CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
– POLITICS
June 6, 2009 – 9:15 a.m.
A Race But Not a Crowd in Kansas’ Open 4th District
By Katie Brown, CQ Staff
It has been decades since there has been an open House race in the region covered by the 4th Congressional District of Kansas. The incumbent, Republican Todd Tiahrt , is in his eighth term. Democrat Dan Glickman, whom Tiahrt unseated in 1994, had held the seat for nine terms before that.
So when Tiahrt announced that he will run for the Senate in 2010, many local politics watchers expected that pent-up congressional ambitions would result in a surge of candidates into the open 4th District contest.
So far, though, there’s not much of a crowd.
The official candidates so far are two Republicans, state Sen. Dick Kelsey and Republican National Committeeman Mike Pompeo, a businessman; one Democrat, retired court services officer Robert Tillman; and independent candidate Susan Ducey, a registered nurse who home-schooled her children and describes herself as a “pro-life constitutionalist.”
Other Republicans mentioned as possible candidates include Wichita City Councilwoman Sue Schlapp; Matt Schlapp, her son, who was formerly the director of political affairs in the White House of President George W. Bush ; state Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt and two other state senators, Susan Wagle and Carolyn McGinn; and state Rep. Steve Brunk.
Democrats considering the race include Jill Docking, the party’s Senate nominee who lost to Sen. Sam Brownback in 1996 and now is vice chairwoman of the Kansas Board of Regents; state Reps. Raj Goyle and Jim Ward; and Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer. Mentioned, though considered much more unlikely to enter the race, are ex-Rep. Glickman, a former Agriculture secretary under former President Bill Clinton and now president of the Motion Picture Association of America; Teresa Krusor, vice chairwoman of the Kansas Democratic Party; state Rep. Melody McCray-Miller; and former state Sen. Don Betts.
The filing deadline in the race is in June 2010, so there’s still time for more hopefuls to consider their options and lay the groundwork for a race.
“We thought there would be a lot of candidates, but now the conventional wisdom is that it may not be that crowded,” said Kelsey, one of the GOP hopefuls. “If you’re not in the race by the end of the summer, you’re probably not a serious candidate. It takes a long time to organize a campaign.”
In an open-seat race, the party of the person stepping down has the most to lose.
“This district is not necessarily a win for the Republicans,” said Joe Aistrup, political science professor and interim dean of arts and sciences at Kansas State University. “Wichita has a history of supporting Democrats over the course of time. The district used to be Democratic-leaning, and now it is Republican-leaning. There are some Democrats that could make a go for the seat.”
Voters in that district favored 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain by 58 percent to 40 percent over Democrat Barack Obama .
Kelsey moved quickly after Tiahrt’s Senate candidacy announcement in February to try to get a jump on the GOP field.
He formed a House campaign committee and seeded it with a $132,500 loan, using his own money.
He’s running a small-dollar fund-raising effort that includes a contest: With a donation of $20.10 to his campaign, a contributor could be entered into a drawing for a vacation at an Arkansas resort.
On government policy, Kelsey emphaizes the need for less federal spending.
“Borrowing will lead into economic turmoil and economic inflation,” he said. “We need to get our budget under control.”
Fellow RepublicanPompeo has never held an elected public office.
As he starts his campaign, Pompeo emphasizes his military background.
Like Kelsey, Pompeo says the federal government has gotten too big and spends too much money. To shrink it, Pompeo proposes the elimination or outsourcing of many federal programs and suggests that charities and religious programs take over responsibility for social-welfare programs.
Democratic candidate Tillman said he was angered by Republican opposition to President Obama’s economic stimulus package (PL 111-5).
Tillman worked in court services for about 35 years, and will begin the race as an unfamiliar figure to voters — a problem very familiar to Democratic candidates, said Aistrup.
“Democrats don’t have a deep bench anywhere in the state, and their candidates are going to be somewhat less experienced,” he said.
Meanwhile, political newcomer Ducey will go after conservative votes from outside either political party.
Ducey holds positions on taxes, national defense and abortion that mirror those of GOP candidates Kelsey and Pompeo. She also is a foe of Social Security, which she describes as a mixture of Socialism, Fascism and Communism that needs to be scrapped.
Comments
1. If the Sunflower State is predicted to lose one House seat then there just might not be that much of a motivation by either side to tussle over this perhaps-soon-to-be-gone district. 2. Glickman himself defeated Republican Garner Shriver, who was first elected in 1960. Whether he too won by defeating the then-incumbent or taking over an open seat...
1960 was the last time this seat, albeit in an earlier configuration, was open; a GOP hold. Kansas, according to projections done by Polidata & Election Data Services using US Census Bureau estimates, is no where close to losing a seat in reapportionment, unless there is a mass exodus this year ala Katrina.
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