Kansas leaders, must you play politics during the coronavirus pandemic?

If it weren’t so tragic, it would be funny.

About 12 minutes into Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple’s monthly “Call the Mayor” program on KPTS, U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall called to offer his input from Washington, D.C.

“Since Sunday, Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi has held all of America hostage,” said Marshall, a Republican from western Kansas who is running for U.S. Senate.

“And since then, hundreds of Americans have died, hundreds of thousands — maybe millions — of Americans have lost their jobs. So she’s kept us hostage. . .”

“Congressman, congressman,” Whipple broke in. “If you’re gonna crash my show, you’re not going to make it a political infomercial, all right? I was in your office two weeks ago, and you didn’t bring this up.”

“Who am I talking to? Who’s interrupting me?” Marshall countered. “Who is this?”

“Mayor of Wichita, Brandon Whipple,” the mayor answered. “You’re on the ‘Call the Mayor’ show.”

Craig Andres, the show’s host, shrugged at one point and said, “I didn’t expect a political back-and-forth tonight, but I understand.”

It’s a shame, but politicians gotta politic, even during pandemics.

It’s happened elsewhere, and now we’re seeing it here in Kansas, where officials are using essential coronavirus updates as an opportunity to rally their political base.

When Gov. Laura Kelly ordered public schools closed for the rest of the semester — a wise preemptive move to help curb the spread of COVID-19 — several conservatives in the Kansas Legislature cried overreach.

Sen. Gene Suellentrop, a Wichita Republican and chairman of the Senate health committee, called the school closures “asinine.” He said he was worried about the economy because, “People get too fearful.”

“I’m going to go out into public right now,” Suellentrop told a reporter as he left the Statehouse that day. “I’m going to go have dinner, I’m going to mingle, and I’m going to spend money in the economy, to keep things moving. I hope everybody else does, too.”

That was two weeks ago. Since then, the number of coronavirus cases in Kansas has risen exponentially despite strict social distancing guidelines. But the politicking hasn’t stopped.

Following the governor’s statewide stay-at-home order, officials wrangled over what’s “essential” — churches and gun shops made the list — and Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, bemoaned what she called a “one size fits all” solution.

“Our state has varying economic concerns and differing population bases,” Wagle said in a statement.

That’s true. But slowing a pandemic takes everyone, everywhere, and elected officials shouldn’t put livelihoods or politics above lives.

Nor should they use a public health crisis to fan the flames of the abortion debate, as Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell has done.

O’Donnell wants to shutter a Wichita clinic that provides abortions — among other legal health services clearly exempted by the governor’s order — because he doesn’t think it’s essential.

More likely, he sees an opportunity to use emergency powers to ban abortion — as governors in several states have tried to do — and this is not the time to have that debate.

During his show, Whipple, the Wichita mayor, urged leaders to talk about ways to battle the pandemic, adding, “We can do partisan politics when it’s campaign time.”

Indeed, this global health crisis is not a game. So stop playing politics.

This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 1:00 PM.