Web posted
Friday, November 28, 2008
Moderates should retain state Senate
By DAVE SEATON
Winfield Publishing Co.
dseaton@winfieldcourier.com
Moderate Republicans expect to retain the leadership of the Kansas Senate next year.
Voters returned enough GOP moderates to preserve their slim majority in the party's caucus, Senate president Steve Morris of Hugoton said.
Morris believes he and his moderate colleagues can prevail in leadership elections scheduled for Dec. 1. "We feel pretty good about how things stand," Morris said. "We have the votes."
Morris won his job in 2004 by a vote of 17-13.
Working with other moderate leaders, Morris influenced committee chairmanships and pushed legislation supported by moderates. Some of that legislation, including a major school finance reform, was backed by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Among the other moderate leaders are vice president John Vratil of Leawood, majority leader Derek Schmidt of Independence and whip Jean Schodorf of Wichita. Along with Morris, all three were reelected.
Schodorf, who chairs the education committee, is not as confident as Morris about the outcome of the leadership elections.
The Senate has had, in reality, 15 conservatives and 15 moderates, Schodorf said, and one or two senators could make the difference.
Depending on the issue, several senators vote with one group or the other, Schodorf said. In leadership elections, with secret ballots, it is hard to predict outcomes.
Schodorf has declared she will seek reelection as whip.
Morris and Vratil weathered primary challenges from conservatives in August. So did Dwayne Umbarger of Thayer, chairman of the ways and means committee, and Pete Brungardt of Salina, chairman of the federal and state affairs committee.
Both Umbarger and Brungardt were reelected. Neither Schodorf nor Schmidt had primary opposition, and both were reelected handily.
On Nov. 4, three new conservative Republicans won Senate seats.
They included Steve Abrams of Arkansas City, Dick Kelsey of Goddard and Mary Pilcher Cook of Shawnee. Kelsey won the seat vacated by conservative Republican Phil Journey of Haysville, who ran for a judgeship and won.
Cook won the seat previously held by conservative Nick Jordan, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress. Abrams won the seat of Democrat Greta Goodwin.
Although none of the conservative newcomers is likely to change a vote, the count in the Senate GOP caucus is tight, Kansas Republican Party executive director Christian Morgan said.
He pointed to two senators who keep their cards close, Terry Bruce of Hutchinson and Julia Lynn of Olathe.
"They will, in my opinion, decide who will be the next Senate president," Morgan said, adding he himself did not have a preference.
Wichita conservative Susan Wagle has announced she will challenge Morris. Conservative Karin Brownlee of Olathe, the assistant majority leader, said recently she was seeking the vice president's position held by Vratil. Brownlee is contacting colleagues, she said.
Les Donovan of Wichita confirmed reports that he was seeking to become assistant majority leader, a job he held in the past. Donovan is considered a conservative, though he sometimes votes with the moderates.
One new moderate arriving on the GOP scene is Bob Marshall of Ft. Scott, who won the seat vacated by long-time Democrat Jim Barone of Frotenac. Roger Reitz of Manhattan, a moderate incumbent, was declared the winner this week in his race with Democrat Rusty Wilson, who said he would seek a recount under state law.
It is not yet clear whether Reitz will be allowed to vote in the Dec. 1 leadership elections.
Vratil defeated conservative challenger Jerry Clinton in the primary and went on to win reelection. The Republican Assembly, a rump GOP group, backed Clinton, according to the Topeka Capitol-Journal.
The assembly also backed conservative challenges to Morris, Umbarger, Brungardt, Ruth Teichman of Stafford and Mark Taddiken of Clifton, the newspaper implied in an Aug. 10, 2008, story. All six won reelection.
No spokesperson for the assembly could be reached for this story.
Abrams had support from Americans for Prosperity and the Club for Growth, both conservative, anti-tax groups. AFP is not required to disclose its contributors. The Club for Growth political action committee is so required.
Leadership decisions in the Republican caucus are subject to a vote of the full Senate, where the GOP is expected to have a 31 to 9 majority.
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