(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers Dec. 21, 2015)
We’re now thinking that there are almost two dozen Kansas House Republicans and eight GOP senators who are wondering as Christmas approaches whether there’s going to be a hole in their stockings in next year’s elections when voters drop their votes into the ballot box.
The question? It’s simply whether the top of the ballot is going to have an effect on their race and their chance to return to the Statehouse after the election.
Those House and Senate Republicans? They are the ones who won election but represent districts that Republican Gov. Sam Brownback lost to Democratic challenger Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence.
For legislative candidates, there’s nothing quite as nice as voters making their party affiliation clear at the top of the ballot, or at least near the top where state office candidates are listed, and then figuring, well, if we like the governor, we probably ought to send some friends of his to work with him in the Legislature.