Topeka ? The Kansas Democratic Party has suspended its communications director over an online posting deriding three towns in the state’s southeast corner in crude language, potentially hurting the party’s candidate for governor.

State Democratic Chairman Joan Wagnon said Wednesday that party spokesman Dakota Loomis’ suspension without pay will continue until Monday, when she will re-evaluate his status.

The incident comes with Republican Gov. Sam Brownback in a close race for re-election with Democratic challenger Paul Davis. Most independent polls showed Davis leading through the summer, but the contest has tightened recently in Brownback’s favor.

Republican state Sens. Jeff King of Independence and Jake LaTurner of Pittsburg said Loomis should be fired over his posting about Cherryvale, Columbus and Galena. The since-deleted comment called them leading contenders for “most craphole small towns in Kansas.”

The Pittsburg Morning Sun reported Tuesday that Loomis posted the comment last week on a site dedicated to Kansas University basketball. The Kansas Republican Party quickly demanded that Loomis step down and that prominent Democrats disavow his comment.

Wagnon and Davis did that Tuesday, calling the posting inappropriate. Wagnon apologized in a statement, calling Loomis’ comment “a lapse in judgment” and saying she’d made “many enjoyable trips” to the region.

Davis told reporters: “I certainly find his remarks to be completely wrong and completely unacceptable.”

Loomis did not immediately return a cellphone message seeking comment. The Pittsburg newspaper said Loomis initially said his posting was “a fun exercise” and was not serious, but he later apologized.

Wagnon called Loomis’ remark “insulting” and “insensitive” but said Loomis is “one of our hardest working employees.”

During a Statehouse news conference, LaTurner attributed the comment to snobbery toward smaller towns and rural areas prevalent in Lawrence, where Loomis and Davis live, home to the University of Kansas.

King said: “What I found particularly concerning is that this wasn’t just a slip of the tongue. He meant what he said.”