Sen. Michael O’Donnell goes on offensive against Lynn Rogers

Correction: An earlier version of this story said that Rep. Mark Hutton was among hosts who paid $1,000 in support of a fundraiser for Sen. Michael O'Donnell. He was not. The story also misidentified his wife. Her name is Mary.

Sen. Michael O’Donnell has gone on the offensive for an election that’s still 13 months away – launching billboards and a phone poll against a potential opponent and holding a Wichita fundraiser next week.

Democrat Lynn Rogers, a longtime member of the Wichita school board, has filed to run for the Senate District 25 seat in central west Wichita now held by O’Donnell, R-Wichita. The two have frequently taken swipes at each other since Rogers announced his campaign in August.

O’Donnell, 30, launched billboards in Wichita this week featuring a photo of Rogers, 56, with the message: “ATTENTION WICHITA: Your property TAXES are GOING UP! CALL Lynn Rogers and thank him.”

The sign features Rogers’ home phone number in large print.

The school board voted in August to raise property taxes by 2.86 mills – $33 on a house valued at $100,000. Rogers blamed the Legislature for not putting more dollars toward schools.

“Probably every school board in the state did the same thing, and the main reason we did it is the Legislature reneged on their constitutional requirements,” Rogers said. He called the billboard desperate and noted that O’Donnell and other Republican lawmakers approved a sales tax increase this year.

The billboards come on the heels of a phone poll last month about the race that some recipients – including a Democratic lawmaker – say included a question implying Rogers had paid money to keep rape victims silent.

The Eagle was unable to obtain a copy of the poll. Based on accounts from those who received it, it appeared to reference a decision by the Wichita school board during Rogers’ first term to settle a lawsuit brought by a former student who had been sexually abused by a faculty member. The board voted to settle the case out of court in 2003.

The Eagle reported that the district did not initially disclose the payment to taxpayers, based on district policy. The newspaper uncovered that same year that the district had settled for $100,000 and that an insurance settlement cost taxpayers another $265,000 – decisions approved by the school board in a closed vote.

Rogers said at the time that he would have been willing to hold a public vote and discussion on the matter.

Ruth Van Arsdale, an 87-year-old retired teacher, and Patricia Rogers, a Riverside resident who is not related to Rogers but knows him from the community, both say they received the poll.

Patricia Rogers said in an e-mail that one question alluded to a “teacher’s misconduct with a student and the student got paid rather than it being made public.” She could not remember the exact wording.

Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, whose House district overlaps with O’Donnell’s district, said he received the call on Sept. 22. He said several questions were framed as attacks against Lynn Rogers, including one that, in his words, said “Rogers made payments to the parents of rape victims to keep them quiet instead of telling the public – referring to the school board.”

O’Donnell confirmed that his campaign had conducted a poll, but he would not say whether it included a reference to the settlement.

“We’re more than a year away from the general election. My campaign has done a poll,” he said last week. He would not give more details.

In a follow-up interview this week, O’Donnell would not say whether such a question was included in the poll. He did say that he looks “forward to exposing the real record of Mr. Rogers, because it is pretty frightening.”

Rogers said that a member of his family had received a call for O’Donnell’s phone poll.

“He’s trying to use the rape of a minor – something that happened over 20 years ago – for his own political gain,” Rogers said. “It’s shameful.”

He called it an attack on the entire Wichita school district. “It hurts because we at the district have done everything we can to be as transparent and aboveboard as we can,” he said, adding that the district has taken steps to ensure that the public is better informed about lawsuits and insurance settlements.

Patricia Rogers said the poll also included questions about property tax increases Rogers supported as a member of the school board and the board’s decision to move Southeast High School. She also said the poll made it seem as though O’Donnell had voted against the state sales tax increase – which would not be entirely true.

O’Donnell voted in favor of a bill to raise sales taxes in July; the bill also included a provision that would have lowered the sales tax on food in January. He voted against a second bill that eliminated the proposed tax cut on groceries. Both bills passed, and the sales tax increase went into effect in July.

The attacks against Rogers come after Democrats have repeatedly mocked O’Donnell online. In August, Kansas Senate Democrats posted a meme to their Facebook page that featured a photo of O’Donnell in sunglasses and a note about his missing an important school finance vote to go on a vacation with his parents.

“Play time is over, Mikey. It’s time for adult leadership,” the post said.

Seen as warning

Both parties view District 25 as a swing district.

O’Donnell took the seat in 2012 after ousting moderate incumbent Jean Schodorf in the Republican primary. He won the general election with 46.6 percent of the vote, beating his Democratic opponent by 263 votes, while a Libertarian candidate took the remaining votes.

Democrat Paul Davis won the district by a wide margin in the 2014 gubernatorial race.

Bob Beatty, a political scientist at Washburn University, said attacking an opponent more than a year before the election is “a way to say (to your opponent) maybe you’d rather not do this. Maybe you’d rather drop out.”

Beatty noted that this has happened before in Kansas. Democrat Tom Wiggans dropped out of the 2010 gubernatorial race early after Sam Brownback’s campaign raised questions about a securities fraud lawsuit he faced in California in 2009.

“Knock him out of the parking lot before they even arrive at the arena,” Beatty said.

Fundraiser next week

The billboards and phone polls are not the only signs that O’Donnell is ratcheting up his campaign. He will hold a fundraiser on Tuesday at Wichita’s WaterWalk Place, featuring Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Senate President Susan Wagle, whom he has praised as his political mentor.

O’Donnell called Schmidt’s support an honor. He also noted that Schmidt “won my district handily, while the governor lost it.”

The invitation, which was obtained by The Eagle, has ticket options ranging from $100 for individuals to $1,000 for hosts. The list of about 80 hosts features notable Wichitans, including Genesis Health Clubs president Rodney Steven and his wife, Juliette; Steven’s brother Brandon and his wife, Karen; television host Sierra Scott; attorney and former Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce chairman Harvey Sorensen; Warren Theatres owner Bill Warren; construction magnate Ron Cornejo and his wife, Kendra; Cornejo’s son Marty and his wife, Jenae; and oil magnate Wink Hartman, who is O’Donnell’s employer, and his wife, Libba.

“Every single one of those people on that list knows that Lynn Rogers would be bad for the state of Kansas,” O’Donnell said. He said he would not be surprised if the race turned out to be the most expensive legislative race in the state in 2016.

The invitation sent to The Eagle also listed former mayoral candidate Sam Williams. O’Donnell said Williams would no longer be serving as a host.

Rogers said he’s not intimidated by O’Donnell’s potential money advantage. He said he would retire from his job at Farm Credit Leasing, where he is vice president, this month so he can dedicate himself to the campaign full time.

“I’m a big boy. I’ve been in business for 35 years. I understand the consequences. I think what people will see is that I will remain standing and be the same person that I was before,” Rogers said. “I don’t have to do anything but point out his record for people to be appalled.”

This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Sen. Michael O’Donnell goes on offensive against Lynn Rogers ."