Endorsements for Aug. 2 primary
The following are The Eagle editorial board’s recommendations for the Aug. 2 primary. We offer these recommendations as information to consider as you make up your own mind about the candidates and issues. Additional candidate information can be found in The Eagle’s online Voters Guide.
U.S. Senate
GOP primary
Incumbent Jerry Moran has been a dependable, responsible voice for Kansans in Washington, D.C., and is the clear choice in this race. At a time of dysfunction and gridlock, Moran often is a voice of calm and reason.
His opponent is D.J. Smith, a former Osawatomie city councilwoman. Libertarian Robert D. Garrard will be on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Democratic primary
Patrick Wiesner, a Lawrence tax attorney and a CPA, is the best candidate because of his career and life experiences and expertise. His top priority is the national debt. “I am a ‘get-us-out-of-debt Kansas Democrat,’” he said. Wiesner, who ran for U.S. Senate in 2014 and 2010, also wants to simplify the tax code.
Monique Singh of Kansas City, Kan., is running as part of a nationwide effort to increase the number of African-Americans in elected office. She wants to be a “voice from the trenches” on issues such as poverty.
U.S. House
4th Congressional District
Democratic primary
Daniel B. Giroux is the best choice for this south-central Kansas district that includes Sedgwick County. An attorney, Giroux is running for office because he is frustrated with gridlock and Congress’ failure to deal with long-standing problems, such Social Security, Medicare and immigration. He said that our leaders have lost their ability to negotiate and compromise. “We have to sit down and get these problems fixed,” he said. Giroux is well-versed on the issues and has the skills to be an effective member of Congress.
Robert Leon Tillman, a retired court service officer, is making his third run for Congress. He considers protecting the Affordable Care Act and Social Security to be the top issues of the election.
The winner will face Republican incumbent Mike Pompeo, Libertarian Gordon Bakken and likely independent Miranda Allen in the general election.
1st Congressional District
Republican primary
Challenger Roger Marshall is the best pick to represent this vast district that includes most of western, central and north-central Kansas, including Hutchinson and Salina. He is as conservative as the incumbent on most issues but wants to actually get things done, rather than just vote “no” and grandstand. “I’m not going to go on Fox News and throw everyone under the bus,” he said.
A top priority of Marshall, a Great Bend physician, is returning a Kansas representative to the House Agriculture Committee. “We want a voice at the table,” said Marshall, who has been endorsed by top agriculture associations in the state. He also wants to reduce the national debt, adequately fund and support national security, and repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with incremental reforms.
Marshall has a wide range of business and public service experience, including growing and managing a medical practice and serving as a deacon and board leader at his church. He also has served as chairman of the board of Great Bend Regional Hospital, is a member of the Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission, and is a past district governor of Rotary International. “God blessed me with the ability to bring people together,” he said, “and I’ll bring that to Congress in order to solve our nation’s problems.” That would be a welcome change.
Three-term incumbent Tim Huelskamp proudly stands on his principles but doesn’t accomplish much. His inability to get along with House leadership and other committee members got him kicked off the House agriculture and budget committees. He is good at inflammatory tweets but not at the relationship building and negotiation needed to get results.
The winner will face Libertarian Kerry Burt and likely independent Alan LaPolice in the general election.
Sedgwick County Commission
District 3
Republican primary
Challenger David Dennis is an outstanding candidate and the best choice in this district that includes northwest Wichita and most of western Sedgwick County. Dennis is a retired colonel with the U.S. Air Force who managed a $125 million budget and led an organization of about 1,200 personnel. He also has worked as a public school teacher in Wichita, was chairman of the Kansas State Board of Education, and has served on a city of Wichita district advisory board and on the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission. He is active in his church and the community, including as a Boy Scout leader.
Dennis’ priorities include better management of the county budget and economic development. He is concerned that the current commission majority, including the incumbent, doesn’t get along well with others, including business and regional partners. Some of the votes and commission debates have hurt the county’s image as an inviting place to live and grow a business. The commission should not be embarrassing Sedgwick County, Dennis said.
