Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly sidesteps abortion in tough re-election battle (NBC News)

[pstokely]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/kansas-gov-laura-kelly-sidesteps-abortion-tough-re-election-battle-rcna48439

When Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional amendment that would have removed language enshrining reproductive rights in their state, Democrats across the country pounced even harder on the issue as a flash point they said would drive huge turnout following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

But back in Kansas — where Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, is fighting a tough re-election battle— the issue is almost nowhere to be seen.

Kelly, who polls show is in a dead heat with her Republican challenger, state Attorney General Derek Schmidt, has instead focused almost exclusively on the economy, tax cuts and education.

Experts and Democrats say the effort could be key to the vulnerable incumbent prevailing in the overwhelmingly red state.

That’s because the path to victory for Kelly, who presides over a state in which registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats nearly two to one (Republicans make up 44% of registered voters, Democrats comprise 26%, while unaffiliated voters constitute 29%), relies almost entirely on her ability to appeal to Republican voters, with whom a prominent pro-abortion rights message wouldn’t largely resonate.

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. To get elected in KS, a Democrat has to renounce her Party Platform....?

then Republicans get to call her out on her hypocrisy in the next cycle? Is this how it works in Kansas?

[Grins]

2. "(Republican Schmidt is)...focused on the economy, tax cuts and education"?

Really? That’s brass.

Or is it Kansans learned NOTHING from the economic DISASTER that was the Sam Brownback administration?

Whose conservative trickle-down, “Free Markets!” theories made HUGE cuts to schools, drove businesses out of state, growth became worst in the nation, revenues plunged, its bond rating tanked, with cuts in badly needed infrastructure spending. And more!

Their own house burning to the ground, they elected a DEMOCRAT to save them - and she did.

And now…? Tribal politics.