January 30, 2005

Kansas Day 2005

Tim Shallenburger Addressed the 3rd District Meeting

Shallenburger and wife, Linda, 
introduced at Kansas Day Banquet

Tim Shallenburger was overwhelming elected the new chair of the Republican Party of Kansas, but the voting by the Third Congressional District did not reflect the rest of the state.

Third District Split.  The breakdown of the votes for state party chair shows a split in the delegation from the Third District (JoCo, WyCo and a portion of DgCo) unlike any other district in Kansas.  The third district was split between native-daughter, Charlotte O'Hara, and statewide favorite, Tim Shallenburger.

Breakdown of Votes for Republican Party State Chair by District
(68 votes required to win)

Oddly, the split in the 3rd congressional district voting carried on to other elections where there was no candidate from the 3rd district.

Breakdown of Votes for Vice-Chair by District

Why was the 3rd District split in this contest, and the contest for Secretary?

Breakdown of Votes for Secretary by District

This split in the 3rd District first appeared during the reorganization meeting in December when two slates of conservative delegates were introduced (with considerable overlap).  So there is not only a huge split in Johnson County (the majority of the 3rd District) between moderates and conservatives, but there is also a split among the conservatives.

Emmitt Mitchell, from the 3rd District, was voted to be the new state party treasurer by acclamation since there were no other candidates.

The KRA banquet on Friday night caught the eye of the moderate side of the Republican Party in Kansas.  Even Martin Hawver from the Capitol Report said "A jaw-dropping 450 persons turned out Friday night for the Kansas Republican Assembly annual banquet....".

RNC Delegate C. Kay Hutchinson 
from
www.csmonitor.com/slideshows/dec2004/rnc03/images/slide1.jpg 

To counter this emerging KRA political force, C. Kay Hutchinson, a delegate at the RNC convention last summer (see above) from Delavan, KS during a break in the State Committee meeting while ballots were being counted, suggested that KRA should voluntarily dissolve and give all their money to the Republican Party of Kansas.  Mr. Hutchins claimed we  didn't need two Republican parties in Kansas.   Not one state delegate applauded his remarks, but a number of observers in the back of the room did applaud.

In past years where was the call for the GOP Club of Johnson County to voluntarily dissolve so there would not be two Republican Parties in Johnson County?

Steve Cloud having Christine Todd Whitman autograph a copy of her new book, which he used in her introduction at the banquet.

Steve Kraske in today's Kansas City Star explained the controversy:

At the banquet Saturday night, former New Jersey governor Christie Todd Whitman urged Republicans of all stripes to get along. Whitman is the author of a new book, It's My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America, that criticizes the GOP's right wing for pushing the party too far in that direction. Conservatives, she asserts in the book, are threatening the party's ability to continue winning national elections.

But Whitman toned down her rhetoric in her 15-minute address before a Kansas Republican Party newly controlled by conservatives.

“While we may disagree from time to time on specifics, we are one party,” Whitman said.

Christine Tood Whitman addressed the 
Kansas Day Banquet

Listen to the 15 minute talk by Christine Todd Whitman:
~1.7 MB MP3 Version

K a n s a s M e a d o w l a r k @ e f g 2 . c o m