Topeka ? The recent rough-and-tumble Republican Party primary has prompted calls for more disclosure on who is financing campaign ads.

In the finals days before the Aug. 3 primary, slick postcard mailings were distributed in several key races by groups new to Kansas and unfamiliar to most voters — and the candidates they were helping.

Carol Williams, executive director of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, said her office had been swamped with complaints.

“A lot of people are calling saying they were upset that Kansans are not controlling their own elections anymore, and asking what can I do. I’ve gotten more of a public response this year than I have in the past,” she said.

Anti-tax mailings

One of the new groups spending tens of thousands of dollars was the Kansas Club for Growth.

The anti-tax organization is based in Washington, D.C. It is headed by Stephen Moore, who has said he wanted to make sure that within five years there were no pro-tax Republicans in Kansas.

The local chapter, which recently registered as a political action committee, is guided by consultant David Kensinger, a former chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.

Kensinger said the Kansas group spent “scores of thousands” of dollars on campaign mailings in three legislative races, and won in all three contests.

The group attacked state Reps. William Kassebaum of Burdick and Cindy Neighbor of Shawnee, co-sponsors of an unsuccessful $150 million tax increase for public schools, and state Sen. David Corbin of Towanda, who in 2002 helped push through a tax increase to repair the budget.

Kensinger said the Kansas Club for Growth was funded by individuals and corporations in Kansas, and that it would file its finance statement by the Oct. 25 reporting deadline or earlier.

“The people who lost were unhappy with us. The people who contributed to us are happy,” Kensinger said.

More election stories Kansas Club for Growth Americans for Prosperity

Unknown support

Shari Weber of Herington benefited from the Club for Growth’s attacks on Kassebaum, her opponent. But Weber said she knew nothing about the group.

In the final week of the Weber-Kassebaum race, the Club for Growth mailed thousands of postcards to voters and purchased radio ads denouncing Kassebaum.

“I didn’t know who these people were,” Weber said.

But Weber, who served in the Legislature before being defeated by Kassebaum in 2002, said she had no problem with the content of the mailings.

“Quite frankly, if I had had the money, I would’ve done the same thing,” she said.

Counteracting lobbyists

Kensinger said his group existed to offset the special interests in Topeka who push for more spending.

“There were about 30 paid lobbyists advocating for higher taxes for education, and every state legislator has one or more paid lobbyist, called school superintendents, with six-figure salaries. We are up against a lot of taxpayer-funded lobbying that goes into growing government,” he said.

Another D.C. group bolstering the anti-tax force is Americans for Prosperity, which opened a Kansas office this spring and spent more than $100,000 on mailings urging citizens to tell their legislators to reject tax increases during the past legislative session.

In the primary, the group distributed “issue” mailings in nine legislative districts, asking voters to thank certain legislators who fought against taxes. Because the group didn’t directly urge people to vote for or against a candidate, it is exempt from having to report where its funding comes from and how much it spent in the primary.

More disclosure

Alan Cobb, the Kansas director of Americans for Prosperity, said the exemption from disclosure enhances debate on the issue.

“What we really want is to have all of the ideas being discussed to be evaluated on the facts and the merits of the ideas. Unfortunately, too often funding information is not being used to better educate the public, but it becomes a distraction,” Cobb said.

Williams, the state’s ethics director, said her board and some lawmakers probably would consider legislation in 2005 that would require more disclosure of certain campaign groups.

“The purpose of this agency is to provide disclosure and information to the public in a timely manner,” she said.

A recent campaign disclosure project sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts includes model legislation that would require disclosure of financial information on issue ads costing more than $25,000 that are made 45 days before an election and identify a candidate. The proposal also calls for expenditures made independent of candidates to be reported on a daily basis in the last few days of an election.