Sean Tevis will officially kick off his campaign for Congress tomorrow. Sean is running for the Kansas 2nd Congressional District seat and will be making his announcement on the south lawn of the Capital in Topeka at 2pm tomorrow.

The Sean Tevis for Congress campaign promises to be something you have never seen before, it is going to change everything. So tomorrow come out to the Tevis for Congress rally, and join the movement to end the culture war, fix Congress, and save America!

Video from Scott Seel’s announcement this morning.

Video from Attorney General Steve Six’s announcement for reelection today at the Capital.

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If you intentionally misrepresent make a mistake on your campaign finance reports, at least be truthful about it when you get caught. Chris Steineger has had a  particularly rough bout with professional ethics since he announced his run to be the state of Kansas’ Chief Election Officer, the Kansas Secretary of State.  (In case you missed it, you can get caught up here, here, here and here.)

In late February, the news of Steineger’s most recent ethics probe surfaced.  He was accused of using funds from his Senate campaign account to pay for a poll for his statewide run for Supreme Ruler of the Universe Kansas Governor Secretary of State, which is prohibited by Kansas law, and soliciting lobbyists during the legislative session, also prohibited by Kansas law.

When approached by Topeka Capital Journal reporter Tim Carpenter and asked about the statewide polling, the Chris Steineger of February 26th said he paid for the polling with his own funds.  But then refused to prove it…

So, this guy wants to be the Chief Election Officer for our great state, but doesn’t think he needs to prove who paid for his statewide polling?

Over two months after that interview, though, the memory of Chris Steineger of May 14th had improved about who actually paid for his statewide polling…

To recap, the Steineger of February 26 says he paid for his statewide polling from his own personal account, but the Steineger of May 14 says he paid for his statewide polling from his Steineger for Senate campaign account.  Confused yet? You’re not alone.

Let’s see which Chris Steineger shows up to the Government Ethics Commission tomorrow, Tuesday, May 18th. More importantly, let’s see which story gets told to Kansas ethics regulators.

The following release was just sent out by the Lisa Johnston campaign for US Senate.

After seventeen years in higher education teaching and supporting students, Lisa Johnston announced today that she will take a leave of absence from her position at Baker University to become a candidate for the United States Senate. “As a political outsider, I will bring a fresh perspective to Washington. Sometimes it takes an individual who is not part of the current political landscape to ask tough questions about our current practices, propose new ideas, and find better ways to move forward.” said Johnston.

Lisa has spent the last seventeen years working in higher education teaching and supporting students. For the past seven years she has worked as Assistant Dean for Student Academic Services at Baker University where she both teaches courses and oversees a variety of support services for students. As an educator, she understands the critical importance of ensuring that young people in our country are provided with a top-notch education.

During her seven years at Baker University, Lisa has served on various committees and task force groups as well as the faculty senate and has been actively involved in the faculty legislative and governance process, helping to set policies and procedures to benefit students pursuing their degrees. She oversees budgets for three academic units and is a skilled and prudent financial manager. She understands the critical nature of setting spending priorities and working with available funds to support those priorities.

“There are those who underestimate the people of our great state and claim that Kansas voters will not elect a Democratic U.S. Senator. But I know what Kansans care about most is not the letter beside your name but if you are the right person for the job.”, said Johnston.

In explaining why she chose to run for Senate, Lisa stated, “I believe the people of Kansas are hungry for a candidate who is not a career politician but is an everyday individual with leadership skills and professional expertise in an area that is critically important for the future of our state and our nation.”

