
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Sen. Tim Huelskamp announced the first TV ad in the first congressional district race with a positive message about his record on taxes. The ad, titled “Tax Day,” runs 30 seconds in length and is an issue-oriented profile of Senator Huelskamp and his record of fighting for lower taxes.

“Other candidates talk about opposing taxes, but Tim Huelskamp has a proven track record of fighting tax increases to prove it,” said Huelskamp spokesman David Ray. “That’s why he won numerous awards for keeping taxes low and why the Club for growth has endorsed him.”

In additional to high profile national endorsements, Sen. Huelskamp was one of only two candidates to gain a preference vote of the Kansas Republican Assembly Board of Directors. To gain a KRA Board Preference, candidates had to get a 4/5ths vote from board members. In addition to being a friend of the taxpayer, Sen. Huelskamp has been a friend of the pro-life and pro-marriage movement in Kansas and has proven to voters he is worthy of their vote.

The KRA encourages you to donate $25 to the Huelskamp campaign today to help keep this message on the air.

Dennis Moore transfers campaign email list to Stephene

Apr 8th, 2010
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The header and message that greeted those who signed up for email updates from the Stephene Moore campaign website yesterday. Click the image to enlarge it.

The header and message that greeted those who signed up for email updates from the Stephene Moore campaign website yesterday. Click the image to enlarge it.

Webpage displayed when unsubscribed is clicked from the Stephene Moore campaign emails. The constant contact email and information is for the Stephene Moore campaign. Click the image to enlarge it.

Webpage displayed when unsubscribed is clicked from the Stephene Moore campaign emails. The constant contact email and information is for the Stephene Moore campaign. Click the image to enlarge it.

After announcing her candidacy and telling the Kansas City Star, “I’m not entitled to the seat,” it seems that Stephene Moore, wife of current Congressman Dennis Moore, doesn’t have a problem with using her husband’s campaign resources to try and keep the seat in the family.

As previously noted, Mrs. Moore had some website problems yesterday morning. Apparently, those problems were resolved later in the day only to be replaced with another, more curious problem: a header with Dennis Moore’s picture and the words Congressman Dennis Moore greeted those who signed up to receive email updates from the Stephene Moore campaign.

Once confirmed, subscribers were greeted with an incredible statement from the Stephene Moore campaign.

Welcome to Stephene Moore for Congress. We are happy to have you as a member of our community. Your email address and interest preferences have been recordedin our database. In the future, you will receive periodic emails specific to your interests.

Privacy is important to us; therefore, we will not sell, rent, or give your name or address to anyone. At any point, you can select the link at the bottom of every email to unsubscribe, or to receive less or more information.

Thanks again for registering. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Stephene Moore

I guess that privacy thing only applies to non-family members, huh?

How does a header with Dennis Moore’s picture end up on the confirmation page for Stephene Moore’s campaign updates? This is a Constant Contact website with identifying information linked to the Stephene Moore campaign. As such, there’s only two possibilities as to what is going on.

  1. Mrs. Moore has hired some highly incomptent staff that had uploaded an image from her husband’s campaign rather than her’s. In this case Stephene is guilty of nothing more than perhaps being incompetent herself and demonstrating why she shouldn’t be allowed to hold elective office.
  2. Stephene has taken control of her husbands Constant Contact account and changed the identifying information but failed to changed the header displayed when someone signed up with the campaign.

In the case of number two, one has to ask if this isn’t borderline illegal. Constant Contact costs money. Is the Dennis campaign making an in-kind contribution to Stephene? If so, will this show up on her next campaign finance report? How does Stephene choosing to use her husband’s contact account square with her statement that she’s her own person and not entitled to the seat just because of who she’s married to?

Or better yet Stephene, after you’ve answered all of those questions, would you produce just ONE voter who actually, truly and wholeheartedly thinks, and has told you, that they think you’re ENTITLED to the seat just because of who you’re married to? If you know somebody like that, what kind of scary people have you been hanging out with?

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