National Dems highlight 10 races to break up GOP supermajority

Posted on by Bryan Richardson

Kansas Democrats are looking to gain at least three Senate seats and two House seats to break a GOP supermajority in the Legislature, and the national party has identified a potential path for that goal.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee on Thursday revealed 10 “spotlight” races, mostly looking toward the Kansas City area with seven candidates from the metro.

The races include four in the Senate and six in the House (Democrats listed first):

  • Senate District 5 — Sen. Jeff Pittman, D-Leavenworth, vs. Jeff Klemp of Lansing
  • Senate District 10 — Andrew Mall of Shawnee vs. Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee
  • Senate District 11 — Karen Thurlow of Stilwell vs. Sen. Kellie Warren, R-Leawood
  • Senate District 23 — Stacey Knoell of Olathe vs. Rep. Adam Thomas, R-Olathe
  • House District 15 — Rep. Allison Hougland, D-Olathe, vs. Lauren Bohi of Olathe
  • House District 39 — Vanessa Vaughn West of Shawnee vs. Rep. Angela Stiens, R-Shawnee
  • House District 41 — Aimee Bateman of Leavenworth vs. Rep. Pat Proctor, R-Leavenworth
  • House District 52 — Jacquie Lightcap of Topeka vs. Rep. Jesse Borjon, R-Topeka
  • House District 88 — Veronica Gillette of Wichita vs. Rep. Sandy Pickert of Wichita
  • House District 102 — Rep. Jason Probst of Hutchinson vs. Kyler Sweely of Hutchinson

Committee President Heather Williams said in a news release that the 10 races represented the best opportunities to hold and flip seats to break the supermajority.

“As the DLCC works to strengthen Democratic power across the country, we’re proud to champion these Kansas Democrats and their fight for restoring balance in the legislature,” she said.

The DLCC — the arm of the Democratic Party focused on state legislatures — planned to invest $10 million into races in eight states, including Kansas, with a goal of spending $60 million across the nation, NBC News reported in June.

Sam Paisley, the committee’s interim communications director, told State Affairs the candidates gaining access to infrastructure support and a team of experts is a big aspect of Thursday’s announcement. She said there isn’t a specific amount of funding that candidates will receive.

“We stay in touch with the candidates as we go into November to see what their needs are,” she said.

Paisley said the committee is selecting 180 candidates across the country, so choosing 10 in Kansas shows the importance the DLCC placed on breaking the two-thirds majority.

Republican leaders did not immediately respond to State Affairs’ request for comment.

During the session, Kansas Republicans had 85 representatives and 29 senators, just over the supermajority thresholds of 84 and 27, respectively. Under a supermajority, Republicans can overcome Gov. Laura Kelly’s vetoes by simply maintaining the party line.

Both chambers have been under a GOP supermajority since the 2010 election, when Republican membership grew to 92 from 76. Republicans have maintained a two-thirds majority in the Senate since the 1996 election.

The 2014 election represented the peak of the trend, with Kansas electing 97 Republican representatives to join 31 GOP senators.

Bryan Richardson is the managing editor at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected] or on X @RichInNews.

Ethics Commission goes behind closed doors to consider complaint against education commissioner

Posted on by Andy Sher

Members of the Tennessee Ethics Commission went behind closed doors Thursday to consider an ethics complaint filed by state Rep. Caleb Hemmer against Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds. 

The Nashville Democrat has alleged Reynolds twice illegally accepted travel reimbursements from ExcelinEd, a pro-voucher group that Reynolds once worked for.

Bill Young, executive director of the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, told the Tennessee Journal afterwards he could not discuss the matter. While Young had initially suggested the executive session would be brief, the panel ended up discussing the matter for more than 40 minutes.

Three of the panel’s six members attended in person and one by telephone. Two others were absent.

“We’re in a difficult situation because the statute on sworn complaints filed by an individual, including Rep. Hemmer, requires both me, staff and the Ethics Commission to keep all that information confidential until the commission decides to make a decision to dismiss or refer to the Attorney General’s office or take some other action,” Young said.

“So until that happens, I cannot comment,” he added.

Hemmer, meanwhile, also sharply criticized Gov. Bill Lee’s chief legal counsel, Erin Merrick, for what he said her her “glossing over key facts in her effort to clean up” for what he characterized as Reynolds’ “continued malfeasance and failure of leadership at the Tennessee Department of Education.”

In a letter to Merrick, the Nashville Democrat said Reynolds is in “violation” of state code as well as Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s Executive Order 2 implementing a “comprehensive” ethics policy to maintain “trust” in state government. 

At issue is Reynolds acceptance of free travel from ExcelinEd, which employs a lobbyist in Tennessee to promote the expansion of school vouchers. Lee is a vocal proponent, but he was been stymied in trying to get vouchers through the GOP-led General Assembly, including a failed effort just this year. 

In his first year in office, the governor did succeed in squeezing through a voucher program limited to Metro Nashville and Shelby County school systems, though the heavy-handed leadership of House Speaker Glen Casada in ushering through the bill’s narrow passage contributed to his downfall from the leadership position after the session ended. Hamilton County was added to the existing voucher program last year.

Hemmer said the information he provided “will clearly show that Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds is in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated 3-6-305(a) and Executive Order No. 2. Unfortunately, Ms. Merrick is glossing over key facts in her effort to clean up after the Commissioner’s continued malfeasance and failure of leadership at the Tennessee Department of Education.”

