Election 2024

Topeka Rep. Fred Patton submits letter of resignation, stepping down Oct. 16

BY: - September 25, 2023

A Topeka member of the Kansas House plans to resign in October to give his replacement one year of experience before standing for election in 2024.

Voters fill out ballots

Ten Kansas advocacy groups rebuffed by Wyandotte County election commissioner

BY: - September 25, 2023

Wyandotte County election commission declines to speak with 10 advocacy organizations about offering election materials in languages other than English.

In September, the GOP-controlled Wisconsin state senate voted to oust Meagan Wolfe as the head of the Wisconsin Elections Commission

Anti-democratic moves by state lawmakers raise fears for 2024 election

BY: - September 24, 2023

In Wisconsin, Republican lawmakers are threatening to impeach both the state’s election administrator, who is highly regarded nationally, and a state Supreme Court justice despite a ruling by the state’s judicial commission that the justice had done nothing wrong — effectively nullifying a recent statewide election she won, Democrats say. In North Carolina, a bill […]

Members of the bipartisan special legislative compensation committee, comprised mostly of former House and Senate members, expressed support for a new base salary of $45,000 annually. The committee has yet to resolve differences on how to handle legislator pension benefits and other details of a proposal to be submitted to the Legislature. (Screen capture of the Kansas Legislature's YouTube channel)

Kansas special committee leans harder toward raising legislators’ annual base salary to $45,000

BY: - September 22, 2023

A special committee studying compensation for the Kansas Legislature warms to idea of $45,000 base salary, but has other compensation issues to resolve.

OPINION
An original copy of the Declaration of Independence

As our country confronts serious threats, some Kansans want to laugh them off

BY: - September 18, 2023

As long as news stories and columns have appeared online with a way for readers to make their reactions known, one piece of advice to authors persists. Don’t read the comments. Yet I can’t help but do so when it comes to my work, simply because I’m curious to know what people think. My recent […]

Gov. Laura Kelly walks to fill out her ballot Oct. 25, 2022, at the Shawnee County Election Office in Topeka.

‘When is it going to be our time?’ Young Kansas voters jilted by candidates and election barriers

BY: - September 15, 2023

This article is part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on Sept. 15, the International Day of Democracy, in which news organizations cover how democracy works and the threats it faces. To learn more, visit usdemocracyday.org. TOPEKA — The way Dustin Morris sees it, his generation was sold a lot of false hope. You […]

Closure of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum due to the COVID-19 pandemic has undercut tourism revenue in Abilene as it has in other communities statewide. This statue of Eisenhower is on the Capitol grounds in Topeka.(Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Truman, Eisenhower organizations split on letter calling for respectful civic engagement

BY: - September 7, 2023

Thirteen of 14 nonprofit presidential foundations or centers — not the Eisenhower Foundation — back a joint statement calling for political civility.

The Kansas Board of Healing Arts issued a response to the "unprecedented" letter on treatment of COVID-19 patients sent to about 250 health care providers by Sen. Mark Steffen, a Hutchinson Republican who has advocated off-label use of ivermectin in the pandemic. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas senator alleges GOP complicit in damaging politics of big-businesses lobby groups

BY: - September 6, 2023

Republican state Sen. Mark Steffen denounces special-interest groups aligned with big business and asserts GOP complicit with these influential lobbyists.

The Declaration of Independence

Americans are worried about democracy. You wouldn’t know it from the GOP debate.

BY: - August 24, 2023

There’s a growing feeling, among both experts and ordinary Americans, that our democracy isn’t functioning well — and even that it’s under threat. “American democracy is cracking,” the Washington Post reported August 18. “I’m terrified,” one democracy expert told the paper. “I think we are in bad shape, and I don’t know a way out.” […]

Presidential Hopefuls Square Off In First GOP Debate

Trump absent but still dominates as GOP presidential rivals clash at first debate

BY: , and - August 23, 2023

Eight Republican presidential candidates gathered onstage Wednesday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for a heated first primary debate heavily influenced by former President Donald Trump, though the party’s front runner refused to attend the two-hour event. Trump instead recorded a competing 46-minute interview with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson that aired on X, formerly known […]

Eli Woody, a Democratic candidate for the 2nd District U.S. House seat in Kansas, said he wanted to carry the aspirations of working-class Kansans to Washington and provide a counter-weight to the deep-pocket donors who distort political agendas of some lawmakers. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Democrat Eli Woody tying 2nd District campaign to issues germane to Kansans — not D.C. insiders

BY: - August 14, 2023

Eli Woody, a former school teacher, is seeking the Democratic Party's nomination to challenge GOP U.S. Rep. Jake Laturner in the 2nd District.