Posted on 08/08/2012 5:13:26 AM PDT by Mercat
Conservative Republicans scored big wins across Kansas on Tuesday as they set themselves up to seize control of the state Senate and clear a path for Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s agenda.
Moderates lost in many key Senate races in Tuesday’s GOP primary, including five of six seats that were up for grabs in Johnson County.
Rep. Kay Wolf of Prairie Village was the only moderate Republican to win in Johnson County.
Conservative Jeff Melcher knocked off Rep. Pat Colloton in Senate District 11; Rep. Jim Denning downed moderate Tim Owens in Senate District 8; and Rep. Greg Smith beat Joe Beveridge in Senate District 21. Conservative Mary Pilcher Cook fended off a challenge from moderate Tom Wertz in Senate District 10.
In a race pitting two conservatives, incumbent Sen. Pat Apple of Louisburg defeated Rep. Charlotte O’Hara.
In outstate Kansas, conservative challengers knocked off Senate President Steve Morris and fellow moderates Roger Reitz, Jean Schodorf and Dwayne Umbarger. Sen. Pete Brungardt was trailing by more than 10 points early today.
The races were particularly bitter and expensive as the battle between conservative and moderate Republicans reached a 25-year crescendo. At stake was control of the Kansas Senate, where moderate Republicans have teamed with Democrats to slow Brownback’s agenda.
Brownback took the rare but not unprecedented step of campaigning for conservative Senate and House candidates. His former chief of staff even chipped in with cash to help conservatives in their races against moderate Republicans.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
While I preferred Durant over Hoekstra here in Michigan, I can live with Hoekstra and believe he has a good chance of beating Debbie Stabenow.
They are not called RINOs for nothing. Profiling typically pays off.
Go Kansas!
If he wins the seat, y'all keep his feet to the fire in DC. (We in Missouri have been watching Sen. Roy Blunt - elected 2010 - closely.)
Hoekstra is far from perfect but he’s well to the right of guys like McCain.
My suggestion is that all in Michigan start hammering him to admit that his vote in favor of the great lakes directional drilling ban was a mistake. Leading the charge to get it lifted could go a long way toward redeeming himself.
Campaign literature for “moderate” candidates Tom Wertz and Stephanie Meyers was being distributed by individuals who drove up in a Prius with an Obama/Biden sticker on the reat bumper. Priceless!
Lew, in Kansas
He's a GREAT guy but when he was elected last time to the KS house, I wasn't certain of his conservative values. Now, I'm thrilled to see that he signed up as a conservative!
Sadly, we couldn't pull out the same thing for David Harvey!
My neighborhood is just too liberal but the good thing for Kay Wolf is she will be surrounded by conservatives which will make her left-leaning ways stand out instead of hiding in a large group from Johnson County when they team up with KS dimocRATS!
And they wonder why we call them RINOS - they are so liberal, some even make rank and file dimocRATS look conservative!
Is Kay Wolf running unopposed? I’d be tempted to vote for the Democrat.
We are in the age of paid off Republicans. There is now no difference in the parties any more.
Big change now, however, she can't hid out with her former cronies, pretending to vote "for the children."
This time, she'll stand out by her lonesome siding against the rest of the KS GOP.
The KS Senate chambers will be the loneliest place on earth for Kay! It will be as though she has small pox.
Who will she share a cup of coffee with??? I wouldn't want to be in her shoes at all.
Only the Kansas City Star, the KNEA and other unions think she's great, no one else in the KS Senate will except the handful of dimocRATS.
Kansas is throwing the bums out!
Go Kansas!
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