Hemmer said that while Reynolds has “voluntarily” repaid monies associated with the travel, that’s not good enough. Hemmer also criticized Reynolds earlier this year after the Tennessee Education Association and others said she did not meet the state’s education requirements for being commissioner.

Reynolds later began taking classes to move her toward teacher certification. But that too created controversy because she was technically not qualified for a state stipend because she had not been a resident of the state for at least six months. She ultimately paid the money back.0

Opinion: Lugar converted swords to plowshares

Posted on by Brian A. Howey

INDIANAPOLIS — Covering the 1996 presidential campaign of Indiana U.S. Sen. Richard G. Lugar, I found him talking with students in a Drake University classroom a few days before the Iowa caucuses. As I prepared to enter, a couple of national reporters were exiting, shaking their heads.

“Can you believe that?” one said. “He’s talking about Africa.”

The unsuccessful Lugar presidential campaign was a cerebral diversion. While some candidates offered up the same scripted talking points over and over again, Sen. Lugar tended to offer remarks aimed at specific audiences. And one of them was what would become the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

PEPFAR was supported by Lugar and then-Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Joe Biden (the two rotated in that position) and signed into law by President George W. Bush. Prior to PEPFAR, only about 50,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa had been receiving lifesaving anti-retroviral drugs. That quickly grew to 1.4 million. And a generation later, PEPFAR has been credited with saving more than 20 million lives in Africa.

Or as Lugar put it, “We should understand that our investments in disease prevention programs have yielded enormous foreign policy benefits during the last five years. PEPFAR has helped to prevent instability and societal collapse in a number of at-risk countries. 

“In my judgment,” he continued, “the dollars spent on this program can be justified purely on the basis of the humanitarian results that we have achieved. But the value of this investment clearly extends to our national security and to our national reputation.”

On Sept. 3, a little more than five years after Lugar passed away at age 87, many of his colleagues and constituents will gather outside Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the unveiling of a monument in his honor. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will give the keynote, and there will be video commemorations from President Bush and former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn.

The Richard Lugar monument will pay homage to one of the most influential politicians in Indiana history, who received more votes than any other Hoosier. The statue will be installed later in the day in its permanent location at Lugar Plaza on the south side of the City-County Building where, as mayor, Lugar orchestrated the pivotal era that launched modern Indianapolis. 

After winning the mayor’s office in 1967, he ushered in the “Unigov” era that combined many functions of Indianapolis and Marion County. In 1979, he played a major role in saving Chrysler Corp., which employed 17,170 Hoosiers at the time. 

While he was chairman and then ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, his most important legacy came with the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program, which deactivated 7,500 Soviet and Russian strategic nuclear warheads and destroyed more than 1,400 land- and submarine-launched ballistic missiles after the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

Nunn and Lugar had discovered Soviet nuclear and chemical weapon depots protected by chain-link fences and padlocks, housed in chicken coop-style buildings with light streaming through their holey roofs. Shells filled with sarin gas or smuggled highly enriched uranium would have been coveted by terrorists like Osama bin Laden and ISIS. The program found new jobs for former Soviet physicists and upgraded security for weapons of mass destruction sites.

The Lugar monument was a five-year project of Jim Morris’, Mayor Lugar’s chief of staff who would later head the United Nations’ World Food Programme. That was another frequent topic that Lugar (who also chaired the Senate Agriculture Committee) would broach: hunger and feeding the world.

Upon Lugar’s death, then-Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana President John Elliott observed, “Lugar fought creatively for the 1 in 8 Americans who are food insecure. He tirelessly defended the School Lunch Program, including the critical Child Nutrition Reauthorization in 1998, which provides 1 in 5 meals to hungry Hoosier families even today.”

Did Morris get to see the Lugar monument before he died unexpectedly last month?

Charlie Richardson, an Indianapolis attorney who helped plan the privately funded $500,000 monument project, said, “He was on this daily.” Richardson, who last spoke with Morris the Wednesday before he died, added, “We were all taking instructions from Jim Morris right up until the end.”

I asked Richardson for a “Lugar story.”

He responded, “Tell me one.”

I told him about accompanying Lugar and Nunn to watch the destruction of a Soviet-era SS-25 missile motor north of Moscow in 2007. Lugar had found an aerial photo of Indianapolis, the intended target, tacked to a wall in the crew quarters of an intercontinental ballistic missile silo. After Lugar, Nunn and then-Ambassador Bill Burns (now the CIA director) pushed buttons along with their Russian military counterparts, a rumble could be felt from over a mile away.

When we went to the burn stand to inspect what Nunn likened to “converting swords to plowshares,” a light rain was falling, and then came a rainbow. 

“Sen. Lugar, look,” I beckoned. Lugar glanced skyward as a serene smile crossed his face — though, uncharacteristically, he remained silent.

Richardson had a story of his own. 

“In 2005, when Lugar introduced John Roberts to the Congress,” he said of the future Supreme Court chief justice who grew up in Long Beach, “Lugar said, ‘Growing up in Indiana, one learns early on that talent and accomplishments count, but honesty and integrity count more.’”

Brian A. Howey is senior writer and columnist for Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs. Find Howey on Facebook and X @hwypol.

