As I have already written, abortion rights is maybe the hot button issue of the 2022 midterm elections. And nowhere is that about to be more highlighted in the ruby red state of Kansas.
I have to admit, Kansas has always fascinated me. It is a deep red state in the heartland. And it’s so deep red that the constituents will even vote against their own best interests. They did that in 2010 when they elected RWNJ Sam Brownback in 2010 as Governor, and then reelected him in 2016. Brownback engineered the great GOP experiment of lowering state corporate tax rates to 0% in order to attract more business to the state.
It was a total debacle. See, there’s a real difference between the federal government and state governments. the federal government can run up a deficit tab as high as it wants to, but state governments are required to balance their budgets. Brownback’s scheme decimated the state government, teachers, cop, firefighters, all state services suffered from the shortfall. And voters noticed.
On January 31st of 2018, Brownback, 1 step ahead of the pitchforks and torches running after him, resigned, and took a no show job that Trump cobbled up for him. His flunky Jeff Colyer took over, and November of 2018, Kansans voted a Democrat, Laura Kelly the Governor to clean up the mess.
But that wasn’t the only act of apostasy the deep red Kansas voters committed. They also voted the first Native American, lesbian, mixed martial arts, Yale educated lawyer to serve Kansas in the United States House.
Here’s why this is important. The Kansas primaries are on August 2nd. And one of the things that the Kansas voters will be voting on is a ballot initiative to enshrine abortion into Kansas law. And that will be the first gut check as to just how hot the emotions on abortion, not only among Democrats, but Republicans are running.
Make sure that you’re tuned in on August 2nd. Abortions are still legal in Kansas, and they are already handling overflow patients from neighboring states that have banned or restricted abortion. If Kansas voters vote to codify abortion into state law, it will remain a safe haven to states like Oklahoma, Texas, South Dakota and even Utah.
We all think of Kansas as just another deep red state, in lockstep with the GOP agenda. But they have bucked the party before, and if they do it again, that could be a serious bellwether as to what the GOP’s chances are in the midterms. Don’t touch that dial.
