Topeka — The Republican Party primary is more than 14 months away, but Jim Ryun on Wednesday claimed a lead over State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins in the race for the GOP nomination in the 2nd Congressional District.
Ryun released an internal campaign poll that showed him leading 61 percent to 27 percent among likely Republican voters.
"We are certainly pleased with the results of the poll, but we will not rest on our laurels," Ryun, of Lawrence, said in a statement.
Jenkins, a former legislator who has won two statewide races handily, recently announced she would seek the GOP nod to face Democrat Nancy Boyda, who took the office away from Ryun in November.
"We've yet to see an internal campaign poll done 14 months before an election that matters," Jenkins' spokesman Pat Leopold said of the Ryun poll. The party primaries will be in August 2008.
"The most recent poll that mattered was the one taken last November, and Jim Ryun lost," Leopold said.
Boyda, of Topeka, defeated Ryun 51 percent to 47 percent in one of the biggest upsets in the country. Ryun had held the congressional seat for 10 years before his defeat.
The new poll released by Ryun was conducted May 8 and 9. It surveyed 259 likely Republican voters in the district, which includes western Lawrence, Topeka, Manhattan and southeastern Kansas. The poll had a plus or minus margin of error of 6.2 percentage points.
The poll found Ryun led Jenkins in head-to-head competition and had significant name identification advantage over Jenkins.
The pollster, Public Opinion Strategies, said that despite Ryun's loss to Boyda "he has a tremendous residual base of support among Republicans in the district."
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pelliott (anonymous) says…
well Ryan might be a vote for less government, he really was a do nothing. I was tired of him riding on Gods coattails instead of his own. He made out like not voting for him was not voting for god. I wasn't confused. gods a lot taller and doesn't stumble.
KawValleyKid (Nick Yoho) says…
news about which one win lose to Nancy again... who cares?
jasonc_22 (anonymous) says…
Spot on from Jenkins' people- who cares? Most people don't even know Lynn's running...I bet some of those people still think Ryun's the congressman, too.
KawValleyKid (Nick Yoho) says…
dang! I'm mr.typo today! should read "which one WILL lose to Nancy".
karensisson (anonymous) says…
pelliott: "I was tired of him riding on Gods coattails instead of his own."
Exactly.
I also got real tired of him supporting every horrible thing Bush has done to our country, every lie BushCo has told us. I got tired of Ryun voting with Bush on every single issue. I stopped writing to my Congressman because his responses were so predictable, filled with untruths, and just maddening. Ryun helped Bush hurt our country and I'd never, ever vote for him.
So far Nancy Boyda is doing a good job for Kansas.
nugget (anonymous) says…
Candidates, both Republican and Democrat are probably shaking in their boots about running against Ryun in 08. After all, he'll have that same strong Bush/Cheney support he had last time, and he'll still support the same failed policies as before, and he'll still be out of touch with even most of the Republican Party that helped Boyda defeat him.
Some politicians and athletes fade gracefully after falling out of the limelight. Others are dragged kicking and screaming from the room in their failed attempts to remain relevant.
Jamesaust (anonymous) says…
Same pollsters that induced Ryun last year to keep insisting that he had re-election in the bag?
dagopman (anonymous) says…
Jim Ryun was a dud and Nancy Boyda is a disaster. Why can't the 2nd district elect someone decent for us??
drewdun (anonymous) says…
"dagopman (Anonymous) says:
Jim Ryun was a dud and Nancy Boyda is a disaster."
"Nancy Boyda is a disaster."
Explain.
dagopman (anonymous) says…
Boyda is becoming increasingly disrespected within Washington, DC. She is known to be vicious, cruel and short with people. She has been called a bully. She has voted with ultra-liberal Nancy Pelosi 97% of the time. She rarely is in the district and her constituent service offices are known to be a joke and highly ineffective. I had hoped for much more from her.
She has been credited with writing a bill dealing with corruption among Members of Congress. However it is widely known that the bill was handed to her, she had virtually nothing to do with its composition and was later exposed as knowing little about her "own" bill when it was debated on the House floor and later amended.
