WASHINGTON
It’s been two years since Jeff Colyer’s bid to hold on to the Kansas governor’s office ended in a heartbreaking primary loss, but the Johnson County Republican’s influence over his party has arguably never been greater.
The four Kansas Republicans who won their contested congressional primaries this month all have career connections to Colyer or his predecessor, former Gov. Sam Brownback. Or both.
Brownback, who left Kansas three years ago for a diplomatic post in Washington, continues to cast a shadow over the state’s politics. The primary results affirm the enduring influence of Brownback and Colyer’s political allies in the party and may signal a return to dominance for that wing of the Kansas GOP.
But these links will also be used as a general election cudgel by Democrats who won’t hesitate to tie the Republican nominees to Brownback. He left office in January of 2018 with a low popularity rating, fueled by voter anger over years of budget shortfalls and cuts to social services, a consequence of his signature tax cuts.
In the Kansas City suburbs, Republicans selected a former Brownback campaign manager, Amanda Adkins, to face incumbent Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids in the 3rd Congressional District, the state’s only Democratic-held House seat.
In the adjacent 2nd District, GOP voters ousted incumbent GOP Rep. Steve Watkins and nominated Jake LaTurner, who Brownback appointed state treasurer in 2017 and who Colyer personally recruited for the race.
In western Kansas, Colyer’s lieutenant governor, Tracey Mann, won the primary for the 1st Congressional District. Colyer’s former chief of staff and Brownback’s 2014 campaign manager, Mark Dugan, served as Mann’s general consultant.
In the high-stakes race for the U.S. Senate seat, Colyer was an early endorser of, and fundraiser for, Rep. Roger Marshall, who beat Colyer’s old rival, Kris Kobach, by double digits.
Colyer, a Johnson County plastic surgeon, lost a historically close primary to Kobach in 2018. But two years later, he appears to have a brighter future in the party.
“Jeff Colyer is the leader of the Kansas Republican Party,” proclaimed David Kensinger, the Republican strategist who managed Brownback’s 2010 campaign and was chief of staff early in his governorship.
Colyer’s influence
Mann spoke in similar terms, calling Colyer the leader of the party without whose support he would not have won his primary.
“When he weighs in on races and exerts his leadership, people around the state listen,” Mann said.
Even in down ballot races, candidates Colyer campaigned for prevailed, including in Wichita’s 85th Kansas House District, where Republican Patrick Penn defeated incumbent GOP state Rep. Michael Capps.
Brownback and Colyer’s strain of business-friendly, socially conservative politics dominated the Kansas Republican Party for several years. But in recent elections it has faced challenges from moderates, looking to move the party to the center, and a more fiery and nationalistic brand of conservative seeking a swing further to the right.
In 2016, many of Brownback’s conservative allies lost their seats in the Legislature to moderate Republicans and Democrats, leading to the repeal of his 2017 tax cuts.
But many of the moderates who rode into office on an anti-Brownback wave in 2016 were ushered out this year, including state Sen John Skubal and state Rep. Jan Kessinger of Overland Park, who both lost primaries to conservative challengers.
But it wasn’t just moderates who went down. Populists who won primaries in 2018, Kobach and Watkins, also suffered defeats to establishment GOP candidates backed by Colyer.
Colyer downplayed his influence. He said the primary wins by his allies reflected that Kansans want conservative candidates who can actually deliver on their promises.
“Kansans are conservative and they are looking for people who will get things done. It’s about accomplishment in the end. People are wanting results,” he said. “If you look at the candidates who won all the federal races, they’re the people who could demonstrate, ‘I have a track record. I have record we can do stuff.’’’
Both Colyer and Mann pointed to the $900 million surplus the state enjoyed as they left office, neglecting to mention that the windfall was generated by repeal of the Brownback tax cuts, half a year before Colyer became governor.
“I gave them a $900 million surplus there. They’ve got to show how they use it,” Colyer said in reference to Gov. Laura Kelly and other Democrats.
Democrats hit nominees on Brownback ties
Democrats, however, are relishing the chance to face nominees with ties to Brownback.
“Not only is it the team of Brownbackers coming back, but it’s the Brownback B-Team,” said Chris Pumpelly, a Wichita-based Democratic strategist who had worked on Democrat Paul Davis’ unsuccessful 2014 campaign against Brownback.
