The Star editorial board’s endorsement of Jerry Moran goes against its own principles

Wrong for Kansas

The headline on The Star editorial board’s endorsement of Sen. Jerry Moran calls him “Kansas’ best bet to break partisan fever.” (Oct. 30, 21A, “Sen. Jerry Moran is Kansas’ best bet to break partisan fever”) How can this be, when Moran has shown himself to be nothing close to moderate on issues important to Kansans?

Moran’s refusal to fill out The Star’s own candidate questionnaire, despite multiple requests, indicates that he is hiding behind a facade of moderation, when in fact he has repeatedly proposed to restrict abortion rights severely at the federal level (which the majority of Kansans have stated unequivocally is not what is right for us), does not support regulations on stock profits by members of Congress (which the majority of Americans support) and, as one of the members of the editorial board put it in a commentary last year, chose loyalty to Donald Trump over the country by opposing the bipartisan congressional investigation of the failed Jan. 6, 2021, coup at the U.S. Capitol.

Jerry Moran is a MAGA Republican, not a moderate, and the editorial board’s support of his candidacy is transparently skewed. Former Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Mark Holland is ready to listen to Kansans and serve us in the Senate. He supports privacy in medical decisions and policies that benefit all Kansans (not just corporations and the wealthy), and has made a point of being accessible and open about his views.

- Elizabeth Wickstrom, Prairie Village

A pipe dream

The Star’s Oct. 30 endorsement of Sen. Jerry Moran for reelection in his race against the Rev. Mark Holland was a true surprise. Why would an editorial board that supports abortion rights, the Affordable Care Act, reasonable gun control and protecting our democracy endorse a man who disagrees on every one of these important issues?

Apparently, it is about Moran’s supposed help in “breaking the divisive partisan fever in Washington.” That is a pipe dream. Moran is a solid member of the 50 Republican senators who vote in lockstep on 99% of the issues. He has no interest in being bipartisan, except during an election year when he talks to The Star’s editorial board.

The real Jerry Moran voted against the confirmation of the well-qualified African American woman Ketanji Brown Jackson for the U.S. Supreme Court. That was a purely partisan vote. That was the real Jerry Moran.

Vote Mark Holland for the U.S. Senate.

- David Joseph Pack, Lenexa

Bare minimum

I would like to voice my dissent to The Star editorial board’s endorsement of Sen. Jerry Moran. Moran does not support the right of fully half his constituents to bodily autonomy. His PAC spent $50,000 in support of the failed “Value Them Both” amendment that would have allowed hyperconservatives in the Legislature to impose a total abortion ban in the state.

Moran stood by while his party held a Supreme Court seat vacant for a year, then supported the nomination of a man credibly accused of sexual assault to a subsequent spot on the bench, and then supported his party as it pushed through the nomination of a religious zealot 10 weeks before the 2020 election.

Moran claims he supports Ukraine, yet he acquitted a president who tried to withhold military aid and blackmail that country’s leaders in the run-up to the 2020 election.

Moran also ignores the most populous areas of our state. He has met publicly with Johnson County constituents twice in the past four years by my count, at inopportune times with minimal advance notice. He wants to be called a moderate, but his voting record is as extreme as our other senator.

Mark Holland would move Kansas forward by supporting reproductive rights, addressing income inequality and climate change, and listening to Kansans.

Doing the bare minimum of certifying an election to support our democracy is not enough. Kansas deserves better than Jerry Moran.

- Amy Voelker, Olathe

Switch flipped

I am troubled by The Star editorial board’s endorsement of Sen. Jerry Moran. Moran will not have my vote and will not receive any money from me again.

Moran and other Republican lawmakers have made no changes to their stance on woman’s health care rights, even though the majority of Kansans voted for choice.

Sign me an independent no more.

- Cheryl Dalton, Topeka