Endorsements: Governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House

The following are The Eagle editorial board’s recommendations for the Nov. 4 general election for Kansas governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House. We offer these recommendations as information to consider as you make up your own mind about the candidates and issues.

Governor

Democrat Paul Davis is the best choice for governor because he would help restore balance, common sense and fiscal responsibility to a state government that has jumped off an ideological cliff.

The biggest issue facing the next governor is pulling the state out of its budget hole. Because of large tax cuts, the state is spending more than it collects. According to current projections, it will burn through its remaining cash reserves this fiscal year. Balancing next year’s budget and restoring the statutorily required ending balance could require more than $700 million in additional tax revenue, budget cuts or a combination of both.

As a first step, Davis proposes freezing future tax cuts. That makes sense; when you are in a hole you need to stop digging. Davis won’t specify what spending cuts also might be necessary, other than saying he wants to protect public education funding.

“Schools have taken all the cuts they can,” he said.

Davis wants to restore as soon as possible the state base aid that was cut to public education, arguing that good schools are important to growing the state’s economy. He also hopes to develop a multiyear funding plan for higher education that includes performance goals and commitments to limit tuition increases.

Davis intends to conduct a “top-to-bottom” review of KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program that has been plagued by complaints. He also wisely supports allowing the federal expansion of Medicaid, noting its importance to low-income Kansans and hospitals. And he would re-establish the Kansas Arts Commission, arguing that arts are a quality-of-life issue, particularly in rural communities.

As House minority leader, Davis showed a willingness and ability to work with others to find practical solutions. He pledges to continue that bipartisan outreach and cooperation as governor.

But this election is less about Davis than about the bad policies and hostile attitudes of the current administration.

This editorial board endorsed Republican Gov. Sam Brownback four years ago, hoping for the best. That’s not what Kansas got.

Brownback pushed through fiscally irresponsible tax cuts on the blind faith that they would act like “a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy.” As many warned, the trickle-down economics hasn’t worked.

Though Kansas has seen some job growth, it trails the nation and most surrounding states (which didn’t cut taxes). And the growth has not been nearly enough to replace the lost tax revenue – leaving Kansas with deficits at a time when nearly every other state has surpluses.

Brownback won’t admit his tax cuts aren’t delivering as promised (“The sun is shining in Kansas and don’t let anybody tell you any different,” he says in one of his campaign commercials), and still insists that job growth will cover any future shortfalls.

But wishful thinking won’t balance the budget. That’s why the nation’s two leading bond-ratings agencies downgraded Kansas’ credit rating – which should be an embarrassment to Kansans and an authoritative judgment on Brownback’s “real-live experiment.”

In addition to wrecking the state’s finances, Brownback also enacted policies that punished the poor. His administration raised eligibility requirements for receiving welfare and food stamps and turned down federal funds aimed at helping needy Kansans. It pushed out dedicated social-service professionals, replacing them with inexperienced ideologues.

Brownback and his administration also rejected the desperate pleas of families to keep developmentally disabled Kansans out of KanCare. And his refusal to allow an expansion of Medicaid is costing Kansas hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding (our tax dollars) and denying needed health insurance to more than 75,000 low-income Kansans.

Because of the elimination of certain tax credits, Brownback’s tax cuts financially harmed some low-income Kansans – particularly after he pushed the Legislature to make permanent part of the state’s temporary sales tax increase.

Brownback also supported some of the worst ideas of the Legislature – including signing and endorsing a plan for the state to take control of Medicare.

Brownback pushed for more control of the judicial branch and sought to undermine its independence – leading 14 past presidents of the Kansas Bar Association, Republicans and Democrats, to endorse Davis. And former Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston is correct: Brownback’s campaign commercial trying to link Davis to a Kansas Supreme Court decision regarding the Carr brothers is “beyond disgraceful.”

In his quest to gain control of the Legislature, Brownback led an ugly campaign to purge moderate GOP state senators. Given this hostility and the wreckage caused by his policies, it’s no wonder so many former GOP officials endorse Davis.

Brownback has done good work developing a long-term plan for water usage in the state, and he deserves praise for expanding technical-training programs and reforming the state’s pension plan. But his road map has led Kansas down the wrong path. Davis would provide a desperately needed course correction.

Libertarian Keen A. Umbehr is also on the ballot.

U.S. Senate

Based on his positive agenda and commitment to reject partisan politics, independent Greg Orman is the best choice for U.S. Senate.

Like most Kansans, Orman is sick of the gamesmanship and gridlock in Washington, D.C. Too many senators are more concerned about getting re-elected and scoring political points than moving our country forward. He correctly faults both parties and their leaders for the dysfunction – pledging, if elected, not to vote for either Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., or Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for majority leader.

“We need to get Washington back in the business of solving problems,” said Orman, a successful investor and businessman.