He objects to the commission’s spending decisions, including funding reductions to public health, that led upset citizens to pack budget meetings last year. He is particularly critical of the commission’s current attempt to force more government control of the Sedgwick County Zoo – a really bad idea.
Dennis says he will listen to people, rather than preach and criticize. He would provide pragmatic, responsible leadership to the commission.
Karl Peterjohn is running for his third term on the commission. Though he has provided some beneficial financial oversight to the county, he too often has used the commission meetings as a taxpayer-funded soapbox to spout his opinions about divisive national issues. It’s time for a replacement who will focus on advancing Sedgwick County, not his personal political views.
The winner may face independent candidate Marcey Gregory in the general election.
Sedgwick County 18th Judicial District
Division 3
Republican primary
Gregory D. Keith is the clear pick for this open seat, because he’s already heard and decided thousands of cases over the past 20 years as municipal court judge for seven small cities and, as judge pro tem, for Wichita. He also brings experience as a solo practitioner and, earlier in his career, as partner in a local firm and an assistant district attorney in Wyandotte County. He had the highest scores of any non-incumbent in The Eagle/Wichita Bar Association attorneys’ survey, especially for professionalism and ethics.
The other candidate is Carl Maughan, whose private practice has included a good mix of courtroom experience and especially criminal defense work. His wife, Faith Maughan, was appointed by Gov. Sam Brownback to the Division 18 seat in 2013, and some attorneys doubt the need and benefit to having a husband and wife on the bench. His campaign rhetoric also raises questions about what he’d do if his unequivocally stated views, such as against abortion, conflict with the rule of law, though he told the editorial board: “My opinion on rule of law and the Constitution trumps my personal opinions.”
No Democrat filed to run for this or any District Court seat this year.
Division 14
Republican primary
Incumbent J. Patrick Walters is narrowly the better choice for this seat. After two troubled terms during which demeanor and competence became issues, Walters said he thinks he’s found his niche in juvenile court, where “instead of breaking up something, you have a chance to put something back together.” His judicial experience in four departments, his specialized training and his stated commitment to improving his weak performance justify his re-election.
Challenger Linda Kirby, on her third run for the bench, has impressive academic and other credentials. But her limited practice has involved too little time in court trying cases and she again fared poorly in the attorney survey.
Division 21
Republican primary
The best choice in this three-way contest for an open seat is second-time candidate Jeff Dewey, a general practitioner who is the son of former Judge David Dewey. He hasn’t done many jury trials, but his 32 years of diverse legal experience and steady temperament would serve him well on the bench. He said his goal would be for parties to leave his court saying, “I got a fair deal.”
Quentin Pittman is also a well-regarded candidate, drawing high marks in the attorney survey for ethics and treating people fairly, and has extensive criminal defense and trial experience. “I’m in court every day,” he said. One concern: a 2005 personal bankruptcy he blamed on student loan debt.
Robert Holubec also is running for the seat, but lacks the other two candidates’ legal qualifications and standing in the community.
Division 24
Republican primary
Tyler Roush is the clear pick in this two-man effort to unseat Tim Henderson, who unwisely decided to run for re-election despite having been suspended for 90 days by the Kansas Supreme Court last year for sexual harassment, misuse of his office and other unethical conduct.
Roush, currently an assistant county counselor and formerly assistant district attorney for seven years, has been endorsed by former Sedgwick County district attorneys Nola Foulston, Clark Owens, Vern Miller and Keith Sanborn. Regarded as skilled and professional, Roush prosecuted homicides and tried more than 45 cases before a jury. Not surprisingly, he is emphasizing the need for judges to have integrity. “It means that people are going to have trust in the system and trust in the result,” he said.
Henderson’s other challenger is Shawn Elliott. His experience is broader and longer than Roush’s, but the attorney survey reflected some doubts about his knowledge of the law and procedure and his communication skills.
Either one would be preferable to the disgraced yet defiant incumbent, who could face more discipline related to his testimony in the first ethics case.