Opinion: Indiana Democrats and Chicago White Sox compete for rock bottom

Posted on by Brian A. Howey

CHICAGO — After spending a week in the Loop covering the Democratic National Convention, I’m not sure which one is a more pathetic entity: the Chicago White Sox or the Indiana Democratic Party.

The Chisox last week became the quickest Major League Baseball team to notch its 100th loss, on the way to surpassing the expansion 1962 New York Mets as the worst team ever. 

Since 2014, Indiana Democrats are 0-13 in statewide races. Other than candidates for governor or U.S. Senate, the party’s statewide candidates polled between 36% and 40% during this abject losing streak. Hoosier Democrats have watched the Indiana GOP extend its General Assembly supermajority status to a record five consecutive cycles, with a sixth on the way in November. Democrats control only two of 11 congressional offices and only 10% of county courthouse offices.

I used to say it was Indiana Libertarians who “play political party,” raising little money, its candidates for governor or senator offering a little debate levity on their way to 3.5% of the vote. That 2020 nominee Donald Rainwater was able to extend that number into double digits was just another pathetic milepost of futility for these political donkeys.

Indiana Democrats are knocking on this door of ineptitude. A major political party is supposed to win elections. These folks simply aren’t.

When they gathered at the Fairmont Chicago during the DNC, two positive trend lines were presenting themselves. The first was the Biden-to-Harris presidential race reset. The ascension of Vice President Kamala Harris has been a best-case-scenario, too-good-to-be-true opportunity. It is verging on a movement of fired-up female voters that could, if properly exploited, lift all ships, possibly even Jennifer McCormick’s threadbare gubernatorial campaign.

The second is that movement’s preset occurring two years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court rendered Roe vs. Wade to the historic dustbin, sending the abortion issue back to the states. Hoosier Republicans quickly obliged, enacting some of the most draconian restrictions in the nation.

Using the Dobbs decision and Gov. Eric Holcomb’s signing of SEA 1(ss) to inspire suburban female voters from Elkhart, Hamilton and Clark counties to vote Democratic became the mission. Referendums establishing reproductive rights in red states such as Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio revealed that such a comeback is possible.

This comes as the Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, was branded a “sexual predator” by a New York jury and judge in the defamation case of E. Jean Carroll (a former Indiana University cheerleader).

But the state’s most conspicuous Democratic officeholder — Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett — has been exposed for letting his horndog Chief of Staff Thomas Cook use city and campaign staff to satisfy his sexual proclivities. Cook resigned, but years after the first allegations surfaced, with the mayor paying little heed.

On the eve of the DNC, rising star state Sen. Andrea Hunley called out Mayor Hogsett in an Instagram post: “Somehow, the city of Indianapolis, one of the largest employers in the county with over 7,500 staff members across 30 divisions, doesn’t have a comprehensive sexual harassment prevention policy or reporting mechanisms. [And] neither does the Indiana Democratic Party, the organization that trains Democratic volunteers, candidates, county party members and elected officials.”

Hunley wasn’t the only one to call the party out. The Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus released an angry retort: “Despite knowledge of Cook’s predatory behavior, Mayor Hogsett and his administration continued to work with Cook for six years, protecting him and keeping him as a close advisor. During this time, additional abuses occurred. Additionally, the lack of meaningful intervention from any party leaders reveals a breakdown in trust and failure in leadership.” 

Hunley said on Instagram, “I learned my lesson. I reminded myself that I was given a voice and platform for a reason. It wasn’t to wait for somebody else to speak on my behalf, so I’m speaking up now. I’m not going to stop until accountability is taken, an independent process for reporting is established, and a formal, third-party led audit has been conducted.”

Last Friday, the Hogsett administration announced the mayor intends to sign an executive order “in the coming days” to require employee sexual harassment prevention training.

But Hunley’s criticism was blunted when she and fellow Senate Democrats didn’t call out state Sen. David Niezgodski for allegedly sending dozens of unwanted texts to a woman who tried to end a business relationship. Niezgodski called it a “private personnel matter.”

Then there’s the gubernatorial campaign of Jennifer McCormick.

Indiana Democratic Chairman Mike Schmuhl told Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs that Republican nominee Mike Braun is “vulnerable” if McCormick can catch onto any wave Kamala Harris might generate. 

“Mike Braun is a sitting U.S. senator who is not doing very well in the polls,” Schmuhl said. Asked what internal polling was showing, Schmuhl replied, “I can’t get into specifics, but for a sitting United States senator in Indiana in a presidential year, he’s not in terrific shape.”

Time out!

During this era of futility, Indiana Democrats have demonstrated a penchant for publicizing internal polling, setting up a façade of hope. But not this time.

McCormick is a historical anomaly, the first major-party nominee to switch parties. But as her midyear campaign report revealed, she is not being supported by the biggest Democratic benefactor: the unions.

In her June report, McCormick posted $250,000 from the Indiana Political Action Committee for Education (which has since put in another $208,000), but that’s the crux of her campaign that had a mere $700,000 cash on hand on June 30 — a ridiculously puny amount for a major-party nominee for governor.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Voluntary PAC and the United Food & Commercial Workers PAC have each given $10,000, the Anderson Federation of Teachers PAC anted up $4,000 and the United Mine Workers gave $2,500.

