State
Representative Pat Proctor (R) is running against former State
Representative Jennifer Day (D) for Kansas Secretary of State.
The election
is for an open position, because incumbent Secretary of State Scott
Schwab (R) ran for Kansas Governor this year, and he was among
the losing candidates in the Republican Primary.
The Kansas
Secretary of State runs an office that administers elections in
Kansas, collects business records, registers lobbyists, and produces
official publications for the state of Kansas.
Pat Proctor
represents Dist. 41, located in Leavenworth County, in the Kansas
House.
Proctor is a retired US
Army Colonel.
Jennifer Day
represented
Dist. 48, located in Johnson County, in the Kansas House, from June
2020 to June 2021.
Day worked as
an election worker for seven years, and she volunteered with the League
of Women Voters.
Day also built a small real
estate investment firm and founded an interior design company.
I discussed Jennifer
Day in an article I wrote about the Democratic Primary for Kansas
Secretary of State.
Conspiracy
Theorist
Pat Proctor (R) would make
a terrible Secretary of State.
Proctor and
his wife owned a restaurant that was fined
$93,000 for failing to comply with federal wage and overtime laws.
The Kansas
Reflector, one of the best news organizations covering Kansas
Politics, described how Proctor uses dishonest rhetoric to spread
unfounded fears about voter fraud.
"As
Kansas Rep. Pat Proctor launched his campaign to oversee state
elections, he honed in on a signature phrase that would serve his
interest of dismissing critics — and reporting by Kansas Reflector
— while appealing to far-right voters,” the Reflector wrote.
"His ambiguous 'axis
of ballot harvesting' serves as a catchall for anyone who challenges
his false claims about the hazards of early voting, and signals a
vast make-believe conspiracy by foreign nationals to undermine
elections," the Reflector continued.
"Proctor
frequently repeats the phrase on the campaign trail, and used it in a
fundraising message where he suggested a new law could be used to
bring criminal or civil charges against Kansas Reflector.”
Legislative
Record
Pat Proctor has
voted against Transgender Rights and Abortion Rights in the Kansas
Legislature.
Proctor also voted
for a law that prevents transgender Kansans from obtaining
identity documents that reflect their gender identity, and makes it
illegal for them to use certain restrooms and locker rooms.
Pat Proctor
(R) voted
for a state constitutional amendment that would give the Kansas
Legislature the legal authority to ban abortion in the state.
Jennifer Day (D) voted
against the amendment.
In August 2022, Kansas
voters decisively rejected
the proposed amendment, 59% to 41%.
Stealing an
election by voting
In 2024, Pat
Proctor spoke at a forum where he discussed
his visits to polling places prior to the Aug. 2022 election.
“There’s all these
women, 20- to 30-year-old women who, you know, that you never saw at
the polls before, and it’s like a long line, got a long line, and
they’re all there to vote, and it’s just the – it’s they’re
stealing it, fair and square.”
Voting in
large numbers is how you win elections legitimately, not how
elections are stolen.
Kansas deserves a Secretary
of State who can tell the difference.
Conclusion
I strongly endorse Jennifer
Day (D) for Kansas Secretary of State.
Let’s vote in large
numbers to stop a conspiracy theorist from being elected to oversee
Kansas elections.
Nevertheless, Pat Proctor
will likely win the election.
The Republican candidate
has won each of the five most recent Kansas Secretary of State
Elections, by an average of 20%.
Earlier this year, I
discussed the competitiveness
of statewide elections in Kansas.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (R) is running for reelection against Chris Mann (D).
The election is a rematch between the two candidates who ran against each other four years ago, when Kobach was first elected Attorney General by only 1.6%.
Chris Mann (D) is a former police officer and former prosecutor.
Kris Kobach is a far-right Republican with a long history in Kansas Politics.
Every step of Kobach’s political career has been mired in scandal, which can easily be seen on his Wikipedia page.
Kris Kobach was elected Secretary of State in 2010.
He was reelected Secretary of State in 2014.
Kobach ran for Governor in 2018.
As the Republican nominee, he lost to Laura Kelly (D), who was elected to her first term.
In 2020, Kobach ran for US Senate, but he lost the Republican Primary to Roger Marshall.
Marshall went on to win the general election against Barbara Bollier (D), and win his first term in the Senate.
