by Rick Nichols
Registered voters in Jefferson County will be going to the polls this coming Tuesday to, among other things, help decide the fate of a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution pertaining to abortion and pick the Republican Party’s nominee for the position of County Commissioner for the First District.
The Value Them Both Amendment pits those who oppose abortion in all or at least most circumstances against those who believe a woman has a right to terminate a pregnancy pretty much anywhere along the pre-term continuum that starts at approximately six weeks after conception and ends roughly nine months after conception.
From the perspective of the voter, a “Yes” vote on the question will be reflective of the view that the state constitution doesn’t include the right to have an abortion, a position that goes against the decision the Kansas Supreme Court handed down in 2019 when it ruled that the constitution protects a woman’s right to an abortion.
Moreover, it will be in line with the thinking that state legislators are free to enact laws that regulate abortion to one degree or another.
A “No” vote on the question will be consistent with the view that the right to an abortion is already contained within the constitution and should be allowed to remain there.
Here is the language that will appear on the ballot:
“Explanatory statement. The Value Them Both Amendment (if approved by voters) would affirm there is no Kansas constitutional right to abortion or to require the government funding of abortion and would reserve to the people of Kansas, through their elected state legislators, the right to pass laws to regulate abortion, including, but not limited to, in circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, or when necessary to save the life of the mother.
“A vote against the Value Them Both Amendment would make no changes to the constitution of the state of Kansas and could restrict the people, through their elected state legislators, from regulating abortion by leaving in place the recently recognized right to abortion.”
All registered voters, those affiliated with the Democratic Party, those affiliated with the Republican Party and those not affiliated with either party, are eligible to cast a vote on the question.
Only voters who reside in Rural Township, Sarcoxie Township, Union Township, Oskaloosa Township or the eastern portion of Fairview Township and are registered as Republicans will be able to participate in next month’s primary election insofar as the County Commission race is concerned.
This select group of voters will be choosing between Ken Newell of Oskaloosa and Doug Walbridge of rural McLouth, with the winner of the contest locking up a spot on November’s general election ballot.
Information about Walbridge and Newell has appeared in the previous two issues of the paper.
Lynn Luck, the current County Commissioner for the First District, has already secured a place on November’s general election ballot by collecting enough valid signatures from among registered voters to meet the threshold established for an independent candidate seeking a countywide office.
A former Republican, Luck is just the second woman to serve as a member of the three-member board that oversees the operation of the county government, the Board of County Commissioners.
No Democrat decided to go after Luck’s job this year.
The other two county commissioners are chairman Richard Malm, who represents the Third District, and vice chairman David Christy, who represents the Second District. Their terms in office will end in January of 2025 unless they run for re-election two years from now and are successful.
Besides the constitutional amendment question and the battle between Newell and Walbridge for a possible seat on the BOCC, registered voters will be electing precinct committeemen and precinct committeewomen to two-year terms, weighing in on the various Township Clerk candidates, and whittling down the field of candidates for state and national offices.
The polls will open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday and remain open until 7 p.m. In the meantime, registered voters can vote early if they so choose by dropping by the courthouse in Oskaloosa today (this Thursday) or tomorrow between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., or on Monday between the hours of 8 a.m. and Noon.
Election Night Results
The unofficial results of the election will be posted on the website for the two Jefferson County newspapers, www.jeffcountynews.com, as soon as they become available.
The official results will appear in print in the Aug. 18 issue of The Oskaloosa Independent and The Valley Falls Vindicator.
The lone race for the post of Township Clerk to produce two or more candidates from the same party, will put the spotlight of attention on Sarcoxie Township, where Bob Lockwood, the incumbent and a Republican, is facing a challenge from David Anderson.
The winner will move on to the general election.