To put that into perspective, the 2016 campaign of Democratic nominee John Gregg had received $228,000 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; $100,000 from the Indiana Political Action Committee for Education; $500,000 from American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; and $130,000 from the Service Employees International Union Healthcare PAC. In March 2016, The Associated Press reported that Gregg had received $2.5 million from unions. 

Or as Maureen Hayden described in her 2016 column in the Terre Haute Tribune-Star, union volunteers made 65,000 calls in the waning weeks of the campaign encouraging fellow members to vote for Gregg. Labor phone banks had made 260,000 calls as part of a monthslong campaign that also involved social media outreach and knocking on doors to push for Gregg’s election while “stressing labor’s role in determining the state’s future.”

When I asked Schmuhl whether more union money was headed for McCormick, he responded, “I think so.”

And this financial edge is extending down the ballot. According to the latest legislative caucus campaign reports covering the period through April 12, the House Republican Campaign Committee had $2,762,173 cash on hand (spent $4,919,399 during 2022 cycle) while the Indiana House Democratic Caucus had $493,529 cash on hand (spent $1,748,980 during 2022 cycle). The Senate Majority Campaign Committee had $1,769,911 cash on hand (spent $2,443,296 during the 2022 cycle), while the Indiana Senate Democrats Committee had $228,656 cash on hand (spent $666,333 during the 2022 cycle).

My final mission with Indiana Democrats last week was to catch up with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend mayor and 2020 presidential candidate. He’s the biggest Hoosier star the party has produced in a decade, except he moved from Indiana to Michigan.

Catching wind that “Mayor Pete” would address the delegation on Wednesday, I asked Schmuhl and the party communications director if I could attend or get a minute or two with Pete. No response. No access. What Pete said was … a secret. No sense in alarming MAGA deep in the Hoosier hinterlands.

Buttigieg has been the Democrats secret red state weapon, spending time on Fox News urging Republican viewers to use the Google machine to get the real lowdown. Because my weekly column runs in about 20 small-town newspapers like the Decatur Daily Democrat, The Bluffton News-Banner and the legendary Crothersville Times, I figured to afford Hoosier Democrats a chance to make a pitch to folks in North Judson, Walkerton and Seymour.

Mark Leibovich, writing for The Atlantic, observed: “Officially, Buttigieg is the United States secretary of transportation. But his far more prominent role of late has been as a sound-bite and surrogate sensation for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz (and at the expense of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance). According to his staff, Buttigieg plowed through more than 30 TV, radio, and TikTok appearances over the course of 96 hours in Chicago, along with 30 speeches to constituent groups (veterans, mayors, students), 12 sets of remarks to delegation breakfasts, dozens of scheduled and unscheduled drop-bys and meet and greets with various dignitaries and appendages, and one prime-time address on Wednesday night. The next day, in the final hours of the convention, I was granted brief access to the inner swirl of this particular dust cloud.”

Leibovich reported that he spent 21 minutes in the “Buttigieg bubble”:

“I’m following you out,” I informed him as he headed to the door.

“Get some color?” Buttigieg replied, media-savvy as ever.

Yes, I would be seeking some “color,” I confirmed. “Do something colorful,” I commanded.

“I’ll be colorful,” he assured me. “Are you coming in the bubble?”

This columnist showed up a half-hour early hoping to catch the Pete spectacle, only to watch the “Buttigieg bubble” with the secretary, husband Chasten and his federal security detail hurriedly walk past me by an exterior stairwell.

When it comes to “color” and Hoosier Democrats in this one-party dominant era of Hoosier politics, the hues aren’t green or gold.

They are red … scarlet, ruby, cerise, cardinal, cherry, carmine …

Brian A. Howey is senior writer and columnist for Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs. Find Howey on Facebook and X @hwypol.

Opinion: Pete Buttigieg’s bright future

Posted on by Jack Colwell

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Here in the city where Pete Buttigieg grew up, became Mayor Pete and launched an impressive 2020 presidential campaign, an oft-heard forecast is: “He’s going to be president someday.” 

Not this Election Day.

But he’s only 42 years old. He’s one of the bright prospects for a future Democratic presidential nomination. And his credentials have expanded from Mayor Pete to include serving as secretary of transportation and being a finalist for the party’s vice presidential nomination.

With Kamala Harris or Donald Trump as president, what will Buttigieg do after this presidential election?

Possibilities vary greatly, depending on the next occupant of the White House.

If Harris wins, she no doubt would welcome Buttigieg to remain in the cabinet. They are like-minded on the direction of the country, appealing to the middle class and Middle West at home and in confronting Putin abroad. Her regard for Buttigieg is clear — he’s the only cabinet member who was a finalist for running mate and given a prime-time speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention.

Secretary of transportation? 

The way he handled crisis after crisis on transportation issues — first attacked by Trumpsters and then prevailing with solutions — would make him a sound choice to continue in that role.

And he might want to continue in transportation, with opportunities to cut ribbons all across the nation on needed and popular infrastructure projects now underway.

Or maybe Buttigieg could move to a cabinet post regarded as more prestigious — secretary of defense or secretary of state, providing credentials in world affairs.

Or maybe something else in the administration. Or something for a time away from government and politics.

If Trump wins, Buttigieg of course would get no cabinet post.

It’s hard to picture two people more unlike in so many ways than Donald Trump and Pete Buttigieg. 

So, what would Buttigieg do?

