Topeka ? Three men — a Republican, a Democrat and an independent — say they are running against U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback because they can’t stand his politics.

In the Aug. 3 Republican Party primary, Brownback faces Lawrence businessman Arch Naramore, co-owner of Kansas Key Press Inc.

The Democratic Party primary features two candidates: Lee Jones, a railroad engineer, and Robert Conroy, a retired railroad engineer.

And the Republican and Democratic primary winners may face Horace Edwards, a former Kansas Department of Transportation secretary collecting petition signatures so he can run in the November election as an independent.

Conroy, a Democrat, said he had nothing against Brownback nor his political stands. He entered the race, he said, because the deadline to run was approaching and no Democrat had filed.

But the other three candidates — Naramore, Jones and Edwards — criticize Brownback for his focus on conservative social issues.

Pressing ‘hot buttons’

“Brownback doesn’t care about jobs, health care or education. He is more worried about meteorites and people in Sudan,” Naramore said, referring to two issues Brownback has worked on — a possible meteorite strike, and the racial and religious massacres occurring in Sudan.

“When you look at what is going on in the country, and the voting record of Mr. Brownback, I don’t think he represents the true feelings of the state of Kansas,” Jones said.

Said Edwards: “It is considerably easier to press people’s hot buttons about lifestyles than it is to revitalize agriculture, to establish a business climate that really works, and to project a Kansas which attracts energetic, creative people to come here and love this place.”

Brownback, one of the most socially conservative members of Congress, defends his record of working on social and economic issues for Kansas.

As a member of the Senate budget-writing committee, the two-term senator said he had been able to promote and protect Kansas interests in Congress, such as research dollars to Kansas University, bridge funds to Topeka, and tax breaks to help the aircraft industry in Wichita.

Proud conservative

“I do a lot of Kansas issues,” Brownback said. “The social issues, because of their visibility, that gets seen a lot and the others don’t.”

But he said he was proud of being at the front of conservative causes such as a federal constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage.

“Value issues are critical to the future of the country,” he said.

And people are interested in them.

For example, Brownback said he received 30,000 e-mails, cards and letters on the same-sex marriage amendment. He said he got just 4,000 e-mails on the new prescription drug bill.

“Kansans do care about this,” Brownback said of the proposed same-sex marriage prohibition. “To say these aren’t Kansas issues is inaccurate.”

If re-elected, Brownback said he would work on creating more jobs, tightening national security and promoting family values.

He supports overhauling the tax system, establishing a flat tax rate and tax cuts to spur development in rural areas and economically depressed areas.

Change the focus

Brownback supported the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq, and said the fight against terrorism was a long-term struggle that will pivot on how well the United States fosters democracy in the Middle East.

Despite the fact the government has not captured suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, Brownback said the nation was safer now than before the attack.

But Naramore, Jones and Edwards said Kansas needed a senator who would focus more on economic issues rather than restrictions on gays.

In four years, Jones said, “We went from a surplus to the biggest deficit the United States has ever seen, we got ourselves into a war, we have trade problems, and we are outsourcing jobs.”

He said he would have voted against allowing President Bush to wage war on Iraq.

“We went in like a bunch of cowboys shooting up a saloon and when the shooting stopped bin Laden was already out the back door,” Jones said.

The money race

Naramore said he would have voted against the same-sex amendment, and denounced Brownback for pushing it.

“He has a moral authority agenda that shouldn’t be run on the people of Kansas,” he said.

Meanwhile, Edwards needs the signatures of 5,000 registered voters by noon Monday to get his name on the November general election ballot.

Edwards said he also was unhappy with Brownback’s leadership role in trying to restrict same-sex marriages through a constitutional amendment.

“If federal government is going to be involved, they ought to be spending time to strengthen conventional marriages and do something that reduces the abuse and broken marriages and the disposable kids already walking around, instead of trying to find new restrictions on the Constitution,” he said.

In the money race, Brownback already is the clear winner.

Brownback had $1.38 million in cash as of June 30, according to campaign finance reports.

Jones entered the race in June, and had about $18,000 in cash at the end of the month, including a $10,000 personal loan to his campaign, according to finance documents.

Naramore was not required to file a report because his campaign had not met the minimum $5,000 requirement.

More Election 2004 coverage Brownback recommends use of adult stem cells (07-18-04) Brownback speech stuns local gay-rights advocates (07-13-04) Sen. Sam Brownback