It’s unlikely to be an issue for Mann in the heavily Republican 1st Congressional District. LaTurner and Adkins may face more scrutiny in the competitive races for the eastern Kansas seats.
LaTurner had aligned closely with Brownback on tax policy as a member of the Kansas Senate before his elevation to Kansas treasurer.
Adkins worked for Brownback as a U.S. senator, served as state party chair in 2010 when Brownback was elected governor and was appointed to chair his Kansas Children’s Cabinet, which oversees early childhood programs.
The programs were relatively protected compared to other social services that suffered cuts in the Brownback-era. But on multiple occasions Brownback diverted money from the Children’s Initiatives Fund and the Kansas Endowment for Youth Fund, pools of money meant to ensure long-term funding for children’s programs, to plug budget holes.
“Republicans in Kansas just can’t seem to escape the curse of Sam Brownback - two of his top aides, Amanda Adkins and Jake LaTurner, helped execute Brownback’s failed tax experiment that hardworking Kansas families are still paying for to this day,” said Brooke Goren, spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the main campaign wing for House Democrats.
“Thanks to Adkins and LaTurner, Kansans have spent nearly a decade watching the state’s public education and infrastructure systems crumble – and both candidates are going to have to spend the next three months answering for that record.”
Adkins’ campaign responded to questions about her Brownback connection by carefully avoiding any mention of her former boss.
“Democrats have to resort to the tired attacks of the past because Sharice Davids’ radical, out-of-touch positions are indefensible. Amanda is a proven leader, with extensive experience in both health care and business,” said Matthew Trail, Adkins’ spokesman.
“Amanda has always supported delivering critical services in a way that best meets the needs of families while respecting taxpayers,” Trail said. “Voters aren’t looking to the past; they’re looking for a leader who is committed to bringing prosperity to the region and creating viable paths for all to succeed.”
LaTurner’s campaign responded to the question more directly.
“It’s worth noting that Ambassador Brownback never lost an election in Kansas. He is now serving our country by advocating for religious minorities across the world,” said LaTurner spokeswoman Kara Zeyer, noting Brownback’s post-gubernatorial role as U.S. ambassador at-large for international religious freedom.
“Elections are about the future and Kansans are focused on which candidates are best prepared to rebuild our economy from devastation caused by the Coronavirus and lead us forward. Any Democrat efforts to make the 2020 election a redux of 2014 will be futile at best.”
Zeyer worked as spokeswoman for Colyer during his brief tenure as governor.
Brownback has avoided wading back into Kansas politics since taking on the diplomatic post in 2018. Colyer stayed neutral in the primary for the 3rd District, where he lives, but was eager to influence other races.
After announcing his decision to sit out the Senate race, Colyer last year publicly called on LaTurner to end his own Senate campaign and instead mount a primary against Republican incumbent Watkins in the 2nd District.
It is rare for a former governor to advocate for a primary against an incumbent from his own party. But it had the dual effect of leading to Watkins’ ouster and helping clear Marshall’s path to the nomination against Kobach.
“We were clearly in a place where we could lose another House seat and lose the United States Senate, so to me the logical thing was, ‘Jake, get out of the Senate race and run in the House race for this district that you know very well,’” Colyer said, noting LaTurner’s background as a staffer for former Rep. Lynn Jenkins.
“I see myself as a Kansan first and I’ve been involved in Republican politics and I want to get stuff done, so I’ll run into the battle to do it,” Colyer said when asked about his decision to get involved in primaries this year.
Future elections
If LaTurner and Marshall win in November, both will be in Colyer’s debt headed into 2022, when Republicans nominate a challenger to face Kelly.
Colyer, who is currently chairing President Donald Trump’s task force on rural health care, has been coy about another run for governor. He said it’s a decision he’ll make after the coming election.
State Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an Overland Park Democrat, questioned the notion that Colyer would make another statewide run.
“Why be in government when you can be the kingmaker? That seems to me something that Colyer would enjoy more,” said Clayton, who left the Republican Party in 2018.
Clayton said the Brownback and Colyer-aligned wing of the Republican Party has effectively crushed the moderates, but the former Republican said she doesn’t expect the Kobach-aligned populists to go away after this election.
“What I want to say to that Brownback wing of the party is, watch out because you’re next because it’s a party that will oust anyone who’s not too far to the right,” she said.
This story was originally published August 15, 2020 5:00 AM.