After two high-profile losses, Kobach ran for Kansas Attorney General in 2022.
Kobach narrowly won the general election, against Chris Mann (D), by 1.6%.
I have voted against Kris Kobach every four years, since I have been old enough to vote.
I voted against Kris Kobach for Secretary of State in 2010, when I was 18 years old.
I voted against Kris Kobach when he ran for reelection for Secretary of State in 2014.
I voted against Kris Kobach when he ran for Governor in 2018.
I voted against Kris Kobach for Attorney General in 2022.
And I voted against Kris Kobach when he ran for reelection for Attorney General this year, in 2026.
I have voted against Kris Kobach 5 times over the past 16 years.
Let’s take a look at some of the lowlights of Kobach’s political career.
Dead Man Voting
Kris Kobach ran for Secretary of State in 2010 while promoting unfounded fears of widespread voter fraud.
In October 2010, Kobach held a press conference where he said 1,966 dead people were registered to vote in Kansas.
“Every one of those 1,966 identities is an opportunity for voter fraud waiting to happen,” Kobach said.
Kobach cited one person, Alfred Brewer, who died in 1996, according to Social Security records, who had voted in the August 2010 primary election.
"Is it the same one?” Kobach asked. “We are still trying to achieve confirmation of this, but it certainly seems like a very real possibility."
A reporter for the Wichita Eagle found Alfred Brewer outside his home, raking leaves.
The Alfred Brewer who had died was his father.
“I don’t think this is heaven, not when I’m raking leaves,” Brewer said.
Remedial Legal Classes
In 2011, Kansas approved a law that required people to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Kobach advocated for the law, which was passed by the Kansas Legislature and signed by Gov. Sam Brownback (R), to address voter fraud.
A federal judge struck down that provision of the law in 2018.
Judge Julie Robinson said the law, “disproportionately impacts duly qualified registration applicants, while only nominally preventing noncitizen voter registration.”
Judge Robinson criticized Kobach for violating the court's procedures meant to ensure a fair trial.
“The disclosure violations set forth above document a pattern and practice by Defendant of flaunting disclosure and discovery rules that are designed to prevent prejudice and surprise at trial," the Judge wrote.
Judge Robinson ordered Kobach to take continuing legal education due to his failure to abide by his legal obligations.
“It is not clear to the Court whether Defendant repeatedly failed to meet his disclosure obligations intentionally or due to his unfamiliarity with the federal rules,” Judge Robinson wrote.
“Therefore, the Court finds that an additional sanction is appropriate in the form of Continuing Legal Education.”
In 2020, a federal appeals court upheld Judge Robinson’s ruling against the provision of the Kansas law that requires proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Lying for Trump
In 2016, Kobach said he agreed with Donald Trump that the number of illegal votes cast in the 2016 presidential election exceeded Hillary Clinton’s margin of victory in the popular vote.
Kobach took Trump's transparent lie and attempted to give it the appearance of legitimacy.
Kobach said as many as 3.2 million votes may have been cast illegally by non-citizens.
Kobach said his estimate was based on a study, which the Lawrence Journal World said was “roundly criticized in academic circles.”
The newspaper also said Kobach overstated the study’s findings.
Defending Lead Pipes
In 2024, Kobach led a coalition of 15 Republican State Attorneys General to oppose an EPA regulation to replace lead pipes to reduce lead contamination in drinking water.
According to the Kansas Reflector, the coalition was unsuccessful.
"The EPA under the Biden administration required replacement of lead pipes within 10 years and announced $27.7 million in funding for Kansas to do so in October 2024," the Reflector reported.
"The EPA made another announcement for $53 million in May."
During his State of the Union in 2024, President Joe Biden cited as one of his accomplishments, “removing poisonous lead pipes, so every child can drink clean water without risk of getting brain damage.”
Kobach responded on Twitter.
“Biden wants to replace lead pipes. He failed to mention that the unfunded mandate sets an almost impossible timeline, will cost billions, infringe on the rights of the States and their residents – all for benefits that may be entirely speculative,” Kobach wrote.
Abortion Rights
Kris Kobach supported a proposed constitutional amendment to elect state Supreme Court Justices.
In 2022, Kobach told a group of Republicans the change would “slowly and quietly” place anti-abortion judges on the Kansas Supreme Court, with the goal of overturning of a decision that protects abortion rights in the state.
Voters rejected the constitutional amendment in August 2026 by 23%.
Trans IDs
In 2023, The Kansas Legislature approved a broad and vaguely-worded law to limit transgender rights.
While the law didn’t mention identity documents specifically, Kris Kobach issued a legal interpretation of the law that said the law’s provisions require driver's licenses and birth certificates to describe transgender people based on their sex assigned at birth.
Kobach sued the Kansas Department of Revenue for continuing to allow transgender Kansans to obtain driver's licenses that identify them based on their gender identity, rather than their sex assigned at birth.
A State District Court Judge sided with Kobach, and issued a preliminary injunction preventing transgender Kansans from updating their driver's licenses.
The Kansas Appeals Court overturned the injunction, allowing those gender marker changes to resume.
Last year, the Kansas Supreme Court declined to hear the case, leaving the Appeals Court decision in place.
This year, Republicans in the Kansas Legislature approved a law that explicitly prevents transgender people from updating their gender on their identity documents, and invalidates existing documents that don't identify them based on their sex assigned at birth.
Long story short, Kris Kobach used his position as Attorney General to make life harder for transgender Kansans, for no good reason.
Conclusion
Kris Kobach (R) is an extremist, a charlatan, and an embarrassment to the State of Kansas.
He should be voted out of office, and he should never hold any position in government, elected or appointed, ever again.
He should resign in disgrace and retire from political life.
I strongly endorse Chris Mann (D) for Kansas Attorney General.
I hope this election ends Kris Kobach’s political career.
But it won't, and I'll continue to vote against Kobach, over and over, for the foreseeable future.
He supports expanding Medicare drug price negotiation, reversing cuts to Medicaid, restoring Affordable Care Act subsidies, and protecting rural hospitals.
He opposes tariffs, wants to ban Wall Street investors from buying single-family homes, expand Medicare to cover vision and dental, and require data centers to pay their fair share of electricity costs.
Roger Marshall is a scandal-plagued Conservative Republican, who is an embarrassment to the State of Kansas.
Marshall was first elected to the US House in 2016 in the Kansas First Congressional District.
He was reelected in 2018.
Roger Marshall (R) was first elected to the US Senate in 2020, when he ran against Barbara Bollier (D).
Marshall won by 11.4%.
Marshall is running for reelection to the Senate this year.
I have voted against Roger Marshall every time he's been on my ballot.
I lived and voted in Missouri in 2016. I voted against Roger Marshall in 2018, when he ran for reelection to the US House.
I voted against Roger Marshall in 2020, when he was first elected to the US Senate. I voted against Roger Marshall this year, when he ran for reelection to the US Senate.
I covered Roger Marshall during his time in the US House, when I was a reporter for the Salina Journal in 2018 and 2019.
At the time, I was an objective reporter, and I did my best to cover Marshall fairly.
Marshall always treated me with respect, as a member of the local news media.
But even back then, I strongly disagreed with Marshall’s politics.
I recorded videos of Roger Marshall when I was a reporter at the Salina Journal.
A playlist of those videos are available on my YouTube channel.
Defending Trump in Congress
In October 2019, Roger Marshall was among a group of House Republicans who stormed and disrupted a closed-door hearing that was part of the investigation that led to President Trump’s first impeachment.
“This whole thing is a sham,” Marshall said. “The people of Kansas are sick and tired of these impeachment hearings. We have impeachment fatigue.”
President Trump’s first impeachment was for withholding military aid to Ukraine to pressure the country to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden, which would benefit Trump in the 2020 presidential campaign.
In December 2019, Roger Marshall voted against impeaching Trump for both Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress, during Trump’s first impeachment.
As a Senator, Marshall supported Trump’s effort to steal the 2020 Presidential election, and he voted against certifying the electoral college results from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
In February 2021, Marshall voted to acquit President Trump during his Senate Impeachment Trial, during Trump’s second impeachment, for inciting an insurrection against Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.
Economic Policy
During the Biden Administration, Roger Marshall voted against the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act.
In March 2021, Roger Marshall (R) voted against the American Rescue Plan, which extended unemployment benefits, provided emergency rental assistance, expanded food stamp benefits, expanded the child tax credit, and provided funding to cities and states to replace tax revenue lost due to the pandemic.
