Gov. Laura Kelly said Thursday she is looking for lawmakers she can trust to lead “in the right direction” with her political action committee endorsements.

Kelly’s Middle of the Road PAC has made waves ahead of the Aug. 6 primary election after delving into Democratic primaries via endorsements from the governor.

Kelly spoke with reporters after casting her advance ballot in Topeka.

Kelly launched the PAC a year ago with the hope of chipping away at GOP supermajorities in the House and Senate by raising profiles of moderate legislators — including Republicans. But some in her party have questioned whether Kelly diverged from the plan after the PAC unveiled an attack ad targeting House Minority Leader Vic Miller, D-Topeka.

Miller is vacating his House seat for a run at the Senate. Kelly’s endorsement for the hotly contested Senate District 19 seat instead went to upstart candidate Patrick Schmidt. 

Kelly’s PAC also endorsed two Democratic incumbents while rebuking Rep. Marvin Robinson, D-Kansas City, in his race. During his time in office, Robinson has angered fellow Democrats by consistently siding with Republicans via party-line votes. Those types of actions, according to Kelly, crystallized her belief that she needed to inject influence into Democratic primaries.

“When I talk about breaking supermajorities, it means that I have people in the state Legislature that I can count on to vote for things important to Kansans,” Kelly told reporters. 

Kelly specified that she chose not to endorse Miller and Robinson because they were “not necessarily voting or leading in the right direction.” She also tapped longtime incumbent Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, over Rep. Christina Haswood, D-Lawrence, for PAC endorsements. 

“I’ve had a long history with [Francisco],” Kelly said. “She’s done a great job and deserves another term.” 

Asked how her recent endorsements differed from those of her predecessor, Sam Brownback, Kelly described their approaches as being vastly different. She said that Brownback’s election involvement was “an effort to purge the entire moderate Republican caucus — regardless of how they voted or what they did” and that her involvement is more nuanced, characterizing her endorsements and rebukes as “very targeted” in nature. 

Kelly also addressed potential ramifications from the Legislative Coordinating Council’s recent decision to convene a subcommittee to review the Legislature’s budget development process.

The council indicated that the committee would look into the feasibility of transitioning budget development into a legislative-led process — which could erode Kelly’s budgetary powers. Kelly said she was unsurprised, noting the council is covering familiar terrain. 

“It came up five or six years ago, so it’s kind of standard operating procedure for them to do those kinds of things,” she said. “I believe in the end that I will still be presenting a budget and expect that it will receive due attention.”

The governor cast her primary ballot at the Shawnee County Election Office Thursday morning. Kelly said she hoped her presence at the election office would publicly reinforce the importance of the primary election — and serve as a reminder to “get out and vote.”

“Our whole future as a country is really on the line this time around, in a very serious way,” she said, adding that political stakes are especially high for younger Americans. “So it’s important that they go out and they make their voices heard — and heard loud.”

Matt Resnick is a statehouse reporter at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected].