By BRIAN GRIMMETT

Moderate Republican Rep. Steve Becker of Buhler lost his primary in August, but he hasn’t conceded his Kansas House seat to his conservative challenger just yet. He’s mounting a write-in campaign.

Two years ago, when Becker was elected to his third term, a slew of moderate Republicans won seats in the Kansas House. Democrats made equally substantial gains. The Legislature shifted significantly toward the center.

Then, moderate Republicans and Democrats, Becker among them, teamed up and rolled back former Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax cuts. They came within three votes of overturning Brownback’s veto to expand eligibility for Medicaid too.

The Senate isn’t up this year, but conservative candidates and political groups are trying to reclaim some of the more than two dozen House seats they lost in 2016.

A rare write-in campaign

In this summer’s GOP primary, conservative Paul Waggoner beat Becker by a measly nine votes in the 104th District.

The 22 votes written in for Becker on Democratic ballots, according to The Hutchinson News, didn’t count in the partisan primary. But with no Democrat running, Democratic voters could push Becker over the top in the general election.

“He’s just a really nice person and he believes in people,” said Riley Withrow, himself a Democrat. “And I believe that he will look out for his constituents more than Paul Waggoner will.”

Becker was there with a group of supporters working to convince passersby to fill in his name on the Nov. 6 ballot. They handed out leaflets with instructions on how to do it and the tagline, “Don’t write him off, write him in!”

“It seems to me that everybody in my district ought to have a vote on who their representative is, not just Republicans,” Becker said.

He says Paul Waggoner is just too conservative.

Waggoner, on the other hand, calls Becker a “RINO”: Republican In Name Only. 

“You know, maybe identity theft is not only about finances, it’s also about politics,” Waggoner said.

He says Becker’s views are too far left and out of step with most of this central Kansas district.

During the primary campaign, he sent out mailers against Becker, including one with a picture of a bucking donkey labeled with the incumbent’s name in large letters.

“We had pin the tail on the Democrat,” Waggoner explained.

Political action committees are postcarding

The Kansas Chamber and Americans For Prosperity Kansas — political groups that advocate for lower taxes and smaller government — have also spent tens of thousands of dollars on mailers, door knocking, and online ads, including more than $2,000 for Waggoner, in an effort to oust moderates.

The Chamber’s political action committee endorsed candidates in GOP primaries for seven seats that moderates took two years ago. Their candidates won six of those primaries.

“I just think this is more, in a lot of these districts, just reverting back to the political mean,” Waggoner said.

Republican Rep. Joy Koesten of Leawood was one of those moderates who unseated a conservative in 2016 and then lost this August. But she doesn’t think her defeat is an indication of the direction her Johnson County district is leaning.

“I think what happened this year is that the ultra-conservatives had two good years to try to figure out who was the most vulnerable in the Republican caucus,” she said.

Now the conservative candidate in the 28th District, Kellie Warren, has serious competition from Democrat Brian Clausen for Koesten’s seat.

63 general election races for House seats, many could be close

There are at least a dozen competitive matchups between conservatives and Democrats in legislative districts across the state.

That includes eight where the Chamber is backing challengers to Democrats who flipped seats two years ago.

It also includes three districts where Democrats are now vying for seats held by first-term moderates who the Chamber’s candidates knocked off in August. Those candidates have been endorsed by the Mainstream Coalition, which advocates for greater health care access, public school funding, and gun control.

In a couple of races, trouble for Republican nominees have spelled opportunity for Democrats. The GOP has withdrawn its support for Michael Capps in the 85th District in Wichita amid allegations he abused his foster children, giving Democrat Monica Marks a chance. In Olathe’s 26th District, Democrat Deann Mitchell is running against Republican Adam Thomas. Thomas was arrested and charged for election fraud following allegations that he falsified information about his residency on his candidate filing.

“This election will be a measure of how engaged people truly are and whether or not they’re paying attention to the policies that were created in 2016 and 2017 and whether or not they want to stay the course or go back to the Brownback era,” Koesten said.

Outcomes will matter

The margins are razor thin. On the last day of the legislative session this spring, the House deadlocked 59 to 59 on a bill that would have marked a return to cutting taxes.

Of course, who controls the Legislature won’t be the only factor determining which direction Kansas goes. Who is governor will matter too. And voters across the state have a lot on their minds in deciding.

“I really don’t see myself voting for anybody who doesn’t support gun rights and who is for abortion,” said Kansas State University student Ryan Bare.

“Education and health care are usually pretty important for us,” Trista Crawford said as she stood along the sidelines of the Overland Park Fall Fest parade.