After seventeen years in higher education teaching and supporting students, Lisa Johnston announced today that she will take a leave of absence from her position at Baker University to become a candidate for the United States Senate. “As a political outsider, I will bring a fresh perspective to Washington. Sometimes it takes an individual who is not part of the current political landscape to ask tough questions about our current practices, propose new ideas, and find better ways to move forward.” said Johnston.
Lisa has spent the last seventeen years working in higher education teaching and supporting students. For the past seven years she has worked as Assistant Dean for Student Academic Services at Baker University where she both teaches courses and oversees a variety of support services for students. As an educator, she understands the critical importance of ensuring that young people in our country are provided with a top-notch education.
During her seven years at Baker University, Lisa has served on various committees and task force groups as well as the faculty senate and has been actively involved in the faculty legislative and governance process, helping to set policies and procedures to benefit students pursuing their degrees. She oversees budgets for three academic units and is a skilled and prudent financial manager. She understands the critical nature of setting spending priorities and working with available funds to support those priorities.
“There are those who underestimate the people of our great state and claim that Kansas voters will not elect a Democratic U.S. Senator. But I know what Kansans care about most is not the letter beside your name but if you are the right person for the job.”, said Johnston.
In explaining why she chose to run for Senate, Lisa stated, “I believe the people of Kansas are hungry for a candidate who is not a career politician but is an everyday individual with leadership skills and professional expertise in an area that is critically important for the future of our state and our nation.”

Lisa Johnston (D) will be announcing her candidacy for US Senate Wednesday.

I wanted to let you know that I will be having an event to officially announce my candidacy on Wednesday, April 28th at 12pm in the Hudson Auditorium on the 2nd floor of the Nerman Museum at Johnson County Community College.

I will also be appearing at Washburn University in Topeka that evening at 7 pm in Henderson 204.

If you are able to attend, I hope to see you at one of the events.  Also, if you have family members, friends or colleagues who would be interested in attending, please feel free to forward the event information on to them.

If you cannot attend either event, we will also be putting the video of my announcement on my website, www.LisaForKansas.com, so that those who cannot attend in person will still be able to see the announcement.

Lisa is has spent the last seventeen years working in higher education teaching and supporting students. For the past seven years she has worked as Assistant Dean for Student Academic Services at Baker University where she both teaches courses and oversees a variety of support services for students. Prior to holding this position she served in a variety of administrative, teaching, and academic support roles at several different universities.

Lisa is passionate about improving both the future of Kansas and our country. She has been contributing to the future of both her state and the nation by supporting students as they strive to reach their educational goals and become our future societal contributors. She now hopes to use the skill and knowledge she has accumulated over the better part of two decades in higher education to serve the State of Kansas in the United States Senate.

You can read more about Lisa on here website. www.LisaForKansas.com

Yesterday, Gov. Parkinson vetoed the anti-choice legislation that would have put into place draconian new restrictions on abortion in Kansas.  These would have included no abortion past 20 weeks with a “fetal pain” reasoning, eliminating the mental health reason for a late-term abortion, including an option for the family of a patient to sue after an abortion, even if the woman consented to the abortion and does not want to sue the doctor.

These restrictions were very similar to those passed in Nebraska, and the similarity in these bills is not by chance.  This is an orchestrated movement by the anti-choice side to target Dr. Carhart.  Immediately after Dr. Tiller’s murder, Dr. Carhart stated that he would open a late-term clinic in Wichita, and then later stated he would perform the procedures in his clinic in Bellevue, NE.  These bills are intended to make it impossible for him to provide a safe, legal medical procedure in both of these states.

Once again, abortion care provider-hunting season in Kansas is winding down again.  All that’s left is to see if the legislature tries the “override the veto” maneuver, and then the some more of the obligatory tilting at windmills.  I liked Pamela Merrit’s comment on RH Reality Check yesterday regarding the Missouri state legislature, which is sadly applicable to the Kansas legislature (and many others) as well: “I guess the message is that government involvement in health care is okay as long as it involves denying women our reproductive rights and treating us like children.”

Expecting a veto override to fail would be not be the same, however, if Brownback were to win in November.  I’m sure as Democrats we all realize the importance of not electing an anti-woman politician, but this should be a bigger wake up call for everyone.  It’s only April, but time to get working and donating to the Tom Holland for Governor campaign.  We need another responsible, well-reasoned person in the Governor’s office, and not an extremist.

Also, be sure to drop a note to the Governor’s office thanking him for the veto.  You can always head to the Capitol-Journal and vote supporting Gov. Parkinson in their poll about the veto as well.

Wichita resident, Brandon Whipple, officially announced this week that he is running for the Kansas House of Representatives in District 96. Whipple has been deeply involved in the community, working with at-risk students from the Wichita Public Schools. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Wichita State University.

