Free Republic

I know from experience that laws are hard to pass -- and they're just as hard to change. That's by design. Laws are meant to provide some stability from one administration to the next. But apparently, someone needs to share that insight to the new governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly (D). The state's next chief executive didn't waste any time letting locals know that their democratically-passed adoption law would be the first thing she'll scrap. Forty-eight hours after her win, the administration seems to have a new motto: upholding the law is optional.Kelly, who must have graduated from Barack Obama's...

Democratic candidates won governorships in seven Republican-held states on Tuesday as voters rebuked both President Trump and unpopular GOP governors in some of the deepest red territories in the country. Democratic candidates picked up open seats in Maine, Nevada, Michigan and New Mexico where Republican incumbents faced term limits. State Sen. Laura Kelly (D) beat out controversial Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), who ousted Gov. Jeff Colyer (R) in this year’s Republican primary. Billionaire hotel magnate J.B. Pritzker (D) easily outpaced Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) in a race that cost both men tens of millions of dollars....

Kansas is a state entirely controlled by Republicans now and one that voted for President Donald Trump in 2016 by 20 points. And yet in a couple of weeks, voters there could elect a Democrat to be their governor for the first time in eight years - just in time to have a hand in the upcoming redistricting battle that could shape control of the state for the next decade. Snip Republicans' fears have so far become reality. Polls show Democrat Laura Kelly and Kobach running about even, with a third-party candidate, Greg Orman, taking about 9 percent of the...

President Trump’s former immigration adviser and populist conservative Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is leading in the state’s latest gubernatorial race, a new poll reveals. The latest Emerson College Poll has Kobach leading the race by one percentage point, taking 37 percent while liberal Democrat Laura Kelly takes 36 percent of the vote. Independent candidate, Greg Orman, takes less than ten percent of the vote, while 15 percent of Kansans said they are still undecided as to whom they will vote for. Kobach is expecting a boost in the polls after this weekend when Trump flies to Kansas to...

Republicans in Kansas further splintered Tuesday as the last moderate member of the party to hold the governor’s office endorsed a Democrat for governor over Kris Kobach, the GOP nominee. In a statement, former Kansas governor Bill Graves said he planned to support state Sen. Laura Kelly in the November election. Kelly is running against Kobach and independent Greg Orman. “Laura Kelly is the only Democrat I have ever endorsed for public office,” Graves said in the statement. “And the reason I’m doing that now is because I believe so much is at stake in the state of Kansas. I...

There's been nothing but bad news lately for Gov. Sam Brownback. The FBI is investigating close associates of the Kansas Republican, including his former chief of staff, for possible lobbying and fundraising improprieties, as well as sweetheart deals involving state business. Brownback dismisses it as a "smear" campaign. Nothing may come of it, but it's certainly made for some bad press. Also, the state's bond rating was cut earlier this month amid plunging revenues, lending credibility to his opponents' arguments that his massive tax-cut packages have damaged the state. "The polls show that he's very vulnerable for somebody who should...