In August 2021, Roger Marshall (R) voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided funding for roads, bridges, public transit, broadband internet, and infrastructure projects.
In August 2022, Marshall voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, which allowed Medicare to negotiate prices for some drugs, and authorized tax credits for renewable energy.
Reproductive Rights
In May 2022, Marshall voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have overturned state abortion bans by establishing a right to abortion under federal law.
In September 2024, Marshall voted against the Right to IVF Act, which would have created a federal right to access fertility treatments and overturned state laws that interfere with the provision of fertility treatments.
LGBT Rights
Congress passed, and President Biden signed, the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022.
Currently, the right to same sex marriage is protected nationwide under the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.
Liberals feared the US Supreme Court might overturn its decisions protecting gay marriage, after the court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The Respect for Marriage Act was passed due to these concerns.
The Respect for Marriage Act requires states to recognize same-sex marriages conducted in other states, and requires the federal government to recognize the legitimacy of same-sex marriages conducted by states that allow them.
Roger Marshall voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which shows that as late as November 2022, Roger Marshall still opposed the right of same-sex couples to marry.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise, because Roger Marshall is bigoted against LGBT people.
In June 2023, President Joe Biden displayed a progress pride flag at the White House.
Senator Roger Marshall responded on twitter.
“This is a disgrace,” Marshall wrote. “Not only is it in breach of US Flag Code, but it’s a glaring example of this White Houses’ incompetence and insistence on putting their social agenda ahead of patriotism.”
It is bigoted to react to a display of an LGBT pride flag by calling it a disgrace.
There are LGBT Kansans, and I am one of them.
LGBT Kansans deserve better than to be represented in the US Senate by a bigot like Roger Marshall.
Politifact determined Roger Marshall’s claim that the flag display violated the US Flag Code was false.
Marshall subsequently filed legislation to prohibit LGBT Pride Flags from being displayed at federal buildings.
Trump's Second Term
Roger Marshall authorized some of the worst aspects of the Trump Administration, during Trump's second term.
In January 2025, Roger Marshall voted to confirm Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, who was and remains wholly unqualified and unfit for the role.
In February 2025, Roger Marshall voted to confirm Vaccine Conspiracy Theorist RFK Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
In July 2025, Marshall voted for the Big Ugly Bill, which cut taxes for the rich, cut Medicaid funding for the poor, and increased funding for ICE, the federal law enforcement agency that attacks immigrants.
In March 2026, Marshall voted against a War Powers Resolution that attempted to end the Iran War.
Roger Marshall voted the wrong way on all 15 key votes in the Senate and the House, that were discussed in this article.
Scandals
Politically speaking, September was a tough month for Roger Marshall.
Marshall worked as a doctor prior to his political career.
On Sept. 8, the New York Times reported Marshall filed lawsuits against more than 700 patients with outstanding bills.
On Sept. 12, during a debate at the Kansas State Fair, hecklers responded to Marshall by chanting, “You Don’t Live Here.”
That’s a pretty devastating thing to say about your own Senator.
On Sept. 25, the Kansas City Star reported that while Roger Marshall claims to live in a modest cabin in Kansas, he owns a much larger and more expensive home in Florida.
Supporting Trump until the Bitter End
Roger Marshall has always been a stalwart supporter of President Trump.
During my time at the Salina Journal in 2018 and 2019, Marshall displayed a portrait of President Trump in Marshall’s Salina office.
Recently, an interviewer on Bloomberg TV asked Roger Marshall if anyone was advising President Trump to move towards free trade and away from tariffs.
Marshall repliedthat Kansans will stick with Trump until the bitter end.
“I don’t hear that voice right now. I hear the president actually doubling down on where he’s at, and the interesting thing is my farmers are still supporting.
“It’s dire times back home, bankruptcies are up, suicides are up, but nevertheless, we have hope in this president that he can take us to victory here.”
Conclusion
I strongly and enthusiastically endorse Adam Hamilton (D) for US Senate in Kansas.
Roger Marshall is an embarrassment to the State of Kansas.
Roger Marshall should be voted out of office, and he should never hold a position in government, elected or appointed, ever again.
Marshall should resign and retire from political life.
But Kansas will likely be stuck with him as their Senator for the foreseeable future.
VoteHub has created a model that predicts the outcome of every Senate, House, and Governor election in 2026.
