Topeka ? Dr. George Tiller looms large in Kansas politics as Attorney General Paul Morrison finishes a criminal investigation of the Wichita doctor, nationally known for performing late-term abortions.

Tiller didn’t contribute to Morrison, but some abortion opponents give a political action committee founded by the doctor credit for the result in the attorney general’s race last year. Morrison, an abortion rights Democrat, unseated Phill Kline, an anti-abortion Republican.

The PAC, ProKanDo, raised more than $650,000 in 2005 and 2006, and Tiller contributed $121,000, according to campaign finance records. Its efforts spawned a sister group and a postcard campaign against Kline, nicknaming him “Snoop Dog” for seeking records of patients at Tiller’s clinic and another in Overland Park.

Before Kline left office in January, he attempted unsuccessfully to prosecute Tiller, alleging the doctor performed illegal late-term abortions. Morrison has promised to announce this month whether he’ll file charges.

Abortion foes don’t believe Morrison will pursue Tiller, and they often cite Tiller’s and ProKanDo’s activities as the reason. They also believe Tiller’s case illustrates how abortion providers gain political – and regulatory – protection.

“He is the ultimate, worst example in many ways,” said Wanda Franz, president of the Washington-based National Right to Life Committee.

Morrison has said he’s evaluating evidence as an experienced prosecutor, and politics won’t influence his decision.

Limited by notoriety

Bob Beatty, a Washburn University political scientist, said while Tiller’s ability to make big donations gives him power in Kansas politics, his notoriety also limits his influence. If Tiller becomes too visible in supporting a candidate, an opponent is likely to make it an issue, Beatty said.

“Information checks power, and most people in Kansas know who he is,” Beatty said. “Probably more powerful will be out-of-state groups that can pop in, spend $500,000 and disappear.”

Also, ProKanDo wasn’t alone in trying to influence the attorney general’s race. Kansans for Lifesaving Cures, a Lawrence group backing embryonic stem cell research, spent almost $264,000 on direct mail, including postcards criticizing Kline. Almost all of the $454,000 it raised came from the couple who founded the Stowers Institute for bioscience research in Kansas City, Mo.

On Kline’s side was the Republican State Leadership Committee, affiliated with GOP attorneys general. It set aside $1.56 million in October for television ads attacking Morrison; it actually spent $834,000.

And the candidates had plenty of money themselves. Kline’s spending, $1.43 million, would have been a record for an attorney general’s race – but Morrison spent $2.36 million.

“Paul worked very hard and spent a lot of time visiting with people all across the state about his priorities,” said Morrison spokeswoman Ashley Anstaett.

PAC’s influence

Still, ProKanDo has been hard to miss.

The PAC formed in July 2002, affiliated with Tiller’s clinic and with Tiller employee Julie Burkhart as its chairwoman. The clinic has covered the salaries of four of its employees, including Burkhart, as they’ve worked for the PAC. For 2005 and 2006, that cost the PAC $163,000.

ProKanDo was the most generous PAC in state races in 2002, giving more than $271,000 to candidates, party committees and other PACs – more than double the second-ranked Kansas Contractors Association, according to the state Governmental Ethics Commission.

In 2003 and 2004, ProKanDo doled out nearly $90,000, ranking fifth behind PACs for contractors, teachers, real estate agents and optometrists but ahead of PACs for bankers, doctors and trial lawyers.

However, for 2005 and 2006, ProKanDo’s giving to candidates, party committees and other PACs dropped to less than $15,000. The abortion rights PAC spent most of its money elsewhere, including almost $82,000 on polling and another $118,000 on phone banks.

Nonprofit’s mailings

In August 2006, a Lawrence attorney, Jeffrey Stowell, incorporated a new nonprofit group, Kansans for Consumer Privacy Protection. Its directors were Burkhart and Linda Joslin, who’d later be named as ProKanDo’s treasurer in an October 2006 statement filed with the secretary of state’s office. The nonprofit’s address in its articles of incorporation was the same as ProKanDo’s.

Over six days in October, ProKanDo paid nearly $96,000 in membership fees to the new nonprofit, though at the end of the month more than a third of it was sent back. The nonprofit released the “Snoop Dog” mailings.

Under state law, groups that don’t “expressly advocate” for a candidate’s election or defeat don’t have to publicly disclose their contributors or spending. The mailings didn’t trigger the reporting requirement because they didn’t use a “magic” phrase, such as “vote for” or “oppose.”

Burkhart estimated that Kansans for Consumer Privacy Protection raised about $400,000. She declined to discuss other contributors, citing their privacy.

She said the nonprofit group handled the “Snoop Dog” mailings so that voters would focus on the message.

“We live in a state and we live in a time where, unfortunately, it is not OK to be so out front if you’re pro-choice and for women’s rights,” Burkhart said.

Some abortion opponents think the mailings were crucial because they bolstered Morrison’s campaign messages about Kline.

“I think they are the reason Phill Kline isn’t attorney general,” said Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion group. “It continues to be really relevant.”