Kobach, Kelly and Orman defend their campaign ads in live TV debate
The three major candidates for Kansas governor were forced Tuesday to defend ads they’ve put on TV during what has been a bitter campaign season of frequent broadcast attacks.
During a televised debate hosted by KSN-TV in Wichita, the station played back for the candidates snippets from controversial ads and asked if they stood by them.
Predictably, Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Democratic Sen. Laura Kelly and independent businessman Greg Orman all said they could justify their ads.
But the question gave the candidates a chance to attack their opponents’ attack ads, which they did with a vengeance.
Kobach’s ad accused Kelly of raising electric rates in Kansas by voting for a bill that required utilities to obtain at least 20 percent of the state’s energy from renewable sources, almost all of it wind power.
Both Kelly and Orman pointed out that the Legislature doesn’t set electric rates. The Kansas Corporation Commission, made up of three appointees selected by the governor, does.
In addition, Kelly said, the mandate didn’t really make much difference because the major power companies have exceeded it on their own and more than a third of the power from Westar Energy is now renewable.
Kelly vowed to appoint commissioners who “have the consumer in mind as well as regulating the companies” if she is elected governor.
Orman, a former energy executive, said renewable power can be a boon to the Kansas economy, but the state needs to do more than just order companies to build that capacity or else.
He said Kansas also needs to invest in transmission lines to export wind power west to Colorado and let ecology-minded Kansans buy 100-percent renewable power if they want.
Kobach said the numbers he used for the cost of Kansas power are from publicly available records and show that Kansans pay about 13.4 cents a kilowatt hour, compared with surrounding states averaging 10.9.
“That is a big problem, both for us balancing our pocketbook and for businesses trying to decide whether to stay in Kansas,” he said.
And while the KCC sets the rates, it has to follow laws that order utilities to spend money and require the commission to let them recover the costs from customers, Kobach said.
Kelly had to defend an ad accusing Kobach of saying that Kansas schools are overfunded.
Kobach denies he ever said that. He does support a plan to shift 75 percent of school spending to direct classroom functions, which would require deep cuts in administration and building funds.
Kelly said whether or not Kobach ever used the word “overfunded,” he wants to return to tax cuts enacted at the behest of former Gov. Sam Brownback. Those cuts were repealed after years of state shortfalls.
“We know what that did,” Kelly said. “Sam Brownback made the largest cuts to schools in our state’s history and that would happen again if we were to revert back to that particular policy.”
Orman didn’t address whether he thought the ad was true or false, but said his wife and his running mate were both teachers and he strongly supports fully funding schools.
Orman, meanwhile, had to stand up for an ad alleging that the state government is corrupt.
Allowed to expand on that, he cited the high number of no-bid contracts the state lets and influence of special interests and lobbyists on the Statehouse.
He said a national survey showed 85 percent of Americans think Congress is rigged.
“The same is true in Kansas,” he said. “You know what? Americans are right. We have sold our government.”
Kobach agreed with Orman that the state needs to dial back on no-bid contracts and criticized the Legislature for taking voice votes when committees handle controversial bills.
“Did you know there are votes taken in Kansas committees that are not recorded?” Kobach said. “So Sen. Kelly can vote and not have any of her constituents or anyone know how she voted.”
He also renewed his call for term limits of eight years on all elected state offices.
Kelly agreed improvement is needed
“I’m not sure I’d use the term corrupt,” Kelly said. “I do think that there are things that need to be altered in the way that we operate as a state government.”
Again, she blamed Brownback, saying his administration let 4,000 no-bid contracts during his seven years as governor.
“As governor I will review each and every one of those contracts to make sure that if we are going to outsource something, that we’re getting the best bang for our buck,” Kelly said.
This story was originally published October 30, 2018 at 8:39 PM.