50-State Strategy: Kansas - Hope in the Heartland
Posted by on June 28, 2006 at 01:58 PM
Kansas Democratic Party Chairman Larry Gates sent us this update.
Last week, hundreds of Democrats from across Kansas filed to join Governor Kathleen Sebelius on the ballot for 2006. Democrats have stepped forward to give Kansans real choices for offices at every level, from county commission to Congress. We've got Democrats running in 100 races for the Kansas House - the first time we've reached that threshold in a decade!
In 2004, Kansas Democrats contested 39 Republican-held legislative seats. This year, Democratic candidates are running for 58 seats currently held by Republicans and our Democratic incumbents will be helping new candidates, working with them to craft winning campaigns so they can join them in the Statehouse.
In addition, the Kansas Democratic Party is growing, bringing Kansans together who will change the direction of our state. Through the leadership of Governor Sebelius and other Democrats like state legislative leaders Sen. Anthony Hensley and Rep. Dennis McKinney, nine of our Democratic candidates were Republicans at this time last year.
New Democratic leaders include Lieutenant Governor candidate Mark Parkinson, a former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party and Republican state legislator, and District Attorney Paul Morrison, our candidate for Attorney General against the radical Phill Kline.
Local newspapers have picked up on the trend, and this week The Guardian looks at what is happening:
One of the key reasons Kansas Democrats are in fighting mood is their governor, Kathleen Sebelius. Sebelius's vote represents an island of Democratic blue in a sea of Republican red on the political map, and she has impressed by reaching the middle-ground voters in a startlingly successful first term. Shunning the hot-button social issues, she has focused on education, jobs and health. This has earned her approval ratings touching 68 per cent in a state that was overwhelmingly pro-Bush in 2004.Sebelius has cracked the political holy grail: persuading heartland Republicans to vote Democrat. 'Her style works here, and then bringing over Parkinson to the Democrats has been the coup of all coups,' said Professor Bob Beatty, a political scientist at Washburn University near Topeka.
As the Democrats enjoy a resurgence, the Republicans are in disarray. Parkinson's defection encouraged other moderates to abandon a party controlled by right-wing religious zealots.
These former Republicans are joining the Democratic Party because they recognize that Governor Sebelius and Kansas Democrats are committed to finding commonsense solutions to the issues faced by all Kansans.
As I told the Guardian, Governor Sebelius and Democrats are bringing Kansans together to move our state forward while the Kansas Republican Party is dividing Kansans with the same old partisan bickering. Kansans know our candidates are dedicated to putting progress ahead of partisanship, and the best interests of the people of Kansas ahead of anything else.
Comments - 1 »
Comments are now closed for this entry.
