democratic governor laura kellyRepublican-leaning successful re-election campaign Kansas He was shown standing in the middle of a rural road to woo centrist voters. She is serving her second term facing a skeptical, GOP-led Legislature and a new, far-right state attorney general.
Kelly and other statewide elected officials are scheduled to take the oath of office Monday afternoon in a ceremony that will include an inaugural address. He often used his major public speeches to promote bipartisanship.
There will also be a huge political backlash for the ceremony chris kobach, the new attorney general. Over two decades, he gained national prominence by advocating for stricter immigration and election laws, but became a lightning rod for controversy. He lost the 2018 governor’s race to Kelly and then a GOP primary in 2020 for an open US Senate seat.
Both Kelly and Kobach had narrow victories last year, as Kansas voters decidedly sent mixed messages. Voters in August decisively rejected a proposed change to the state constitution that would have allowed lawmakers to ban abortion, but Republicans maintained their supremacy in both legislative chambers – keeping conservatives firmly in charge .
The Legislature is set to convene for House and Senate sessions on Monday at 2 p.m. for housekeeping and the swearing in of new members. Kelly is scheduled to outline her legislative agenda in the annual State of the Union address on Wednesday evening.
“I knew very early on that if I wanted to achieve anything in public life, I would need to have connections across the aisle,” Kelly said in a recent interview. “I will continue to work in a bipartisan way to get things done.”
Kelly’s centrist credibility rests on some high-profile moves, such as breaking with President Joe Biden in November 2021 over a COVID-19 vaccine mandate and calling for a ban on “sanctuary” cities for immigrants living in the US illegally signing a bill. Last month it banned the use of TikTok by state workers on state-issued devices, following similar action by Congress and a slew of Republican governors like Christi Noem of South Dakota.
But she has frequently clashed with Republican lawmakers over budget issues, tax cuts and education and public health policy. She twice vetoed his proposals to ban girls and women from K-12 and transgender athletes from college sports. His proposals to expand the state’s Medicaid coverage to another 150,000 people have been dead letters to top Republicans.
“I never thought she lived in the middle of the road,” said state Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, when fellow Republicans named him the next House speaker last month, adding that his chamber, ” If anything, one moves.” A little further to the right.
Kobach lost a congressional race in 2004 before winning the first of two terms as Kansas Secretary of State in 2010. He was the first major Kansas elected official to endorse Donald Trump’s bid for president in 2016 and served as a short-lived Trump vice president. commission on voter fraud
His unsuccessful 2018 and 2020 races crashed his political career and convinced many Republicans that he could not win the statewide race. But many GOP leaders and activists said his 2022 campaign was better organized and more focused, leading to less drama or outrage.
The more combative Kobach may return: He has pledged to file lawsuits challenging the Biden administration’s policies. He has already been identified as a potential target both as a threatened species of lesser prairie chicken and in an expanse of water covered by US Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
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