Kansas Senate
District 16
GOP primary
The best choice for voters in this district spanning Butler County and east Wichita is Troy Tabor II, an Andover City Council member and web developer who has been involved in local, school district and regional planning. He sees many recent legislative actions as detrimental to K-12 education, roads and Kansans’ health, and says the 2012 tax cuts were poorly thought out and implemented. “We have to stop the ship from sinking,” said Tabor, whose priority would be ensuring taxes are “fair and sufficient.”
Sending Tabor to Topeka would send a message, as two-term incumbent Ty Masterson is Senate Ways and Means Committee chairman and an architect (and denier) of the state’s fiscal debacle. Masterson shepherded an unbalanced budget to passage this year, also co-authoring the unconstitutional school block grant law in 2015 and other bad bills. He represents an ideology and special interests more than his district and those who support public education, and he should be held accountable.
The winning Republican will face Democrat Gabriel Costilla on Nov. 8.
District 25
GOP primary
William Eveland is the better of the two Republicans in this near-west and south Wichita district hoping to succeed one-term Michael O’Donnell. Eveland, an accountant, criticizes the Legislature’s performance and the unfair state income tax exemption on pass-through business income. In his Eagle Voters Guide questionnaire, he said: “You cannot attack schools, deplete the infrastructure, and decimate public services and expect companies to come to a dying state.”
The other Republican candidate is Jim Price, a libertarian-minded defense contractor and past candidate for House and City Council who has had two criminal convictions, a bankruptcy and other legal problems.
The winner will meet Democrat Lynn Rogers in the general election.
District 26
GOP primary
The clear choice in this southwest Sedgwick County district is Garden Plain farmer and one-term incumbent Dan Kerschen. He is a reliable conservative and voted for the 2012 tax cuts (while in the House) that got the state into its fiscal mess, but also has exercised his own well-informed good judgment. He voted against the unconstitutional school block grants and the bill to make it easier to impeach Supreme Court justices, and he supports changing the business tax loophole and considering the proposed revenue-neutral KanCare expansion. Kerschen said his priorities in another term would include helping write a new school finance formula and finishing up the state water plan.
His challenger, Byron C. Dunlavy, is a politics-loving 18-year-old conservative who lacks Kerschen’s knowledge of the issues.
Democrat Benjamin Poteete will be on the Nov. 8 ballot.
District 27
GOP primary
Political newcomer Lori Graham is narrowly the better choice among two like-minded conservatives in this district, which includes west Wichita, Andale, Colwich and parts of Goddard and Maize and where longtime incumbent Les Donovan is retiring. Her advantage is her fresh perspective, which is as a small-business owner and software developer for the aviation industry. Among her frustrations with the 2016 Legislature is its failure to implement more of the efficiency study. Graham’s impatience to eliminate the state income tax seems at odds with the state’s dismal budget picture. She also supports educational savings accounts, a reform unlikely to ease K-12 budget problems. But Graham comes across as a solution-seeker who could make an effective senator.
The other Republican is Gene Suellentrop, whose voting record and committee roles during his four House terms (including, briefly, as House budget chairman) have made him part of the problem. He showed leadership on the (flawed) 2014 school-finance law and a 2015 attempt to reduce the food sales tax, and he has a lot of insight into tax and budget issues. But Suellentrop irresponsibly called last month for the Legislature to let the Supreme Court close schools and then missed the special session, and has done too little to fix or even acknowledge the budget mess he helped make.
The winner will face Democrat Tony Hunter in the fall.
District 28
GOP primary
Former Deputy County Treasurer Jo L. Hillman is the pick in this south Wichita district, which includes Oaklawn, Planeview and part of Derby. She has been frustrated to watch the governor and Legislature “subvert public education,” hike sales taxes, curb income tax deductions, raid highway funds and borrow money while continuing to exempt pass-through business income under the 2012 tax reform. She would repeal that and perhaps other tax exemptions, and expand Medicaid and seek other federal funding. Hillman decried the property tax cap the state imposed on local governments and sees herself as “someone who could bring people together.”