Contrary to the claims in the millions of dollars’ worth of negative ads run against him, Orman is candid and a centrist. National conservative political columnist George Will marveled that Orman “discusses policy problems with a fluency rare among Senate candidates and unusual among senators,” adding that “the Senate’s intellectual voltage would be increased by Orman’s election.”

Orman’s priorities include lowering the nation’s debt ratio, improving health care affordability and reducing regulations on small businesses. Kansas priorities include avoiding some of the military cuts mandated by the budget sequester, reforming the Department of Veterans Affairs, and reauthorizing federal transportation funding.

He supports the Senate immigration reform bill that was endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Kansas farm organizations and many Kansas mayors. Last week he announced a plan to ease student debt and limit college tuition increases.

“I do not intend to be a silent soldier for either the Democrats or Republicans,” Orman said last week. “I am going to stand for a better way, a new course in the Senate, and work with senators of any party who are willing to stand for commonsense real solutions to our problems.”

That’s what is needed in Washington.

Republican Pat Roberts has had a long and distinguished career in Congress, serving in the U.S. House from 1981 until 1997 and in the Senate ever since. He chaired the House Agriculture Committee and has been a go-to member of the delegation when Kansas needed something done. That’s why The Eagle editorial board has endorsed him over the years.

But Kansans aren’t sure who Roberts is anymore. In an unsuccessful attempt to fend off a tea party challenge, Roberts veered to the far right this year, even voting against the farm bill and funding for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan. He has pandered to the ugly extreme on immigration and betrayed former Sen. Bob Dole in voting against a disability rights treaty.

Though Roberts has been known for his good-natured wit, he now seems mean-spirited. When asked at a recent debate to say something nice about Orman, Roberts didn’t. Many of his campaign ads – both in the primary and general election – have been downright awful.

Even worse, Roberts can’t seem to communicate why he should be re-elected, other than to repeat – as he did ad nauseam during debates – that he will oppose Harry Reid and President Obama. Shouldn’t Kansans expect more than that?

Recent reports that Roberts missed nearly two-thirds of the Senate Agriculture Committee hearings during the past 15 years also raise doubts about how committed he is to the job.

The best argument for sending Roberts back – and it’s compelling – is that there is a strong possibility he could become chairman of the agriculture committee. That would be very valuable to Kansas, particularly after Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, got kicked off the House Agriculture Committee.

But being a senator is not an entitlement, and voters shouldn’t reward the ugliness and shallowness of Roberts’ re-election campaign.

Kansans should thank Roberts for his long service but choose Orman.

The third candidate is Libertarian Randall Batson.

U.S. House

4th Congressional District

Two-term Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, survived a surprising primary challenge from predecessor Todd Tiahrt and remains the best choice for his district for the general election. A true believer in a free market and smaller government, he is among the House Republicans who have helped the country get serious about curbing federal spending and debt since 2011. He has emerged as an informed, influential voice on intelligence gathering and foreign policy matters including Syria, and was named to the panel investigating the Benghazi incident. Pompeo stands out in his caucus and the Kansas delegation for actually getting a bill passed and signed by the president – a new law that will help Wichita’s economy by streamlining the certification process for general aviation. In a third term, he hopes to similarly work across the aisle and Capitol on natural-gas pipeline permitting and genetically modified food labeling. Pompeo’s constituents would be well-served by more of that pragmatic consensus building and less of his Obama- and Democrat-bashing. He deserves more time in Congress.

Democrat Perry L. Schuckman, who has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector, decries the wealth gap and names social and economic justice as a top priority. He is right that Congress is not looking at 21st-century issues including global warming, cloning, privacy and other government intrusions, but his low-key bid doesn’t justify unseating Pompeo.

1st Congressional District

Voters in Kansas’ “Big First” should put their interests ahead of party loyalty and choose Democrat James Sherow, a professor of history at Kansas State University and a former Manhattan mayor and city commissioner. Sherow is a problem solver who is tired of Congress’ ineffectiveness, and well-informed about district needs relating to agriculture, water, environmental regulation, immigration reform, wind power, Fort Riley and the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. Most urgently for Kansas, he’s a reasonable guy.

Sherow would be a vast improvement over two-term Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, whose uncompromisingly bad attitude got him thrown off the House’s agriculture and budget committees, leaving Kansas without a seat on the ag panel for the first time in nearly 100 years. Whatever Huelskamp is doing in Washington, D.C., it isn’t lawmaking.

Thursday: Kansas House

Friday: Sedgwick County Commission, District Court, Kansas appellate courts, Wichita sales tax, constitutional amendment

Saturday: Kansas secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, insurance commissioner

Sunday: Kansas governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House

Endorsements can be read online at Kansas.com/opinion.

This story was originally published October 25, 2014 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Endorsements: Governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House."