Members of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission said Wednesday that they plan to seek more information about a new Lawrence-based political action committee whose name, they say, may not comply with a new law that says a name must give some indication of what the PAC is all about.

But Lawrence residents who follow politics closely probably wouldn’t have any trouble decoding the name of the “Building On Our Greatness Political Action Committee,” or BOOG PAC.

Democratic Rep. Boog Highberger, of Lawrence, confirmed after the meeting that some of his supporters formed the PAC. And while he does not accept contributions from PACs, lobbyists or trade associations, he does plan to encourage those donors to give to the PAC instead, so the money can be used to help elect House members from either party “who will promote the environment, education, fair tax policy and women’s reproductive rights.”

Highberger noted that state law does not allow legislators to be actively involved in running a PAC. Nor can they donate to PACs or transfer money to them from their own campaign war chests.

State law also requires PACs that are affiliated with larger organizations or businesses to reflect that in the name of the PAC. Independent PACs must have names that reflect what they are about.

One of the first controversies in Kansas surrounding PAC names came from It’s Time to Fix Stupid – Kansas, a Wichita-based group that started as a Facebook page but later grew to become a political action committee. That group got around the law by forming a nonprofit foundation by the same name and making the PAC an official arm of the foundation.

Other, more prominent PACs have run into similar issues, including the Bluestem Fund PAC, established by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, and the Prairie Fire PAC that was established by Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

Candidates reshuffle

Republican Sen. Kay Wolf’s decision Tuesday not to seek re-election to her 8th District seat in Johnson County has prompted other candidates to change which offices they’re running for.

The first, which we reported at the time, was Rep. Barbara Bollier, a moderate Republican from Mission Hills, who is now running for the Senate seat, with Wolf’s endorsement. And then Wednesday, Democrat Jerry Stogsdill of Prairie Village, who had filed to challenge Wolf, pulled out of that race to run instead for Bollier’s 21st District House seat.

In addition, Walter Wright, a recent graduate of Shawnee Mission North High School, told local media Tuesday that he is withdrawing from the 21st District race. He had filed as a Republican to challenge Bollier. For the time being, at least, that leaves the Democrat Stogsdill as the only official candidate in a district made up mainly of upscale-to-middle class residential neighborhoods.

Elsewhere, moderate Republican Rep. Don Hill’s decision to step down from his 60th District House seat in Emporia prompted two other Republicans to jump into that race: Mark Schreiber, vice president of government affairs for Westar Energy, who is a close friend of Hill’s; and Steve Pearson, a self-described “constitutional conservative” who works as a military contractor constructing computerized war games for training purposes.