If Democrat Laura Kelly comes out on top in the governor’s race, the 2019 legislative session could see another attempt at Medicaid expansion. If it’s conservative Republican Kris Kobach, lawmakers will likely fight over spending and tax cuts.

That one legislative race could matter in determining the eventual outcomes on those issues is a big reason why Becker is mounting an improbable write-in campaign to keep his House seat.

“It’s so important that I get back in.”

Brian Grimmett is a reporter for the Kansas News Service.  Follow him on Twitter @briangrimmett.

RANDOLPH COUNTY — Two people died in an accident just after 8p.m. Sunday in Randolph County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1996 Ford Explorer driven by Kayla R. Cox, 31, Salisbury, was eastbound on U.S. 24 just south of Huntsville.  The SUV crossed the center line and struck a 2007 Ford F250 driven by David L. Dunn, 67, Huntsville.  Both vehicles came to rest off the roadway.

Cox and a passenger John B. Birmingham, 47, Bucklin, were pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Summerville funeral home in Salisbury.

Dunn was transported to the hospital in Columbia.  All three were not wearing seat belts, according to the MSHP.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Missouri voters on Tuesday will consider Constitutional Amendment 1, a ballot measure that would change the way legislative districts are redrawn after a census.

Currently, state House and Senate districts are redrawn by bipartisan commissions appointed by the governor. Nominees are submitted by the Democratic and Republican parties.

Amendment 1 would create a new position of nonpartisan state demographer who would propose maps to commissioners that reflect the parties’ share of the statewide vote in previous elections for president, governor and U.S. senator. Criteria of “partisan fairness” and “competitiveness” would outrank more traditional criteria such as geographically compact districts.

Many Republicans say the move is designed to dilute GOP influence in the Legislature.

The measure also seeks to reduce lobbyist influence and puts new limits on contributions to legislative candidates.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating the cause of a fire and have made an arrest.

Just before 2p.m. Sunday, the Topeka Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire located at Providence Living Center, 1112 SE Republican in Topeka, according to Fire Marshal Michael Martin.

The facility was evacuated and the fire was quickly extinguished.

Fire crews discovered a fire had occurred in one of the rooms within the multi-person facility.

The Topeka Fire Department Investigation’s Unit responded to the scene to perform an origin and cause scene investigation.  As a result of the investigation, police arrested 32-year-old Tamisha L. Brown for Aggravated Arson, according to Martin.

Crews in Topeka responded to four additional weekend fires including fires blamed on careless smoking at an apartment at 4420 SW 34th Street and at 5991 SW 22th Street,  an electrical fire 507 NE Paramore and another suspicious fire at a home 1401 SE Washington Street, according to Martin.  There were no injuries reported in the fires, according to Martin.

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A convicted felon who was under house arrest was indicted Friday on a federal charge of escaping custody, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Joaquin Florez, 42, Kansas City, Kan., is charged with one count of escaping federal custody. According to documents filed in the case, Florez was sentenced to federal prison in 2015 after being convicted on a drug charge. He was transferred from federal prison to home confinement in Kansas City, Kan.

On Sept. 13, 2018, the Bonner Springs Police Department notified the U.S. Probation Office that Florez was involved in a police chase in Bonner Springs. On the same day, Florez called the Grossman Residential Reentry Center in Leavenworth to say he was in a bind. He said he had purchased a vehicle and allowed a friend to drive it. He said the friend was involved in a chase with police. The director of the center ordered Florez to return to the center immediately. Florez did not report as required.

If convicted, he faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The Lawrence school district will survey whether students, parents and staff would support starting high school classes later in the morning.

Lawrence Deputy Superintendent Anna Stubblefield said the surveys will be sent no later than Nov. 12. A phone survey of randomly selected parents also will be conducted.

Phone and online surveys done last school year showed wide support for the change among district parents and high school staff.

The district surveys will ask respondents if they prefer keeping the high school start time at 8:05 a.m. and release time at 3:10 p.m. It will also propose possible changes, such as from 8:30 a.m. and 3:35 p.m., or 9 a.m. and 4:05 p.m.

School board member Rick Ingram says the district will consider the possible challenges of the changes.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education wants feedback on a draft framework for a system to rate the state’s child care centers.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that the state agency has sent out surveys on the draft framework, which includes information about staff qualifications, continued training, accreditation and family engagement. The system is designed to help parents identify high-quality child care providers and to show such providers how to improve.

The Missouri General Assembly in 2016 lifted a ban on quality rating systems for child care centers. The Legislature allocated nearly $60,000 this year to start the process of developing the framework.

Early learning coordinator Jo Anne Ralston says the department is seeking responses until Nov. 5, but may extend the deadline.