In nine of the remaining 11 townships, either one Republican or one Democrat is running for the position of Township Clerk. The candidates are as follows:
Matt Stanwix, rural Grantville, Republican candidate in Kaw Township;
Susan Warriner, rural Perry, Democratic candidate in Kentucky Township;
Lisa Rodecap Bond, rural Perry, Republican candidate in Rural Township;
James Gerety, rural Meriden, Republican candidate in Rock Creek Township;
Michelle Dillman, rural Oskaloosa, Republican candidate in Fairview Township;
Kevin Klenklen, Ozawkie, Republican candidate in Ozawkie Township;
Kenneth J. Budy, rural McLouth, Republican candidate in Union Township;
Terry Scarlett, Valley Falls, Republican candidate in Delaware Township; and
Casey W. Keirns, Nortonville, Democratic candidate in Norton Township.
As for the other two townships, Oskaloosa and Jefferson, no one from either party filed as a candidate for the post of Township Clerk.
This year there are 60 precinct positions to fill, 30 for each gender and 30 for each party, eight of which are new positions that were created as a result of the redistricting process that involved Kansas’ Senate and House of Representatives districts.
In previous years each township has constituted a single precinct, except for Fairview Township, which was made up of two precincts, one for those living on the east side of Perry Lake and the other for those residing on the west side of the lake.
But both Sarcoxie Township and Union Township have now joined Fairview Township as two-precinct townships, giving Jefferson County 15 precincts in all.
The splitting of Sarcoxie and Union townships became necessary when the western boundary of the 42nd House of Representatives district was extended into Jefferson County and, more accurately, to Wellman Road.
Consequently, there is now a Sarcoxie East precinct, a Sarcoxie West precinct, a Union East precinct and a Union West precinct, with Wellman Road being the east-west dividing line.
The Republican Party managed to put up 10 candidates for precinct positions, the Democratic Party seven. The candidates are as follows:
Michael Erickson, Grantville, Democratic candidate in Kaw precinct;
Marledeen N. Joy, rural Grantville, Democratic candidate in Kaw precinct;
Meredith Richey, rural Perry, Republican candidate in Kentucky precinct;
Willard D. Epling, Perry, Democratic candidate in Kentucky precinct;
Paula K. Hladky, Perry, Democratic candidate in Kentucky precinct;
Ronald B. Ellis, rural Meriden, Republican candidate in Rock Creek precinct;
Paula Ellis, rural Meriden, Republican candidate in Rock Creek precinct;
Rex C. Buttram, rural Oskaloosa, Democratic candidate in East Fairview precinct;
Maxine A. Buttram, rural Oskaloosa, Democratic candidate in East Fairview precinct;
Julie K. Durand, rural Ozawkie, Republican candidate in East Fairview precinct;
Loren Lutes, Ozawkie, Republican candidate in Ozawkie precinct;
Douglas Bond, rural Oskaloosa, Republican candidate in Oskaloosa precinct;
Richard Malm, rural Valley Falls, Republican candidate in Delaware precinct;
Sharon S. Sweeney, rural Valley Falls, Republican candidate in Delaware precinct;
Robert Sirridge, rural Valley Falls, Democratic candidate in Delaware precinct;
Edward C. Buttron, rural Nortonville, Republican candidate in Norton precinct; and
Linda M. Buttron, rural Nortonville, Republican candidate in Norton precinct.
Across the county, Republican voters are being asked to help pick their party’s nominees for four statewide offices, Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General and Treasurer, and one national office, U.S. Senator.
The county’s Democratic voters, on the other hand, need only to assist in the selection of their party’s nominees for one statewide office, Governor, and one national office, U.S. Senator, where, in the case of the latter, the field is rather crowded.
For the Grand Old Party, its gubernatorial candidates are Arlyn Biggs and Derek Schmidt, its SOS candidates Mike Brown and Scott J. Schwab, its AG candidates Kris Kobach, Tony Mattivi and Kellie Warren, its Treasurer candidates Steven Johnson and Caryn Tyson, and its U.S. Senate candidates Joan Farr and Jerry Moran.
Biggs, who lives in the Kincaid area, is running with Lance Berland, who also lives in the Kincaid area.
Schmidt, the current AG for Kansas, is from the Independence area originally and has selected Katie Sawyer as his running mate. She resides in the McPherson area and previously worked for U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall.
