Race a rematch for candidates in District 95

Tom Sawyer and Benny Boman have held the same District 95 seat in the Kansas House. They’ll never be accused of holding the same views.

Their race this year is a rematch of two years ago, when Sawyer unseated Boman with 53 percent of the vote.

“The reason I’m running again is because I don’t think the policies that are coming out of the House are as good as they were when I was up there,” Boman, a Republican, said. “In other words, the House isn’t nearly as conservative as it was in 2011 and 2012.”

Sawyer, who has served a total of 17 years in the House, said he’s trying for another term to undo some of the tax-cutting measures enacted by the Republican-controlled Legislature when he was out of office.

“My opponent, he was the incumbent when the tax plan was passed,” Sawyer said. “He was pretty much a rubber stamp to (Gov. Sam) Brownback, I think.”

Sawyer, 56, earned an accounting degree from Wichita State University and now runs a business that specializes in selling walkie-talkies over the Internet. First elected to the House in 1986, he has served as both majority and minority leader there.

He was the Democratic candidate for governor in 1998, losing to incumbent Republican Gov. Bill Graves with 23 percent of the vote. He served as chairman of the Kansas Democratic Party for four years, then was elected to more House terms starting in 2002. He resigned in 2009 to serve on the state Parole Board.

He’s been endorsed by the Wichita Chamber of Commerce PAC and Kansas AFL-CIO this time around, along with the Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Education Association, Kansas Bankers Association and many other groups.

“I’m a centrist, I’m pretty fiscally conservative, I work with people from both parties to solve problems in the state,” Sawyer said.

And Sawyer says there are plenty of problems facing the state now, starting with the elimination of income taxes for many wealthy Kansans.

The Legislature eliminated taxes on some types of businesses and cut taxes for individuals.

“Anyone making $100,000 or more needs to start paying at least some state income tax again,” he said.

Sawyer says the state needs to reduce school class sizes and pay teachers better. He would try to promote wind energy as a way to keep and create jobs in Kansas, including keeping in place renewable energy standards that require utilities to develop alternative energy.

He says medical marijuana should be legalized and would support holding another popular vote on the issue of same-sex marriage.

Those positions and his view on the tax plan put him at odds with Boman, who said he sees no need to change the state’s tax policy at this time.

Boman, 79, said he’s running for the future of his children and grandchildren.

“I have no time and I have no interest in building a political career,” he said. “My life is in the autumn season. If I have 10 years, I’ll be lucky.

“But my children and grandchildren, they’re looking at the next 50 years.”

Boman said he’s a big believer in states’ rights versus the federal government.

“The states need to step up and assert their power. I do agree with (independent Senate candidate Greg) Orman, although I’m not going to vote for him, that Washington is broke,” he said. “When I was up there (in the Legislature) for two years, I did everything I could to oppose the harmful things coming down from the federal government.”

Among Boman’s endorsements are the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and the Kansas Republican Assembly.

Boman said he also “wasn’t much of a fan of (Sam) Brownback when he was a senator in Washington,” but likes his work as governor.

“He helped to streamline the government and cut back the budget on spending rather than increasing taxes,” he said.

Boman said Sawyer, as a legislator, helped run up debt the state is still paying off.

“I went up there and practically got down and begged him to stop spending so much because there was going to be a day come like now,” he said. “He did absolutely nothing but vote for more spending.”

Boman believes schools are adequately funded now.

“They’ve been banking money, they’ve got money up their you-know-what, but they don’t spend it,” he said. “It’s a typical union thing, just push for all the money you can get.”

Code violations

Boman acknowledges being cited and fined by the city for several violations of the housing code over the years. Records in Wichita Municipal Court and Sedgwick County District Court show that cases were brought against him in 2001, 2008 and 2013.

Boman said the allegations involved such things as peeling paint on a shed, uncut grass and a pickup parked in his yard.

An employee in the county court’s office said records show that $1,610 remains unpaid in the 2001 case and is now in collections. A municipal court employee said Boman has balances of $7.50 and $18.75 outstanding from the 2008 and 2013 cases.

Boman said he was unaware of owing any money and that city inspectors “enjoy picking on me.”

“All of these things they’re charging me on concern my own personal property rights,” he said. “I have ‘no trespassing’ signs up. They (inspectors) are trespassing on my personal property.”

Boman said the condition of his property “is not something that’s endangering anyone outside my property.”

He alleged that the property Sawyer calls home is in disrepair – and not actually Sawyer’s main residence.

Sawyer denied both those allegations. He said city inspectors had asked him to remove some old tires that didn’t belong to him from an alley behind his house and he did so. He called the idea that he lives elsewhere crazy.

“I do spend a lot of time taking care of my mom, but that’s where I live,” Sawyer said.

Tea party activist Craig Gabel challenged Sawyer’s residency status in 2012, and the State Objections Board ruled he could remain on the ballot.

This story was originally published October 24, 2014 at 8:21 PM with the headline "Race a rematch for candidates in District 95."