This information is from a member of Dennis Moore's staff and confirmed by a Sebelius staffer.
staff04 (anonymous) says…
"Same pollsters that induced Ryun last year to keep insisting that he had re-election in the bag?"
Good question...
I was originally going to say that I was shocked by the numbers, but now that that is on my mind, I'm not so sure.
staff04 (anonymous) says…
Not defending her completely dagopman, but complaining that she is only rarely in her district is not a legitimate complaint. She has no control over the fact that her party's leadership has stretched the schedule for floor activity so that most Members can only be in their district offices on weekends or during recesses. I feel especially sorry for West Coast members who have to get on a red-eye monday morning in order to make it to Washington in time for votes that evening and often can't leave until Friday afternoon to return to their districts. Kind of makes it hard for those constituents to meet with their Representative.
Also, not very cool to say that you heard this from another member's staff. They can be a vindictive bunch, and if Nancy Boyda sees that statement I can guarantee you that the staffer whose hide gets tanned for saying those things will remember the person they may have said it to.
dagopman (anonymous) says…
staff04- the negative comments about Boyda are coming from her own party. Even state party officials are disenchanted with her. She was a lot of hype, but little substance. I'd give anything to trade her for Dennis Moore.
KawValleyKid (Nick Yoho) says…
"I'd give anything to trade her for Dennis Moore."
then who would you put in Dennis(pro military commissions act{anti-habeas corpus})Moore's place?
you make no sense...
Jamesaust (anonymous) says…
"ultra-liberal"
Translation: of the politically moderate left. Similar to "liberal" (a/k/a, the politically moderate right), and "moderate" (a/k/a, libertarian/liberal conservative), and "conservative" (a/k/a, anything from kooky theocrats to racists to fascists).
Isn't the point that Pelosi has voted with the moderates 97% of the time?
mick (anonymous) says…
In three months Nancy Boyda has done more for this country than Ryun did in ten years. She recently brought up the amendment against the I-35 corridor. Ryun denied it even existed.
lawrencefan (anonymous) says…
Do we really want to re-elect Jim Ryun and send his puppet-master wife back to Congress?
jasonc_22 (anonymous) says…
Congresswoman Boyda has been back in the district nearly every weekend since the term began (save for a couple training weekends at the very beginning and that one she spent, oh, in Iraq with the troops). She has public meetings all over the place every weekend...and her constituent service offices are responsive and helpful. Far from a disaster.
And, if nothing else, her office is at very least has responsive as Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts- I sent the three of them a letter, and while I'll admit Brownback was first back with a response, Nancy's was only a week behind him....and I still haven't received anything from Roberts.
Attack Nancy for not having positions you like, but don't attack her for things she is doing particularly well (like being in Kansas)...especially when they are things Jim Ryun was quite bad at.
merrill (anonymous) says…
The man who hates big government but wants back on the congressional welfare list. Still making contact with special interest groups ehhh Jim. Bad Bad Boy.
pelliott (anonymous) says…
Funny how a discussion about what a lousy congressman Ryan was, turned into a rumor behind the scenes attacking boyda, someone told someone who I know, cheesy . Well to get back to Ryan , he directly answered letters and requests for help with veterans' problems with a form letter saying we need to support the troups. He did nothing, nothing, nothing. Took a while even to get the form letter. This is not just one families complaints. Returning veterans and current soldiers are getting spit on by the Bush type of Ryan support of the troops. Ryans and Bushes support the troops plan is salute the coffin as it goes by and politely ignore the widows and orphans.
dagopman (anonymous) says…
Boyda isn't the answer either. Perhaps Lynn Jenkins is.
minko224 (anonymous) says…
beware of false prophets
bugmenot (anonymous) says…
Since we're posting reputations, Ryun was basically the joke of the House. He was widely acknowledged by his peers and by interns to be not very bright. He stayed in power as long as he did because he's a Republican from Kansas, which means deep pockets for elections and not very many viable challengers. He was yet another disgrace to this state, making us look like stupid hayseeds who elected an idiot. I don't care if Boyda's rude to people, and I don't really care that she seems inexperienced. I'm just thankful that she's not completely stupid. There is a learning curve to functioning within Congress, but Ryun never got there.
