TOPEKA - Democrat Laura Kelly has raised $2.3 million during the general election cycle for her bid to be the next governor of Kansas, far more than Republican opponent Kris Kobach, even though recent polls show it to be an extremely close race. According to campaign finance reports that were filed Monday, Kobach, the current secretary of state, raised just less than $1.4 million during the period. But nearly ...
TOPEKA — After taking steps in recent years to shore up the state's troubled pension system, Kansas lawmakers got good news about the fund's long-term outlook Monday. Its unfunded liability — how much the pension fund will have to pay out over the next 40 years that isn't covered by current assets and assumed earnings — fell by $154 million during calendar year 2017, while the overall size of the pension ...
The 2nd District congressional race in Kansas is one that is being watched closely around the nation this year. With five-term incumbent Rep. Lynn Jenkins, a Topeka Republican, stepping down this year, it is an open race and one that could help determine whether Republicans will keep control of the U.S. House or whether Democrats will take back the reins after eight years in the minority. The race features a ...
TOPEKA - This close to Election Day, a lot of people may be wondering why their mail boxes are stuffed with particular kinds of political ads, and why their friends or neighbors might be getting completely different mailers, or maybe even none at all. The answer is, it's about your "score." That's a number, and sometimes a whole set of numbers, that political parties and campaigns use to predict how likely you ...
After eight years of conservative government under Govs. Sam Brownback and Jeff Colyer, voters in Kansas have some starkly contrasting choices about which direction they’d like to go. Democratic candidate Laura Kelly, a state senator from Topeka, is vowing to put K-12 education at the top of her list, along with restoring funding for other state programs that saw significant budget cuts during the Brownback ...
The office of state treasurer is one of the lower-profile elected offices in Kansas state government. Its primary function is to manage the state's idle fund accounts. But the office also manages a number of specialized programs such as the unclaimed property division, the state's Learning Quest college savings plans, and ABLE, a tax-advantaged savings plan that helps people with disabilities and their families ...