Well, we don’t need to be concerned about Pete and Chasten Buttigieg being unable to adequately support their 3-year-old twins. Pete and Chasten are successful authors and will command big advance payments for future books. They will have no shortage of employment opportunities.

Mayor Pete won’t need to come back to run for his former office.

He could become a corporate executive, making far more than the salary of a cabinet secretary or president of the United States. Again, however, there is that difference with Trump. Making big money has never been an overwhelming goal for Buttigieg.

With his academic credentials — Harvard, Oxford, Rhodes Scholar and, yes, graduate of South Bend’s St. Joseph High School — he could become a university president.

He could become a TV personality. He already is, though not with his own show or any pay for appearing. In news interviews, Buttigieg is one of the most successful communicators of Democratic views, even appearing frequently to counter hostile questioning on Fox News. He began his convention speech with: “Here is a sentence I never thought I would hear myself saying: ‘I’m Pete Buttigieg, and you might recognize me from Fox News.’”

He could run for elective office. Certainly not for the House. Almost certainly not for the Senate. A race for governor in Indiana, Michigan or elsewhere also seems unlikely in his future. Chances are the only office he will run for is president. No additional stepping stone is needed.

In the immediate future, whether there’s a President Harris or again a President Trump, Buttigieg will have many opportunities. Will they lead to the White House?

It’s as impossible now to calculate chances on any candidate for 2028 or 2032 as it is to quote odds on Notre Dame winning the national football championship in ’28 or ’32. But it’s pretty safe to forecast that neither Pete nor the Fighting Irish will be relegated to obscurity by then.

Jack Colwell has covered Indiana politics for over five decades for the South Bend Tribune. Email him at [email protected].

Opinion: Israel transcends American politics

Posted on by Joshua Claybourn

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A peculiar irony is at play in American politics. We are more divided than ever on nearly every issue that crosses our screens, but amid the cacophony, one cause transcends the usual partisan sniping: Israel. At the Democratic and Republican conventions, the support for the Jewish state rang loud and clear, like a national anthem we’ve somehow remembered in an age of relentless discord.

In Chicago last week, the Democratic National Convention was marked by a poignant moment when Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, parents of Israeli-American hostage Hersch Goldberg Polin, took the stage. Their plea was simple and powerful: “Bring them home.” 

The crowd, composed of delegates who often can’t agree on whether the sky is blue, stood united in applause, chanting in unison. Outside, anti-Israel protests boiled over, a reminder that even within the tent of progressivism, fissures exist. But inside, the resolve was undeniable. The Democratic platform, despite the vocal protests from its far-left fringe, reaffirmed the Biden administration’s unyielding support for Israel.

That might seem surprising given the leftward drift of some segments of the Democratic Party, where voices have grown louder against Israeli policy. Yet, when the moment came, the overwhelming majority of Democrats stood firm, rebuffing any suggestion that the party’s commitment to Israel is wavering. It’s a testament to something deeper in the American psyche, something that goes beyond politics and touches on a shared moral narrative.

Across the aisle, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July, the scene was almost a mirror image. Orna and Ronen Neutra, whose American son remains in the clutches of Hamas, stood before the crowd. Their pain and desperation were palpable, their message simple: “Bring them home.” 

Again, the crowd erupted in solidarity, the same chant echoing from a different political spectrum. Fraternity brothers from the University of North Carolina were celebrated onstage for defending the American flag from pro-Palestinian protesters. In an era when patriotism itself has become a partisan battleground, this moment of unity was striking.

Yet, it’s important to note the GOP has tried, again and again, to turn Israel into a wedge issue. The rhetoric is often sharper, the accusations more pointed, aimed at painting Democrats as weak or inconsistent in their support for Israel. But so far, this tactic has failed to drive a significant divide. The reason? Americans’ support for Israel runs deep, transcending the superficial battles of the day.

What is it about Israel that unites such disparate factions in our fractured body politic? The answer lies in the complex intersection of history, culture and shared values. For many Americans, Israel represents more than just a strategic ally in a volatile region. It is seen as a beacon of democracy in the Middle East, a symbol of resilience in the face of existential threats. Also, a deep well of religious and cultural affinity runs through both the evangelical right and the liberal Jewish left.

But perhaps more than anything, Israel serves as a litmus test for something uniquely American: the commitment to a moral cause, however imperfectly understood or unevenly applied. This isn’t to ignore or minimize the serious and valid criticisms of Israeli policy, particularly from those on the left who advocate for Palestinian rights. But in the grand narrative that Americans have constructed, Israel is a symbol of a nation’s right to exist, to defend itself and to flourish in the face of profound adversity.

In this light, the support for Israel at both conventions isn’t just political posturing; it’s a reflection of a shared moral compass, a rare moment of clarity in a landscape otherwise dominated by noise. It’s a reminder that, even in an age of profound division, some things still bind us together. And in those moments, we see a glimpse of what America might still be: a nation capable of unity in pursuit of justice.

Joshua Claybourn is an author and attorney in Evansville, Indiana. Visit him at JoshuaClaybourn.com.