VoteHub predicts Roger Marshall will win the Kansas Senate Race by 1.2%.
In June 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal right to abortion.
The State Supreme Court decision in Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt became the only remaining barrier between Kansas Republican politicians and their goal of overturning abortion rights in the state.
Republican politicians in Kansas have been dedicated to overturning the decision, including through two failed attempts to amend the Kansas Constitution, itself.
Before the Kansas Supreme Court considered Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt, the case made its way through lower state courts.
A District Court ruled the Kansas Constitution protects abortion rights.
In November, Kansas voters will decide whether to approve a proposed state constitutional amendment.
According to the explanatory statement on the ballot, the amendment, "would clarify that only a person who is a citizen of the United States is eligible to vote in this state."
There is no significant or widespread problem concerning non-citizens attempting to vote in US elections.
Only US citizens are allowed to vote in Kansas. This fact is already clear from the text of the Kansas Constitution that the proposed amendment would modify.
Republicans have long peddled false claims about widespread voter fraud, as well as false claims about illegal immigrants committing voter fraud and illegally swaying the results of elections.
The proposed amendment exists as a result of this false narrative that arises from the lies propagated by the right-wing echo chamber.
As a practical matter, it doesn't appear that the proposed amendment would, on its own, actually do anything that the current language in the Kansas Constitution doesn't already do.
The proposed amendment is a solution in search of a problem.
If the amendment passes, Republicans who wish to pass legislation to enact proof-of-citizenship requirements, which would make it harder to vote, could cite voters' approval of the amendment to argue that the public supports their efforts.
Although, I'm sure that Republicans will attempt to pass these measures regardless, and the approval of the proposed amendment doesn't appear to make any legal changes that would make their efforts more likely to succeed.
Here is the passage in the Kansas Constitution that the proposed amendment would modify.
This text shows how the passage currently reads.
It is how the text will continue to read, if voters reject the proposed amendment.
This document shows the changes that the proposed amendment would make to the Kansas Constitution.
This information can also be seen on sample ballots available to Kansas voters.
KU Professor Amii Castle wrote an editorial for the Kansas Reflector opposing the proposed amendment.
The proposed amendment is redundant and unnecessary.
While it doesn't appear to make any meaningful legal changes on its own, it could be used rhetorically to support future legislation that would make it harder for US citizens to vote.
I voted against the proposed state constitutional amendment, and I encourage other Kansas voters to do the same.
I support the city sales tax for road work and oppose the redundant state constitutional amendment.
In November, voters will decide whether to approve a city-wide sales tax to fund road work in Manhattan, Kansas.
The 0.5% sales tax would take affect in April 2027, and would last for 10 years.
The proposed 0.5% sales tax would replace a 0.2% sales tax, which is about to expire.
If approved, the new tax would increase the overall sales tax from 9.15% to 9.45%, for Manhattan transactions conducted in Riley County.
The new tax would increase the overall sales tax from 9.45% to 9.75% for Manhattan transactions conducted in Pottawatomie County.
City officials say the proposed tax would allow the city to improve the quality of Manhattan's streets.
The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce supports the sales tax measure.
Yard signs supporting the proposal can be seen around town.
You can view the ballot language, along with additional information about the proposal, on the City Government website for Manhattan, Kansas.
I haven't seen or heard arguments from anyone opposing the road maintenance sales tax proposal.
The cost of living crisis is particularly acute for many people right now, and voters might not want to approve a new tax when so many essentials of life are so expensive.
Nevertheless, a 0.3% increase in the sales tax is a modest one, and the money would go to good use.
Neither approving nor rejecting the proposed sales tax would have any impact on the speed of road work in Manhattan, which is an issue that desperately needs to be addressed.
Construction crews regularly tear up half of a major street in Manhattan, before leaving the site dormant, without making any major progress on the project, for months at a time.
Contracts for Road Work should contain project deadlines, with rewards for finishing early, and penalties for finishing late.
We need a city commission that actually focuses on ensuring road maintenance projects don't drag on forever.
We need major roads that aren't operating at half capacity for months at a time.
I plan to vote in favor of the modest sales tax increase to fund road work in the city.
But I will continue to be frustrated by the glacial pace of road work, which is a problem that we really need to fix.
I support the city sales tax for road work and oppose the redundant state constitutional amendment, which I will discuss in a future editorial.
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