Brown is a former Johnson County Commissioner.
Schwab, a former state representative, is seeking another four-year term in office as Kansas’ SOS.
Kobach, who lives in the Lecompton area, was the SOS prior to Schwab and in 2018 was defeated by Laura Kelly in the race for Governor. In 2020 he was beaten by then U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall in the race for the Senate seat Pat Roberts was preparing to vacate after 24 years of upper chamber service to the Sunflower State.
Mattivi is a former paramedic and has previously worked in the Office of the Shawnee County District Attorney and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Topeka.
Warren lives in Leawood and is a state senator.
Johnson resides in the Assaria area and has been a member of the state House of Representatives since 2011.
Tyson is a state senator and a former candidate for Kansas’ Second Congressional District seat in the House of Representatives. She hails from the Parker area.
Farr has a Derby mailing address but was actually a candidate for one of the two U.S. Senate seats in Oklahoma that are up for grabs this year. She was defeated in the Sooner State’s Republican primary June 28.
Moran is Kansas’ senior senator and previously represented the state’s First Congressional District on Capitol Hill.
Unopposed are Commissioner of Insurance candidate Vicki Schmidt, state House of Representatives candidates Ronald Ellis and Lance W. Neelly, State Board of Education candidate Danny Zeck, and U.S. House of Representatives candidate Tracey Mann.
Schmidt, who calls Topeka home, is seeking a second four-year term in office.
Ellis, who lives in the Meriden area, already represents the 47th District in Topeka and is after a fourth two-year term in office.
Neelly, who resides in Tonganoxie, already represents the 42nd District in the capital city and is looking to earn a second term in office.
Zeck, who lives in Leavenworth, hopes to replace Janet Waugh on the 10-member state BOE. She currently represents the First District.
Jefferson County had been part of the Fourth District prior to redistricting.
Mann was Kansas’ Lieutenant Governor for a relatively brief period of time and succeeded the aforementioned Roger Marshall in representing the “Big First” Congressional District in the nation’s capital.
Before redistricting, Jefferson County was part of the Second Congressional District.
Like the GOP, the Democratic Party has two gubernatorial candidates this year, Richard S. Karnowski of the Emmett area and the aforementioned Laura Kelly, the current occupant of Cedar Crest.
Karnowski, an accountant by trade, has cast his lot with a man from the Seneca area, Barry J. Franco, in his bid to upset Kelly.
Meanwhile, Kelly is paired with the current Lieutenant Governor, David Toland, who also is serving as the Secretary of Commerce.
The chance to oust the aforementioned Jerry Moran from the U.S. Senate and win a six-year term in office appeals to six Democrats, Mike Andra of Wichita, Paul Buskirk of Lawrence, Mark R. Holland of Kansas City, Robert Klingenberg of the Salina area, Michael Soetaert of Alta Vista, and Patrick Wiesner of Overland Park.
Andra “appears to be a Wichita rancher,” according to a story The Topeka Capital-Journal posted online July 20.
Buskirk is a veteran educator and has been employed by the University of Kansas Athletic Department as an administrator.
Holland is a pastor and was the Mayor of Kansas City from 2013 to 2017.
Klingenberg is most focused on “improving the lives of everyday workers,” according to the website that was created for his campaign.
On his website, Soetaert describes himself as “a GAY DEMOCRAT who believes in DIGNITY, RESPECT & EQUALITY FOR ALL!”
Wiesner is both a lawyer and a certified public accountant.
SOS candidate Jeanna Repass of the Overland Park area, AG candidate Chris Mann of Lawrence, Treasurer candidate Lynn W. Rogers of Wichita, Commissioner of Insurance candidate Kiel Corkran of Olathe, state BOE candidate Jeffrey M. Howards of Leavenworth, and U.S. House of Representatives candidate James “Jimmy” Beard of the Garden City area face no opposition.
Rogers is already serving as Kansas’ Treasurer and was the aforementioned Laura Kelly’s running mate four years ago.