Whipple’s experience working with students and teachers gives him a unique perspective on the Kansas budget. “Our state’s founding fathers wrote the Kansas constitution with the intent to make public education our state’s top priority,” said Whipple. “Even in times of crisis, our legislature must support education.”

Whipple knocked on more than 200 doors, collecting enough signatures to be placed on the ballot. “To be on the ballot you either need public support or you pay a fee to the election commission. Our campaign is about the community and I chose to enter this election with the support of my neighbors.” said Whipple.

The candidate will be speaking at the annual “Ham and Bean Dinner” hosted by the South Sedgwick County Democratic Club. The event is from 5 to 7 p.m., April 10, at the Machinist Building, 3830 S. Meridian.

More information about Brandon Whipple can be found on his campaign Web site.

According to the Kansas Democratic Party’s website:

This morning Stephene Moore announced her candidacy for Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District. Stephene is seeking the seat currently held by Dennis Moore. Stephene has lived in Johnson County for 40 years and has served as an obstetrics nurse for 25 years. She is highly involved in many community organizations and in 2001 she began volunteering her nursing skills in underdeveloped nations delivering basic care and wellness education.

While the race will be competitive, Stephene’s entrance into this race proves the GOP is overconfident about their chances. Dennis Moore has made great progress in his time representing the 3rd district, and Stephene seeks to continue his work. “In Congress I will take the best of what Dennis has done and carry it forward while using my unique background to direct my work on creating jobs, ensuring access to health care, and preparing students to compete in the global economy,” remarked Stephene.

“As a registered nurse, I am trained to act quickly and calmly in urgent situations to help diagnose and treat patients, and in Congress I will follow these same principals to ensure Kansas remains a great place to live, work, and raise a family.  I will be a voice of reason who puts Kansas families ahead of partisanship, because it shouldn’t matter if an idea is a Democratic idea or a Republican idea, what is important is if it is a good idea for Kansas,” added Stephene.

Ambitious Republican candidates have lined up in droves, but in recent years Democratic and Unaffiliated registration in the 3rd district have grown, while Republican registration has declined. So while the Republican candidates wage internal warfare, Stephene will have a head start showing 3rd district voters why she’s the only candidate ready to bring people together and lead.

For Immediate Release:
Elliot Lahn for Kansas House
March 25, 2010

Response to HB 2685

Yesterday, HB 2685 was passed by the House and sent on to the State Senate. This bill would modify state conceal and carry regulations to disallow municipalities and state agencies from banning firearms in public buildings unless these entities can reasonably guarantee that no individual is bringing a firearm into said public building. The only way to realistically meet this burden would be to require state and local government to spend vast amounts of tax payer dollars to install and staff metal detectors at all public buildings.

As a proud, responsible, gun owner, I firmly believe in our right to own and bear arms. I also believe that we must have gun laws that utilize common sense. It is clear that this law has been written and promoted by those who would not be directly affected by the repercussions of allowing firearms in places like college classrooms, courtrooms, police stations, etc. In fact, this legislation has been opposed by the Kansas Board of Regents, the League of Kansas Municipalities, the Kansas Association of Counties, the Kansas Peace Officers Association, the Kansas Highway Patrol and the Kansas Association of Police Chiefs.

Estimates show that if each of Kansas’ 627 municipalities chose to install one (1) scanner, the total cost would be $3,135,000. This cost is simply for the instillation of a single scanner and does not include the annual cost of staffing which could be as high as $35 million dollars per year. This also assumes each city would only install one unit. Many cities have multiple facilities that may require these upgrades.

As it stands today, the majority of people do not bring guns into public buildings and, despite the often heated exchanges, there are relatively few instances of violent or gun related crime in public buildings. There is a stigma that goes along with public buildings in which the fear of being caught with a weapon deters the majority from attempting it. Although this bill technically only applies to those with valid conceal and carry permits, it would effectively remove the stigma that guns and public places don’t mix.

This bill fails the common sense test and is clearly bad policy. It will cost the tax payers tens of millions of dollars per year and do little to nothing in advancing public safety. This is an attempt by certain special interests to stir the pot and is clearly opposed by experts in the field.