Allegations of hostility, racism: Inside Wichita lawmaker’s disciplinary hearing

Wichita lawmaker Ford Carr brought his birth certificate, a photo of his 1992 Qwan Ki Do black belt certification and a giant check to his disciplinary hearing Wednesday.

The unconventional evidence was all part of Carr’s defense against accusations that he has created a hostile work environment for his colleagues in the Kansas House of Representatives.

Carr’s future as an outspoken voice of dissent in Topeka is far from settled. But the second-term Democrat’s standing improved when an investigative committee failed to reach a consensus about what if any consequences he should face in connection to the complaint lodged by fellow Sedgwick County lawmaker Leah Howell.

Howell, a Derby Republican, accused Carr of using derogatory language, engaging in intimidation toward other officials and displaying “patterns of violent” rhetoric and actions, including during a heated argument with Wichita City Council member Brandon Johnson at a Topeka pub in January.

Howell called on committee members to reprimand, expel or censure Carr. They dismissed the suggestion of expulsion and deadlocked along partisan lines on motions to censure or reprimand Carr. A motion to dismiss Howell’s complaint also failed on a 3-3 vote.

The atmosphere inside the crowded committee room was tense and at times combative during five hours of testimony and deliberation as lawmakers debated the role of racial politics and decorum standards in the Legislature.

Republican committee chair Bob Lewis of Garden City repeatedly cut Carr off when he interjected. Carr accused Lewis, a former federal prosecutor, of being “hostile and unfair.”

Rep. Shannon Francis, a Liberal Republican who is white, elicited strong reactions from the room when he repeated a racial slur after Carr attempted to explain its different variations and the cultural context of its usage.

Rep. Barbara Ballard, a Lawrence Democrat, recalled how hurt Marvin Robinson was in 2023 when Carr made a comment about “house Negroes” who compromise their principles in exchange for favors. Carr defended his use of the term in relation to the since-deceased Kansas City lawmaker, but received a written reprimand from House leadership afterward.

On Wednesday, Carr held up his Kansas birth certificate to show how it denotes his race.

“It reads the word ‘Negro.’ So what I want to know is what word that I used on the House floor was derogatory?” he said.

Carr said his martial arts certification demonstrates that he knows what he means when he talks about fighting. The prop check was a visual reminder of the money he fought for the Legislature to appropriate to fund health screenings for his constituents living on top of a chemical spill site.

Weighing evidence in Carr’s legislative disciplinary hearing

Howell claimed that Carr’s words and actions at the Celtic Fox pub demonstrated “a deep disrespect” for the position he was elected to. Howell attended a reception at the pub with other lawmakers and area officials, including her husband, Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Howell.

“This complaint is not about retaliation, partisan politics or personal conflicts,” Howell said. “Contrary to accusations that this complaint is racially motivated, the color of skin and political party has absolutely nothing to do with my decision to file this complaint.”

She said cell phone video evidence of the explosive argument is all it takes to know Carr was out of line.

“Rep. Carr used the N-word five times while addressing Councilman Johnson. He threatened the councilman, referencing seeing him back in the hood,” Howell said. “Rep. Carr committed battery against his elder, Rep. Helgerson, knocking him into a wall. And Rep. Carr never even paused in his attack against Councilman Johnson.”

The committee also heard from Helgerson, a 73-year-old Eastborough Democrat who has sought to downplay the incident.

“I attempted to place myself between the two and placed my hands on Ford Carr. After a few minutes, Representative Carr moved me to the side, and I fell,” Helgerson wrote in his testimony.

“At no time were there any punches thrown; only I was accidentally pushed to the side. Following this, I got up off the floor and again tried to come between the two individuals.”

For his part, Carr told investigators that the pub fight was actually a calculated maneuver to bring light to a dangerous situation that has been largely ignored for decades.

“The antics that took place, those antics were done on purpose,” Carr said. “Because I needed for the people in that room to understand the gravity of this situation that is killing people in my community.”

A state health study of the area around the chemical spill site at the Union Pacific Railroad rail yard found extremely elevated rates of liver cancer and low birth weights among current and former residents of the historically Black neighborhoods that both Johnson and Carr represent.

Carr: GOP peers treat him differently because he’s Black

Throughout Wednesday’s proceedings, Carr refused to back off his position that his GOP colleagues treat him differently because he’s Black.

“A racist ideology seems to be engrained in the foundation of most members of our Republican party,” Carr wrote in a Feb. 25 letter on his official stationary that he submitted into evidence.

It was a similar point Carr made on the House floor that prompted Wichita Republican Nick Hoheisel to cross the chamber and curse at him, triggering a formal complaint by Carr that the investigative committee abandoned last month.

Rep. Susan Humphries, a Wichita Republican, said fellow lawmakers sometimes feel uncomfortable around Carr. She argued that the hearing established a problematic pattern of behavior worthy of admonishment.

“Belittling and name-calling doesn’t have a place, I don’t think,” she said.

Rep. Angela Martinez, a Wichita Democrat who submitted written testimony on behalf of Carr, said his fervor and compassion can be interpreted as offensive. But she believes Republicans misunderstand his communication style.

“Representative Carr bears the burden of the Black experience and continued racial injustices placed on people of color, especially African Americans,” Martinez wrote.

“A hostile work environment is not what Representative Carr is guilty of; he is however guilty of merely fighting for his constituents and being unequivocally and completely a representative of their voice.”

The committee tentatively plans to send a letter to House leadership about its findings, but members haven’t yet agreed on what it should say.

This story was originally published April 10, 2025 at 3:13 AM.