dagopman (anonymous) says…
bugmenot- I totally agree with your perception of Ryun (at least the first 4 lines). That was the point of my original comment. We replaced one dunce with another dunce. We deserve better than Ryun or Boyda. I am politically connected. I work within the state capitol and have experience at other levels of government. I am not a Ryun supporter. I currently work for a Democrat. I know what I'm talking about. For the Boyda supporters, check out my comments from those in the know. They will privately tell you my observations are accurate.
yourworstnightmare (anonymous) says…
Yep. Still brings a smile to my face. Ryun is out on his heiny and manufacturing polls to attempt to reassert himself. Rather pathetic.
Another thing that makes me smile is that the GOP will in all likelihood elect a pro-choice candidate for president. Ha!
Uhlrick_Hetfield_III (anonymous) says…
Boyda is, as Ryun was, known as a light weight with poor constituent services.
Being a light weight is unfortunately not an impediment to holding higher office. However, poor constituent services and an unwillingness to tour the district frequently ( a huge flaw of Ryun's) are great impediments to maintaining that office. His laziness and not his IQ was the key to Ryun's defeat.
dagopman (anonymous) says…
An Ottawa resident recently made an interesting comment to me....if Ryun's Topeka office had served the constituents as well as his Pittsburg office, he'd still be in office, not Boyda. His Topeka office underwent staff departures in the 2003-2005 timeframe that really cost him in terms of reputation.
Uhlrick_Hetfield_III (anonymous) says…
Another issue was the house deal. Whether it was a sweetheart deal,or not, if you can't explain it in a soundbyte, you probably shouldn't do it. Even then, I don't think his constituents sent him to Washington to become a real estate mogul.
heysoos (anonymous) says…
For some reason I'm suspicious that daGOPman doesn't actually work for a Democrat...
News_to_me (anonymous) says…
It's starting to get a little sad. Kinda' like an athlete, past his prime, who retired way too late. Just let it be Jim. I don't know if you can take another loss. Don't embarrass yourself. And this is from a Ryun staffer.
dagopman (anonymous) says…
Don't insult my Mexican heritage. Dago is for my Mexican heritage and the rest represents part of my name and occupation. I resent the inference.
News_to_me (anonymous) says…
Whoa. Hold on there just a minute amigo. Since when does dago represent Mexican ancestry. Dago has always been Italian to me and not very complimentary at that.
dagopman (anonymous) says…
My buddies call me Dago.
Machiavelli_mania (anonymous) says…
Again, I repeat: Ryun office has hung-up on me at least twice, while he was in DC. When I would call and give my position on a issue, that office would continually want to debate me on it. I reminded them that it is not their positions to debate me, it is their job as public servants to record my wishes and take them into account when making a decision. I assured them that they are public servants and it is their job to do as their voters want.
When he conceded last Nov., Ryun said something like "I thought we brought good values to DC". Well, Ryun, that is not what this country elects, values. We elect representatives that are responsive to the people. And Jimmy, you were not responsive. Well, ..., maybe you were responsive to Delay, but other than giving you, Jimmy, a massive amount of money, Delay did not elect you.
Again, Jim Ryun is a Tom Delay Republican, not a Traditional GOP member.
Machiavelli_mania (anonymous) says…
Riding on God's coattail?
When I talked to god last, i was told god didn't even know Jim Ryun.
dagopman (anonymous) says…
Nutcase- Lynn Jenkins is the twice elected Kansas State Treasurer and a former Kansas state legislator. Not exactly an "alleged opponent".
janeyb (anonymous) says…
It's good Ryun leads Jenkins in the polls, because she could probably give Boyda a good challenge. Jenkins would be a strong candidate, except when she smiles she looks like a mule. She has huge teeth!
What is an internal campaign poll? Does that mean they polled Ryun's church/homeschool crowd?