Note: The Lawrence Times runs opinion columns and letters to the Times written by community members with varying perspectives on local issues. These pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Times staff.
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Kansans fit the mold my dad used to define as “independent as a hog on ice” — an analogy dear to my farm-kid heritage.
So, no surprise, I could vote (D) for Kathleen Sebelius for governor but, upon seeing former Kansas Secretary of State Kris “Machine-gun” Kobach (R) aiming to become governor in 2018, switched to (R) in the primary election to vote for his opponent: Kobach out.
Then back to (D), for Bernie in 2020, and once again (R) in the 2022 primary, trying to toss Kobach, yet again (though he snuck by on a three-way split).
Now, 2020 election-denier Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt (R), who filed suit to decertify Biden’s election, covets the role of governor, importing autocratic supporters Ron DeSantis and Ted Cruz to amp up his campaign aspirations. The horror! And Kobach is salivating anew over his now 2022 Kansas attorney general quest, hoping voters won’t recall his mean-spirited past political excesses.
So, before I voted last week against Skeksis-like Kansas GOP powermongers, first I switched my party affiliation again: to Independent, where I belong. And I feel so much less slimed now. Freedom, thy name is Kansas.
— A. Reed (she/her), Lawrence
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More Community Voices:
Mackenzie Clark/Lawrence Times
Clay Wirestone: I knew Kansas officials would overstep after Marion raid. I didn’t expect it to be in Lawrence. (Column)
”The fiasco in Marion generated national attention. This dustup in Douglas County will likely fly under the radar, given that it was conducted in the far more restrained forum of legal filings. But we should all be on notice,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Letter to the Times: Turning neighborhoods into marketplaces without children
”There is a long-term financial advantage for cities to stabilize their modest housing stock and the infrastructure which already exists by utilizing district overlays that provide a level playing field for working families to buy into the market and become long-term residents,” Deborah Snyder writes in this letter to the Times.
