A few people laughed last week when I wrote that the timing of the KU vs. Iowa State men’s basketball game could affect Democratic caucus turnout on March 5, but it’s not a joke anymore. Now it’s turning into a protest.

A group called “KU Game Change for the Caucus” has formed on Facebook and is planning a protest at 4 p.m. Monday at Wescoe Beach on the Kansas University campus. They’re protesting ESPN’s decision to schedule the game for 3 p.m. Saturday, the same time Democrats across the state begin caucusing.

“A huge number employees of KU are put in the position of choosing to attend work or exercise their right to vote,” the group posted. “KU is a public institution with a mandate to support the participation of its students and faculty in important public events like elections. Any and all policy that creates such conflicts in the integrity of this institution requires exposure and immediate amendment.”

And KU isn’t the only school in Kansas having that issue. The K-State Wildcats also play their final, albeit nonconference, game of the regular season that day, taking on Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 2:05 p.m.

Republican caucus-goers won’t have such conflicts because their balloting is expected to be over by 2 p.m. And because they vote by simple ballots, most GOP voters should be able to get in and out within a few minutes.

But the Democrats’ process is a little more complicated. It requires people to be in place at 3 p.m. and physically huddle together in groups to be counted. Once a preliminary count is taken, they’re allowed to move from one camp to another before they make a final decision. Then they sign a registry attesting to which candidate they supported.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that the game conflicts work to the disadvantage of Bernie Sanders, who has drawn heavy support from first-time college-age voters. But if the over-40 voters decide that watching a game on TV is more important than caucusing, it could also cut equally into Hillary Clinton’s base.

We’ll wait to hear if ESPN changes its schedule, or if the universities themselves ask for a change.

Democrats identify nine GOP seats for possible upsets

It’s not often that political party officials tip their hand so early in an election cycle by publicly disclosing where they plan to invest resources, but that’s what happened Saturday at the Kansas Democratic Party’s state convention in Topeka where House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs of Kansas City went through the list, seat by seat, putting GOP incumbents, as well as the Republican Party itself, on notice about where they will need to respond.

The list shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. It’s based on the same voting data that Kansas University political science professor Patrick Miller has been writing about, and which has been covered extensively in state media, including the Journal-World: Districts that Republicans won narrowly in 2014 but also were carried by Democrat Paul Davis in the gubernatorial race, and where President Barack Obama did better than expected in 2008 and 2012. They also looked at voter registration by party in each district, and the GOP incumbent’s voting records on key issues.

For the record, GOP officials have said that’s pretty much the same thing they’ve been doing to identify the places where they think they’ll need to play defense.

Speaking to a luncheon audience Saturday afternoon, Burroughs said the party had identified “the 15 most vulnerable incumbents. But acknowledging that Democrats have limited resources, Burroughs said he has narrowed the list down to “eight to 10 targets, with an expectation that we will win five to seven.”

After listing the 15 districts, Burroughs then identified nine seats that are priorities for Democrats, some of which do not yet have announced Democratic candidates yet. They are:

* District 3 in southeast Kansas, currently held by Republican Chuck Smith of Pittsburg. Davis won the district in 2014 by 2.3 percentage points. Burroughs said Democrats have “a very strong candidate” who will announce later this spring.
* District 16 in Johnson County, currently held by Rep. Amanda Grosserode of Lenexa, a Tea Party conservative who is endorsing Ted Cruz for president. Davis carried the district in 2014. Democrat Cindy Holscher of Overland Park has filed to challenge her.
* District 18 in Johnson County, currently held by Rep. John Rubin of Shawnee, chairman of the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee. Davis carried the district by 2.5 percentage points. No one has filed to run against him but Burroughs said, “we have a number of strong candidates considering that seat.”
* District 29 in Johnson County, currently held by Republican James Todd of Overland Park. Davis won the district by 6.3 percentage points. No one has filed in that race, but Burroughs said a teacher named Brett Parker has announced plans to run.
* District 41 in Leavenworth County, currently held by Republican Tony Barton, an African-American pastor who was among the nine House Republicans on the House Education Committee who signed a formal complaint last year against Rep. Valdenia Winn, D-Kansas City, for referring to a bill as bigoted and an example of “institutional racism.” The district leans slightly Republican. No one has filed in that district and Burroughs did not indicate whether anyone was intending to file.
* District 56 in Shawnee County, currently held by Republican Lane Hemsley of Topeka. Not only did Davis carry the district in 2014, but Obama carried it in both 2008 and 2012. Hemsley won a tight race in 2014 by a mere 40 votes. “We will have a candidate in that seat,” Burroughs said.
* District 88 in Wichita, currently held by Republican Joe Scapa who won his race in 2014 by only 28 votes. Davis carried the district in 2014 and Obama carried it in both 2008 and 2012. Elizabeth Bishop, a neighborhood activist in Wichita, has announced plans to challenge Scapa for the seat but has not yet officially filed.
* District 98 in Wichita, currently held by Republican Steven Anthimides. That district trends Republican, but Anthimides won in 2014 by only 129 votes. Justin Kraemer, a former Wichita TV news anchor, has announced he will run in that race.
* And District 102 in Reno County, currently held by Republican (and former Democrat) Jan Pauls, who switched parties in 2014 after holding the seat for 20 years as a Democrat due to her differences with the party on issues including gay rights and abortion. Burroughs said Democrat Patsy Terrell of Hutchinson has announced plans to run against her.

That leaves six Republicans on the 15 “most vulnerable” list that are not currently being targeted. They are: Rep. Michael Houser of Columbus; Rep. Erin Davis of Olathe; Rep. Brett Hildabrand of Shawnee; Rep. John Bradford of Lansing; Rep. Ken Corbet of Topeka; and Rep. J.R. Claeys of Salina.

Democrats clarify caucus rules

Kansas Democrats were forced to clarify their caucus voting rules over the weekend because of recent changes in federal voter registration forms, and the litigation surrounding that change.

In a nutshell, said Sen. Marci Francisco, who has been organizing the party’s caucus plan, any voter can participate in the caucus if they register as a Democrat. Forms will be available at the caucus sites for people to register, or change their party affiliation. And while the party will not ask for proof of U.S. citizenship, new voters will be advised that they may be asked for citizenship proof to complete their registrations. But that won’t stop them from participating in the March 5 caucus.

The only exception to the rule, she said, is that the party will not allow votes from registered Republicans who also voted in the Republican caucuses earlier in the day, although it was not clear how the party would determine that.

Also, people who are not yet 18, but who will be by the time of the Nov. 8 general election, will also be allowed to participate.

Kansas will send 37 delegates to the Democratic National Convention July 25-28 in Philadelphia, but only 22 of those are up for grabs in Saturday’s caucuses, and they will be allotted to each of the candidates in proportion to the number of votes they receive within each of the state’s four congressional districts. The remaining 15 delegates are reserved for party officials, Francisco said, and they may be free to support whomever they choose at the convention.

That’s different from the Republican caucuses in which all 40 delegates from Kansas will be distributed proportionately on the basis of the popular caucus vote, according to state GOP executive director Clay Barker.

The Republican National Convention will be held July 18-21 in Cleveland.