WRITER: Peter Hancock

Voters Guide: State senator, former health care services manager vying for insurance commissioner

The office of insurance commissioner opened up this year when incumbent Republican Ken Selzer decided to run for governor. He finished fourth in a crowded GOP primary. The office is generally in charge of regulating the insurance industry in Kansas, which includes licensing insurance agents and overseeing compliance with state laws and regulations that govern the insurance business. The candidates this year ...

Voters Guide: Incumbent state treasurer facing off against Lawrence Democrat

The office of state treasurer is one of the lower-profile elected offices in Kansas state government. Its primary function is to manage the state's idle fund accounts. But the office also manages a number of specialized programs such as the unclaimed property division, the state's Learning Quest college savings plans, and ABLE, a tax-advantaged savings plan that helps people with disabilities and their families ...

Voters Guide: Attorney general's race pits Republican incumbent against Lawrence lawyer

This year's race for attorney general features two-term incumbent Republican Derek Schmidt, a former state senator, against Democrat Sarah Swain, a Lawrence defense attorney. The attorney general is considered to be the state's chief law enforcement officer, assisting local county and district attorneys in criminal prosecutions. But the office also represents the state in court whenever the state is sued or its ...

Office worker's mistake in another county deletes longtime Lawrence voter's name from rolls

TOPEKA - A Lawrence voter said she had to cast a provisional ballot when she tried to cast an advance ballot because her name had been mistakenly deleted from the voter registration list. State officials later said the deletion was the result of a clerical error. Jennifer Tucker, 40, said she has been consistently registered to vote in Lawrence since 1996 and has been a regular voter throughout that time. She ...

Kansas Democrats air concerns about election integrity, call on Kobach to recuse himself

TOPEKA - Democratic leaders in Kansas called on Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach to recuse himself from supervising the upcoming election, saying they have concerns about the integrity of the process, including possible efforts to suppress people's votes. "We have an incredibly unique situation in Kansas today where the many who will count the votes could benefit by that count," House Minority Leader ...

Kansas ethics panel may seek more disclosure on independent campaign advertising

TOPEKA - Kansas lawmakers may be asked next year to broaden a state law so that voters will be able to know who is sending out and who is paying for certain kinds of campaign material that is not directly related to any candidate's campaign. The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission will decide next month whether to include that as one of its recommendations for the 2019 Legislature to consider. Under current ...