KS GOP elects as chair former candidate who elevated baseless election security fears

Kansas Republicans have elected Mike Brown as party chairman, empowering the brash former Johnson County commissioner to take the party in a more strident direction after Republicans failed to recapture the governor’s office in November.

Brown was elected in a 90 to 88 vote at the Kansas Republican Party’s annual convention in Topeka on Saturday. He defeated Helen Van Etten, a former Republican national committeewoman who had the support of Sen. Roger Marshall and Reps. Jake LaTurner and Ron Estes.

Brown tried unsuccessfully to defeat Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab in the Republican primary last year, on a platform that cast Schwab as weak on elections and elevated baseless suspicions about election security in Kansas. Brown lost that race in August by 11 points, but since then has proven adept at winning over the much smaller world of party officials and activists who allowed him to win the party’s top leadership post.

During his campaign for chairman, Brown was sharply critical of the party’s prior leadership, which he accused of meddling in primary elections. Brown, a general contractor, promised “bold” conservative leadership.

“We simply cannot continue to keep doing the same things over and over and believe that somehow it’s going to turn out different,” Brown said.

Brown’s election comes in the shadow of two crushing defeats for the party: the failure to beat Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and Rep. Sharice Davids, who represents much of the Kansas side of the Kansas City metro as part of the 3rd Congressional District. Republicans have lost significant ground in Johnson County, the state’s most populous county, as moderate suburban residents are increasingly drawn to the Democrats.

“This is hand-to-hand warfare,” Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach told Republicans from the 3rd District on Saturday ahead of the chair vote. Kobach remained publicly neutral on the chair contest.

Brown’s prescription for regaining the governor’s office and 3rd District has centered on the idea that full-throated primary contests will lead to strong general election candidates. The Republican nominee for governor, former Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, ultimately didn’t face a competitive primary after former Gov. Jeff Colyer dropped out. And former Kansas Republican Party chair Amanda Adkins, the 3rd District nominee, didn’t face a significant primary opponent.

Still, hard-right party leadership hasn’t always been effective elsewhere. Arizona Republicans lost several major statewide contests under the leadership of Kelli Ward, an election denier, illustrating the possible consequences of an extreme leader.

Van Etten emphasized the importance of party unity in her campaign and said she was the only candidate who could bring the party together. Van Etten, who was born in Taiwan, would have been the first non-white person to lead the party if she had been elected.

“As a longtime conservative activist, I have fought for decades in the trenches along with all of you,” Van Etten told Republicans ahead of the vote. “Our fight is for the values and the freedoms that we hold dear.”

Brown’s opponents say he has needlessly divided the party and has been more interested in attacking fellow Republicans than Democrats. But his supporters said significant changes were needed to empower the party’s grassroots.

Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden, who has been conducting a long-running investigation into the county’s elections, nominated Brown. During his nominating speech, Hayden said he hadn’t received any money from the Republican Party, though he ran unopposed in his last general election.

“That can’t happen,” Hayden said. “We need to help our people at the grassroots level.”

The chair election, one of the most contentious in years, came during a packed, hours-long state committee meeting. While the meeting remained civil, party officials at several points acknowledged the tensions leading up to the election.

Mike Kuckelman, in final remarks as chairman, urged the party’s future leaders to focus on unifying Republicans, getting out the vote and outreach to women and minority voters.

“We are all Republicans,” Kuckelman said. “All of us in this room are unified on Republican principles and platform.”