Kansas Daily News Wire August 29, 2024

Posted on by State Affairs

Welcome to the Kansas Daily News Wire, your daily roundup of top state and political stories from newsrooms across Kansas. — Hawver’s Capitol Report/State Affairs

STATE

‘I take full responsibility’: Statehouse security overhaul behind schedule, over budget: A long-planned overhaul of the Statehouse’s physical security apparatus is over-budget and behind schedule, according to Frank Burnam, director of the Kansas Office of Facilities and Property Management. (Resnick, State Affairs)

Grants under investigation after ex-official alleged manipulation, Kansas Gov. Kelly says: Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said Wednesday that an outside investigation is reviewing the awarding of federal pandemic aid after a now-dead former official at the state Department of Commerce alleged he helped manipulate the process. (The Kansas City Star)

Statehouse Briefs: Primary’s 16.9% turnout fails to meet preelection estimates: Kansas reported a 16.9% voter turnout in August’s primary election, falling below the preelection estimate of 24%. (Richardson, State Affairs)

Kansas AG asked to investigate commerce department handling of records request: A libertarian organization requested the Kansas Attorney General investigate the state Department of Commerce for failing to respond to an open records request and demanded the records be turned over within 10 days. (Kansas Reflector)

Sports betting affects household finances, according to KU study: University of Kansas researchers, along with partners at Brigham Young University and Northwestern University, published a study on how the introduction of legalized online sports betting impacts household finances and investing. (Topeka Capital-Journal)

LOCAL

Sedgwick County eviction filings continued to rise in 2023, hitting five-year high: Inflation, rising rents and the end of pandemic assistance contributed to the increase in filings. (KMUW)

Shawnee County dispatchers raise alarm over staffing issues: Dispatchers in Shawnee County are voicing concerns over what they call alarmingly low staffing levels and the potential threat it poses to public safety. (WIBW)

Wichita prepares for paid parking in 2025: City council faces pushback from business owners: The City of Wichita is projected to have some type of paid parking in place next year, raising plenty of questions from citizens. (KAKE)

Douglas County Commission approves 2025 budget; property tax rate is lower but taxes will increase for some: Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday approved their 2025 budget, which includes a lower property tax rate than the current budget but will still increase taxes for many property owners. (The Lawrence Times)

Topeka police officers learn basics of water survival training at local pool: The Topeka Police Department’s  response team got a little wet during a water survival course Wednesday. (KSNT)

Gardenhire hospitalized following ‘brief health episode’ at Tennessee Capitol complex

Posted on by Andy Sher

Republican state Sen. Todd Gardenhire of Chattanooga has been hospitalized in Nashville for what is being described as an “abundance of caution” following what a Senate official characterized as a “brief health episode.”

Gardenhire, the sometimes-feared 76-year-old chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was at the state Capitol complex to serve as vice chair of a Joint Fiscal Review Committee meeting. 

“He was awake and alert when he left the building and is presently in good spirits,” Adam Kleinheider, a spokesman for Republican Senate Speaker Randy McNally, said in an email Wednesday.

Capitol Hill observers say they saw Metro Nashville paramedics taking the senator to an ambulance outside the Cordell Hull Building, where lawmakers offices and committee rooms are located.

Earlier this month, Gardenhire brushed back a GOP primary challenge from former Red Bank Commissioner Ed LeCompte by a margin of 61 percentage points. In the general election, Gardenhire faces Democrat Missy Crutchfield. She the daughter of Gardenhire’s longtime friend Ward Crutchfield, a former Senate majority leader who died in 2016.

An earlier medical response was required in April, when Sen. Steve Southerland, R-Morristown, slumped over in his seat in the chamber and had to be hospitalized overnight for observation. Southerland later said he was diagnosed with low potassium.

While awaiting the arrival of the paramedic, Southerland was attended to by fellow Republican Sen. Richard Briggs, a Knoxville physician. 

McNally fell ill during a floor session last year. A heart monitor on his watch alerted him to a low heart rate and Briggs recommended he get an EKG. Upon his hospitalization, McNally was informed he needed to get a pacemaker.

Abortion issue in key RNC, DNC moments

Posted on by Brian A. Howey

Two searing moments or sequences stood out at the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

As Donald J. Trump took the RNC stage in Milwaukee for his third nomination acceptance speech in mid-July, James Brown’s 1966 song “It’s Man’s Man’s Man’s World” was his entrance soundtrack. It came a few minutes after Hulk Hogan tore his shirt off in a testosterone-tinged sequence.

Last week, DNC viewers saw an array of potent female speakers, such as Michelle Obama (“Who’s gonna tell him the job he’s campaigning for is one of those Black jobs?”), Gabby Giffords (“I’ve got grit!”), Hillary Clinton (“The future is here”), Nancy Pelosi (“You have to make the decision to win”) and the presidential nominee (“I’m Kamala Harris, for the people”).

But it would be two former Hoosiers, Josh and Amanda Zurawski, who framed what could be the issue — reproductive rights — that supercharges the November election.

“I was punished for three days because I had to wait for either my baby to die, or me to die, or both,” Amanda Zurowski told the United Center audience on Aug. 19 of her experiences with Texas’ total abortion ban. “I was stuck in this horrific hell of wanting to hear her heartbeat and also hoping I wouldn’t. I almost died because doctors were forced to follow Donald Trump’s abortion ban. Every time I share this story my heart breaks. But I was lucky. I lived. I will continue to share my story. We need to vote as if lives depend on it because they do.”

Ten states will have abortion referendums on the ballot in November, and three of them — Arizona, Nevada and potentially Florida — could be considered swing states. Nebraska (which votes Electoral College via congressional district) has two citizen-initiated ballot questions that back or negate abortion rights.