She is challenging three-term incumbent Mike Petersen, whose votes for the 2012 tax cuts, the 2015 sales tax hike and the 2016 unbalanced budget are part of a record mostly in line with the governor and legislative leaders but out of step with the demographics of his district. Petersen, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, expressed frustration with how many highway dollars have been swept to other uses, and he showed leadership on a law to curb metal theft. But his views on the state’s finances and school funding clash with reality.
The winner faces Democrat Keith Humphrey in the general election.
District 30
Democratic primary
Her experience as a community activist makes Anabel Larumbe the more qualified of the two like-minded young candidates in this district, which includes Eastborough and parts of east Wichita and Andover.
Larumbe has been involved in grassroots efforts on the issues of poverty, voting rights, worker rights and immigration. She supports Medicaid expansion, a higher minimum wage and increased school funding. “It is very important that someone is listening to my community,” she said.
The other candidate, 18-year-old Nathan Tokala, lists education and Medicaid expansion as his priorities. He understands the issues, and especially the state’s difficulties in retaining talented young people.
On Nov. 8 the winning Democrat will take on Republican Susan Wagle, who is Senate president.
District 31
GOP primary
Former Sedgwick County commisssioner and three-term incumbent Carolyn McGinn is the clear choice in this district, which includes Harvey County and northern Sedgwick County. McGinn has stood out in the chamber – and nearly alone in her caucus – for her smart questions, independence and common sense. McGinn opposed the unconstitutional block grant bill and the sales tax hike last year and the unbalanced budget this year. Because she’s a former Senate budget chair and sees the fiscal disaster for what it is, she would like to re-examine the tax exemption for some business owners and pursue a “fair tax code.” Her strong record of support for public schools will be needed as the Legislature tries to write a new finance formula and answer another state Supreme Court ruling. The Legislature needs not only McGinn, but many more lawmakers like her.
Her conservative challenger is Renee Erickson, principal at Wichita’s Brooks Middle School and a member of the Newton school board. She favors lower taxes, less regulation and getting more education dollars into the classroom. She cannot match McGinn’s experience and knowledge of the issues the state faces.
The winner will face Democrat J. Michelle Vann in the fall.
Kansas House
District 87
GOP primary
Roger A. Elliott is a highly qualified candidate and the best choice in this east Wichita district currently represented by Mark Kahrs, who is leaving the Legislature. Elliott is a retired banker who also worked in economic development. He served on the Andover school board for 12 years, so he knows the needs and importance of public education. He favors putting pass-through business income back on the tax rolls and reducing the statewide sales tax. “Low-income citizens cannot afford the sales tax levied on groceries,” he said. Elliott also is concerned about the state’s rising debt load and how much money it is raiding from the Kansas Department of Transportation. “Instead of filling potholes, KDOT is filling shortfalls,” he said. Elliott says he would bring a logical approach to the Legislature – something sorely lacking in recent years.
Jeremy Alessi ran for the Legislature two years ago in another district and moved to District 87 shortly before the campaign filing deadline. He is a financial adviser who also serves on the Wichita Arts Council and the Sedgwick County Public Building Commission. He prefers solving the state’s budget problems through spending reductions.
The winner will face Democrat Tonya Howard in the general election.
District 91
GOP primary
J.C. Moore is a thoughtful, conscientious candidate and the best pick in this district spanning northwest Wichita, Maize, Valley Center, Park City and Kechi. The incumbent is Gene Suellentrop, who is running for the Kansas Senate. Moore argues that Gov. Sam Brownback’s trickle-down tax policies have failed to achieve promised economic growth. Meanwhile, the state has “let our infrastructure go,” he said. Moore, who is a retired physics and chemistry professor, also is concerned that the state is not properly funding public education. Moore said he wants to “make Kansas better” and would devote the time and energy to help make that happen.
Greg Lakin is also a good candidate. A physician who has recently focused on senior and long-term care medicine and addiction, he would bring a valuable perspective on the role of addiction and mental illness in crime. He prides himself on being an “outside-the-box” thinker who doesn’t feel obligations to anyone.
