Law and Order Under Kobach

The veridict is in. Former Senator and Presidential Candidate, Fred Thompson, has endorsed Kris Kobach for Secretary of State.

"Kris Kobach served the country with great distinction at the Department of Justice during the Bush Administration," Thompson said. "He served my campaign equally well in 2008. He will perform invaluable service to the people of Kansas as Secretary of State. Kansas can trust him to protect the integrity of elections."

Kobach, law professor and former state Republican party chair, is running for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State against JR Claeys, Salina native and former head of the National Association of Government Contractors (NAGC).

Both candidates tout winning straw polls on their website but we'll wait until year end finance reports come out to who Kansans are really backing.

Ideas for Change: Straight-Ticket Voting

We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but barring some cataclysmic event where most Kansas Republicans die, in 2011, the state will have a GOP governor and majorities in both the state House and Senate.

So what happens after that? Change! And we have a suggestion!

Since Dems always kill efforts to actually require some form of identification to vote, how about this? The Republican-led Legislature should consider and pass a straight-ticket voting ballot law. This type of system "allows voters to choose a party’s entire slate of candidates. Voters make one punch or mark on the ballot in order to vote for every candidate of that party for each office on the ballot."

16 states already have this option of voting and it has proven to be a success, including states such as Texas, Iowa, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and more.

J.R. Claeys and Kris Kobach are both running in the primary to become the next Secretary of State. Their opinion and efforts could really help to get a straight-ticket voting ballot passed. Contact Claeys and Kobach and ask them where they stand on this type of measure.

The Nix Six Project: Contenders?

After the former Democrat Attorney General Paul Morrison's embarrassing, public affair came to light - after running on "family values" during the campaign - Queen Kathleen handpicked Stephen Six to fill out the rest of Morrison's term.

So far, Six is going unchallenged in his bid for his first elected term. Instead, some of the GOP's top candidates are deciding to run for Secretary of State after Ron Thornburgh announced he'd be stepping down. Who were the two most likely candidates to take on Six?

• Kris Kobach: Former GOP Chairman, congressional candidate, and law professor at UMKC. Kobach announced he would run for Secretary of State, setting up a primary with young, up and comer from Salina, J.R. Claeys. Kobach is known across the country as an anti-illegal immigration advocate and popular with the conservative base.
  
  
• Derek Schmidt: An attorney and having served nearly 8 years in the Kansas Senate, now as Majority Leader, Schmidt could be the likely candidate to take on and knock off Six. Schmidt's, however, has indicated he is "exploring" a bid for SOS to setup a three-way primary.
  

Six has raised some money for his bid, but nothing that can't be overcome. The reality is that Six is virtually uknown around the state and having a big fat D after his name come 2010 won't exactly be an asset. Schmidt has served well in the Kansas Senate and needs to step up to the challenge to help the GOP sweep the statewide offices in 2010. Contact Schmidt at Derek.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov and let him know we need him for Kansas' next Attorney General.

And just for the heck of it, check out Morrison's "family values" ad during his campaign. Sad.