After watching abortion referendums that preserve reproductive rights pass in ruby-red states like Ohio, Kentucky and Kansas, it’s clear this is an issue that could spur female voter turnout.

Watching the Trump campaign respond to this issue has been fascinating. The campaign’s decision to remove the issue from the GOP platform in July, and Trump’s comments about letting the states hash it out, has become a huge issue shift. 

In April, Trump released two videos on the issue. “We brought it back to the states, and now lots of things are happening, and lots of good things are happening,”Trump said in one video. In another, he accused Democrats of trying to distract from immigration and the economy.

“The only issue they think they have is on abortion, and now all I say is the states are handling it and it’s totally killed that issue,” he said.

NBC’s Natasha Korecki and Adam Edelman observed in April: “Trump’s dizzying stances on abortion this week — on Monday embracing states’ rights and on Wednesday distancing himself from a state-based outcome — demonstrate the messaging impossibilities that are ahead for him as he moves into the general election and tries to shed the impact of Roe v. Wade’s fall.”

Peter Wehner, who served in the Reagan/Bush administrations, said in a column in The Atlantic this week that “pro-life justification for supporting the former president has now collapsed.”

Wehner wrote, “Trump has done what no Democrat — not Bill or Hillary Clinton, not Mario Cuomo or John Kerry, not Joe Biden or Barack Obama, not any Democrat — could have done. He has, at the national level, made the Republican Party de facto pro-choice. Having stripped the pro-life plank from the GOP platform, having said that Gov. Ron DeSantis’s ban on abortion after six weeks is ‘too harsh’ and a ‘terrible mistake,’ and having promised to veto a national abortion ban, Trump has now gone one step further, essentially advocating for greater access to abortion.”

Wehner told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Wednesday that he doesn’t believe Trump will lose much evangelical support, saying they’ve essentially become part of his cult no matter how he shifts on their most important issue. “Trump’s imprint on the party is profound,” Wehner said.

What happens on the Democratic side is where this election could be won or lost. Elaine Kamarck wrote for the Brookings Institution: “The expectation is that at least some, if not most, of the pro-choice voters likely to be mobilized by the abortion issue will help Democrats up and down the ballot. As a result, Democratic campaigns are working hard to make sure the public knows that Republicans are responsible.”

Marc Caputo of The Bulwark raised the question of whether Trump will reveal how he will vote on the Florida initiative that would restore abortion rights. Caputo quoted one anti-abortion activist: “If he said nothing about abortion from now until Election Day, it wouldn’t bother me simply because we do know where he stands.”

“This is the first presidential election where abortion will be front and center,” Republican strategist Alex Conant told NBC News. “This is just not an issue where Republicans are likely to win.”

That could be a pivotal element. At this writing, the presidential race is a toss-up. In the FiveThirtyEight polling composite, Kamala Harris has a 47.1% to 43.6% national polling edge over Trump. In the RealClearPolitics polling composite, Harris has a 1.7% lead over Trump, 48.3% to 46.6%.

But Trump has fingernail swing state polling leads in Pennsylvania (by 0.2%), Arizona (0.5%), Nevada (1.4%) and Georgia (1.0%).

A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll released Aug. 23 found Harris leading Trump 50% to 43% nationally. Trump saw his strongest support among men “who hold traditionally masculine identities,” while women and other men who reject those identities favor Harris, according to the pollsters.

“Trump has built his political career around a very specific performance of whiteness and masculinity,” Dan Cassino, a professor of government and politics at Fairleigh Dickinson and the executive director of the poll, said in a release. “In the past, that’s been seen as a strength, but it’s no longer clear that it’s working.”

The movement is heading toward Harris. On July 21 (the day President Biden ended his reelection bid), Trump had a 3.1% lead, 47.9% to 44.8%, over Biden. The RealClearPolitics polling now has Harris leading Trump by 1.7%. That’s almost a 5% swing. Most post-DNC polls are expected to be released later this week. A further polling bump for Harris would not be surprising.

Before her meteoric ascension to the Democratic nomination, Harris had been the Biden administration’s point person on the abortion issue.

This all sets up a crucial debate for Sept. 10 on ABC.

Another attention-grabbing element is party unity. The DNC featured every living presidential nominee with the exception of 99-year-old President Jimmy Carter. The RNC had none of its past standard-bearers or vice presidents in attendance.

Though Trump is expected to carry Indiana easily in November, Hoosier Republicans are divided.

Indiana Republicans who have endorsed Donald Trump:

Indiana Republicans who haven’t endorsed Trump:

  • Gov. Eric Holcomb
  • U.S. Sen. Todd Young
  • U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon
  • Mike Pence
  • Karen Pence
  • Marc Short
  • Dan Coats
  • Marsha Coats
  • Seema Verma
  • Dr. Jerome Adams
  • Alex Azar
  • U.S. Rep. Greg Pence
  • Susan Brooks
  • Jefferson Shreve
  • Peter J. Rusthoven
  • Alyssa Farah Griffin
  • Miles Taylor
  • Olivia Troye

In 2016, Trump won the Indiana primary with 53% of the vote with virtually no GOP establishment support.

This year, most Hoosier Trump supporters have run or are running for office, including past and current gubernatorial candidates as well as new nominees in the 1st, 3rd and 8th congressional districts.