No Democrat filed for the seat.
District 94
GOP primary
Leo Delperdang is narrowly the better of two first-time candidates in this northwest Wichita district current represented by Mario Goico, who is leaving the Legislature. Delperdang’s experience in telecommunications and as a former small-business owner should be valuable as the state struggles to get out of its budget hole. However, Delperdang has unwisely ruled out a tax increase, including ending the tax exemption on pass-through business income. A longtime district resident, Delperdang has the time and energy to devote to this job.
Scott Anderson, a Sedgwick County public defender and former city prosecutor, would bring needed legal knowledge to the Legislature, which has the habit of passing laws that don’t pass constitutional scrutiny. He thinks the long-term solution to the state’s budget problems is to grow the economy and increase the population, but he is open to reconsidering the 2012 tax cuts and possibly narrowing the exemption on pass-through business income.
The winner will face Democrat Susan K. Osborne in the general election.
District 97
GOP primary
Nick Hoheisel is the clear pick in this southwest Wichita district. Hoheisel, who is in sales and marketing, has been involved in the district, serving on a district advisory board for the city and on a neighborhood association board. He is running because, like many Kansans, he is tired of the mess in Topeka, including the state budget problems and the lack of transparency in government. He is hopeful that a recent efficiency study will help the state dig out of its budget hole, but also thinks that the exemption on pass-through business income should be on the table. He would be an enthusiastic representative for the district.
Incumbent Leslie G. Osterman has backed most of the tax and spending policies that got the state in fiscal trouble and has not been a particular effective lawmaker. It’s time for someone new.
The winner will face Democrat Stan Reeser in November.
District 98
Democratic primary
Two quality candidates are vying to represent this southwest Wichita district that includes parts of Haysville. Steven G. Crum is the best choice because of his extensive community and public service experience. Crum teaches and coaches in the Haysville school district and has served on the Haysville Planning Commission and is currently a member of the Haysville City Council. He has lived in the district nearly his entire life and is very familiar with local needs and concerns. Crum, who ran for this seat two years ago and barely lost, objects to how the state has shifted the tax burden onto the middle class and working poor. He also is concerned that the Legislature has been taking control away from local governments.
Former local TV journalist Justin Kraemer is informed and passionate, and would also be a good choice. He said the race is all about the economy and that people feel as if they have been left behind by their state. He considers it immoral that people on fixed incomes are paying more in income taxes so that some high earners don’t have to pay taxes on their pass-through business income.
The winner will face GOP incumbent Steve Anthimides in the general election.
District 99
GOP primary
Randy J. Banwart is the best choice in this district that includes east Wichita and Andover and is currently represented by Dennis Hedke, who is leaving the Legislature. Banwart, a project manager at Spirit AeroSystems, lost to Hedke two years ago by only about 150 votes. He is running again because he is still concerned about the direction of the state, particularly its finances and support for public education. He wants to look at spending and re-examine the 2012 income tax cuts to see what worked and what did not. He said he is open and willing to learn and is running “to make the best Kansas I can.”
Susan Humphries is also a capable candidate. An attorney, Humphries is interested in problem-solving and collaboration. She thinks the solution to the state’s budget problems is on the spending side and doesn’t support repealing the tax exemption on business pass-through income. If elected, she wants to “listen and learn” from constituents and “be thoughtful.”
No Democrat filed for this seat.
District 100
GOP primary
Incumbent Daniel Hawkins is the clear pick in this northwest Wichita district. He has quickly moved up the ranks in his two terms in the Legislature, serving as chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee and of the House Republican caucus. One of his top priorities, if re-elected, is to roll back some of the reimbursement cuts Gov. Sam Brownback made to Medicaid providers.
James Breitenbach, semi-retired and a grass seed farmer, doesn’t appear to be actively campaigning.
The winner will face Democrat Glen Shafer in the general election.
This story was originally published August 1, 2016 at 12:07 AM with the headline "Endorsements for Aug. 2 primary."