Ric Anderson rarely tweets, so when he does I notice. This AM, he tweeted his column where he wrote about the Kansas Second District race between Laura Kelly and Lynn Jenkins, giving substantial credibility to what we know about Laura Kelly's potential.
- "Kelly could be better financed than some navies. She used to live next door to former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in Potwin, and Sebelius encouraged Kelly to get into politics. Now, Sebelius' legendary fundraising skills and connections to donors could come in handy for Kelly. In a state where Democrats face an uphill battle, the connection could help level the playing field.
- Kelly vs. Jenkins is a distinct choice. When Kelly ran for the state Senate in 2004, she sounded a lot like Sebelius on social issues. She said a constitutional ban on gay marriage was unnecessary because state law already prohibited it, for instance...Jenkins appealed to conservative Republican values in beating former Rep. Nancy Boyda, a Democrat, in 2008."
- "Speaking of Boyda, it's not difficult to find Democrats who believe she lost her seat because she refused to resort to negative campaigning against Jenkins late in their race. Reportedly, Boyda's camp had produced an ad criticizing Jenkins for routinely missing state pension board meetings as state treasurer at a time when the pension fund was bleeding out millions of dollars
But the ad never ran, possibly because polls showed Boyda with a comfortable lead. If all of that is true, don't expect the Democrats to make the same mistake again. There should be plenty of bare-knuckle campaigning should Kelly and Jenkins square off.
- Both candidates are veterans of tough campaigns. The 2004 election between Kelly and incumbent Dave Jackson was one of the most hotly contested races in the Legislature that year, and it ended with a recount showing Kelly winning by exactly 100 votes out of the roughly 30,000 cast. Jenkins won 51 percent of the vote against Boyda."
Its pretty cool to hear Kelly compared to Sebelius, but I would go a step farther in saying that the brilliance of Sebelius combined with the personal way that Boyda connected with voters is like combining both the bottom up and top down style of campaign I think the 2nd District needs to be successful.
This will be a tough race, and we'll need all hands on deck in the 2nd District, but I think if we win this race in 2010, redistricting will guarantee the 2nd stays democratic for years to come.