The list of those not endorsing Trump includes not only the sitting governor and senior senator but also a number of Hoosiers who served in the Trump cabinet and administration, including Vice President Pence, Director of National Security Coats, Health and Human Services Secretary Azar, Medicaid/Medicare Commissioner Verma and former Pence aides Short, Troye and Griffin. 

Rusthoven was a 1998 Republican Senate candidate who served in the White House under President Reagan. Taylor is from LaPorte and wrote the so-called anonymous New York Times op-ed early in Trump’s term on resistance to his rule inside the administration.

With the exception of Rusthoven, Griffin and Troye, most Hoosiers on this list have not endorsed Harris.

Harris introduces herself at DNC

After a head-spinning month and a day that has completely transformed the presidential race, Harris became just the second offspring of American immigrants to claim a major party nomination Thursday night.

“I see an America where we hold fast to the fearless belief that built our nation and inspired the world,” Harris said at the United Center less than five weeks after President Biden folded his reelection bid and then gave her his explicit imprimatur. That allowed the Democratic National Convention to unite behind the vice president as opposed to a chaotic, multi-ballot nomination floor fight.

“That here, in this country, anything is possible,” Harris continued. “That nothing is out of reach. An America where we care for one another, look out for one another and recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us. That none of us — none of us has to fail for all of us to succeed.

“And that in unity, there is strength,” said Harris, who emerged from this four-day confab with an overtly unified party. “You know, our opponents in this race are out there every day denigrating America, talking about how terrible everything is. Well, my mother had another lesson she used to teach: Never let anyone tell you who you are. You show them who you are.”

Democrats spent four days co-opting the concepts of “freedom” and “democracy.” They presented themselves as defenders of the military and cops. They made overt appeals to independents, moderates and even Republicans. 

Trump reacted to Harris’ final DNC speech, telling Fox News on Aug. 22: “We’re doing very well in the polls. She’s not having success. I’m having success. I’m doing great with Hispanic voters. I’m doing great with Black men. I’m doing great with women, because women want safety.”

Hoosier Republicans react

A former rural Indiana county Republican chairman who has voted for Trump twice told Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs regarding Harris: “She’s trying to hide [the fact that] she wants to raise taxes to cover $1.2 trillion of new spending. However, I think she will prevail. Trump is off script and kinda flailing around, which is not a good look.”

A Hoosier Republican nursing home executive who is also in the “never Trump” camp told Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs: “I don’t like the policies that she has talked about with taxes and price controls. I like many of her cultural approaches. I really don’t like the concept of a very liberal Democrat being president, and there is no way in the past I would have supported her. But like many Republicans have said, the right policies are not my concern right now. Gotta take down Trump.”

DNC takeaways

Best speeches in this order: 

  1. Michelle Obama (outstanding)
  2. Adam Kinzinger (an important appeal to Haley/moderate GOP/GOP-leaning Independents)
  3. Harris (a well-delivered, artfully crafted speech that was both base-pleasing and attractive to moderates)

The GOP opened a wide playing field for Democrats, who quickly claimed the field:

  1. Democrats are the party that fights communism. The Trump GOP does not (i.e., Ukraine).
  2. Democrats are now the “big tent” party. The Trump GOP has been narrowing its support, purging RINOs (Bushes, Romney, Cheney, Kinzinger) and Republicans who are not election deniers (Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp), becoming a party of MAGA only.
  3. Democrats have become the “proud to be an American” party. Lee Greenwood may sing the words, but Trump has spent eight years running down the U.S., likening it to a “failed nation.” People are tired of it.

In summary, Democrats have claimed the ground that Trump left wide open. He’ll try to claw back, as he is doing by trying to make amends with Gov. Kemp. It’s still a race, but Democrats couldn’t be in a better position. They’ve gone from the worst-case scenario after President Biden’s disastrous June debate to best-case scenario in just six weeks.

Brian A. Howey is senior writer and columnist for Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs. Find Howey on Facebook and X @hwypol.

They Said It (08.29.24)

Posted on by David Jacobs

“Whether public schools decide to hang displays of the Ten Commandments standing alone or, for instance, comparing the commandments to the musical Hamilton, has no bearing on Plaintiffs’ facial challenge under the First Amendment.” —A court filing challenging the constitutionality of Louisiana’s Ten Commandments classroom mandate, reported by Newsweek 

“It’s disgusting. It triggers my gag reflex…The people responsible should hide their heads in bags.” —U.S. Sen. John Kennedy on federal funds New Orleans reportedly has failed to spend, to WDSU

“Something sparkling like Coach Mulkey? Is that what he said?” —LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey, trying to figure out what Lil Wayne says about her in a new song recorded with LSU player and rapper Flau’jae Johnson, in The Advocate (the line is “Diamonds sparkling like Coach Mulkey.”)

“Our water’s so damn bad here anyway…It’s so nasty.” —Madison Parish Police Juror Stanley Ogden, about the latest local drinking water issue, in The Advocate

“If your back yard’s not lookin’ good, then the pasture’s not looking good.” —Jay Grimes, state climatologist with the LSU AgCenter, about how recent drought conditions affect farmers and ranchers, in NOLA.com 

“No one ever said they were trying to find me. I’m an elected official. I’m easy to find.” —Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, about ethics violations for not filing campaign finance reports on time, in The Illuminator

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