In Kansas, few races may offer as much political diversity as the 2nd District race for the state Senate.

“I see this as sort of a triangle,” said former Lawrence Mayor Marci Francisco, who’s challenging Republican incumbent Mark Buhler and Reform Party candidate Jim Mullins for the seat that represents most of Lawrence south of Sixth Street and northwestern Douglas County.

“On some things you can draw a line that connects me with Mark, or Mark with Jim, or Jim with me,” said Francisco, a Democrat. “But I can’t think of too many issues that all three of us agree on. Voters, I think, are going to have some clear choices.”

Francisco, 54, has based much of her campaign on being willing to raise taxes for schools, seeking a way to reduce health-insurance costs and protecting the state’s environment.

“If elected, I would work with Gov. (Kathleen) Sebelius to make these things happen,” she said. “The governor is doing a good job, and I think we would work well together because we’re both Democrats.”

Buhler, she said, often works against the governor because he’s a Republican.

No apologies

That’s true, Buhler said. But it’s also a political reality, he added, that in Kansas, Republicans control both the House and Senate, and, arguably, have as much say in defining the state’s future as the governor.

“The question that ought to be asked is which of us can get things done?” Buhler said. “If that’s the measurement, then I think you want somebody who’s in the majority party.”

Buhler, 50, was appointed to the 2nd District seat in 2002, replacing then-incumbent Sandy Praeger after she was elected state insurance commissioner.

Buhler’s campaign, too, is built on pledges to find more money for schools and to contain health care costs.

Voter guide Transcript: Marci Francisco, Democratic candidate, chats with voters Submit a question for the 1 p.m. Tuesday chat with incumbent Republican Mark Buhler Submit a question for the 1 p.m. Thursday chat with Jim Mullins, Reform Party candidate Election Special 2004: State Senate 2nd District More in Election 2004

“When you look at what’s driving health care costs, everybody’s eyes are on the costs of drugs,” he said. “I think we need to look at that. But at the same time, I think there are eight or nine other things going on that need to be looked at too, like the costs doctors bear for malpractice, or the fact that more people are accessing the health care system than ever before.”

Buhler doesn’t apologize for supporting controversial new laws aimed at recouping some of the state’s costs from the estates of those on Medicaid.

“We had to close some loopholes,” he said.

Also, Buhler has not been shy in his willingness to raise taxes for schools.

“People don’t have a problem with paying taxes that are fair and reasonable and that go to a good investment,” he said. “And schools are one of the best investments we can make.”

School spending

Mullins, 63, is dead set against raising taxes. Instead, he wants to limit spending on schools to the rate of inflation for the next three years while, at the same time, forcing districts to spend more on what goes on in the classroom, less on administration.

“Right now, Kansas is 44th in the nation in the percentage of funding that goes to the classroom. We’re at 58.5 percent; the national average is 61.5 percent,” Mullins said.

The state’s 301 school districts, he said, are inherently inefficient.

“In Douglas County, we have three school districts for 13,000 students,” he said. “In Jefferson County, we have seven districts for 4,300 students. What’s that tell you?”

Mullins said his plan would force districts to cut administrative overhead and increase classroom spending.

“Everybody I talk to thinks this is so simple, it won’t work,” he said. “But I haven’t had anybody show me why it wouldn’t work.”

Buhler disagreed. “It’s great talk, but he’s not addressing the realities associated with education,” he said, noting that school district costs often surpass inflation.

“Nobody is against spending more on the classroom,” Buhler said. “But when a district’s health care costs go up 15 percent in a year, where is that money supposed to come from? Everybody thinks there’s money laying around someplace to make all this happen, but the money is not there. And at some point, you have to start asking yourself, ‘OK, what can we do to generate the revenue we need?'”

Francisco withheld judgment on Mullins’ plan.

“I think we need to look at administrative costs and at the (funding) formula,” she said. “I’m willing to spend more on schools, but we can’t do that and not look at these other things as well.”

‘Quality of life issues’

On other issues, Mullins said he’s all for letting Kansans vote on “quality of life issues,” including concealed carry and same-sex marriage.

Mullins is against allowing same-sex marriage, he said, noting “Marriage is between a man and a woman. We don’t allow polygamy, and you can’t marry a beast. There has to be a line drawn somewhere, and I say we draw it at gay marriage.”

Buhler and Francisco oppose the same-sex marriage amendment.

Also, Mullins said he saw nothing wrong with spending lottery revenue on education.

“The way it is now, the bulk of those revenues — that’s $700 million from when the lottery started in 1987 through 2003 — goes to economic development. That’s a lot of money,” he said. “What have we got to show for all it? Not much.”