Sebelius to face questions

A lot of political eyes will be on Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ news conference at 2 p.m. today.With Barack Obama’s presidential win, speculation has been high about what that means for Sebelius, who has been an ardent campaigner for Obama and was reportedly one of the top contenders for vice president.Will she be appointed to a position in an Obama administration, or will she serve out her term as governor through 2010?If she stays in Kansas, the job just got harder. On Tuesday, state budget experts delivered a somber assessment of the state’s finances, decreasing revenue forecasts and opening up the possibility of deep budget cuts or possible tax increases during the next legislative session.Other questions remain. Kansas Democrats did not do well last night. While the nation trended Democratic in a big way. Democrats lost the 2nd congressional district seat held by first-termer Nancy Boyda, one of only a handful of Republican take-backs in the country.Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Slattery got only 37 percent of the vote against U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Republicans maintained their sizable majorities in the Kansas Legislature, perhaps even becoming more conservative.The Democrats lost one seat in the state Senate and now are outnumbered 9-31. The Democrats gained one seat in the House, and are down 48-77.And Sebelius has to pick a new state treasurer, now that Lynn Jenkins, the current one, will be going to Congress after her defeat of Boyda.