The Rise of Kansas Conservatism and the End of Bipartisanship
Candidates backed by the ‘moral majority’ took control of the state legislature in 2010 and helped Sam Brownback get elected governor
A partisan history of KS politics
At sixty-two I remember Democrats and Republicans coming together, and although there was some animosity among the two parties on how to best address issues, they often found a way to compromise and pass legislation that benefitted all Kansans. In the mid nineteen eighties, politics began slowly denigrating into a war between Liberals and Conservatives which was fostered by the ‘Christian Coalition’, founded by televangelist Pat Robertson and a young Ralph Reed, after Robertson lost the Republican nomination for president in 1988.
Democrat Dan Glickman, representing Kansas Fourth District in the U.S. Congress from 1976–1994 enjoyed the support of both Republican and Democrat voters. I vividly remember one Labor Day picnic which was attended by Glickman and other local state Democrats, along with Republican representatives. Both parties supported unions, recognizing their economic importance to local communities with employees higher wages and benefits.
The only major disagreement between the two parties was over ‘right to work legislation’ which unions didn’t support. It wasn’t until Tea Party Conservative Todd Tiahrt ran primarily on a right to life platform and reaching out to rural communities with heavy backing from Social Conservatives and their special interest groups that the Democrat lost his seat.
Republican Governor Bill Graves, a moderate, was elected twice. During his first campaign Graves won with the highest percentage of votes than any KS Governor to date and had full bi-partisan support. And during his campaign for a second term, he garnered more votes than all gubernatorial candidates nationally. Having worked in the family business, Graves Trucking, the governor could relate to middle class workers and small businesses. The Kansas economy thrived during his…
