TOPEKA — Democrat Chris Mann looks at the job of Kansas attorney general through the lens of personal experience as a law enforcement officer, crime victim, prosecutor and defense lawyer.
Mann, competing against Republican nominee Kris Kobach in the November election, said he wouldn’t approach this foray into elective politics the same way had a drunk driver not shattered a lifelong dream to follow in career footsteps of his police officer father.
It was 3:30 a.m. Jan. 11, 2002. Mann, who joined the Lawrence police force before graduating from University of Kansas, pulled a vehicle over for a broken taillight.
An intoxicated driver slammed into his parked cruiser at 50 mph. Force of that collision threw Mann into the back of the SUV he’d pulled over — crime scene photos show an impression of his body on that vehicle — and deposited him 30 feet away on the side of the road. He was fortunate to survive. Physical therapy couldn’t conquer lingering pain in his body. It was devastating to step away from the police department.
“It was a great job,” Mann said on the Kansas Reflector podcast. “It was a job I really enjoyed doing. I felt like it was a calling.”
With an intact goal of being involved in public service, or “turning my pain into purpose,” Mann enrolled in law school at Washburn University in Topeka. His first job out of law school was as a prosecutor in Wyandotte County with a caseload that ranged from traffic tickets to homicides. That was followed by work on white-collar criminal cases as special assistant attorney general at the Kansas Securities Commission.
Mann, married to a surgeon and with two children, opened a law firm that has centered on representing victims of drunk drivers as they navigated the civil and criminal justice system.
“It’s that experience, and that experience in the law, that I want to bring to the state of Kansas, to the people of Kansas, to make sure that that office is run the way it should be,” he said.
Not all politics
Mann, who has never before sought elected office, said he was campaigning for attorney general to improve public safety and to protect the rights of people.
“I have said from day one that I think this office should be about public safety and not politics,” he said. “The office itself needs to be there to help the people of Kansas. And that means that you can’t be distracted by a political agenda or personal political beliefs. You have to be there to do the work every day, to make people’s lives better in the state, to protect their rights, to protect the Constitution, and to make sure that folks feel comfortable in their communities.”
He said it was unfortunate Kobach was intent on establishing a special unit in the attorney general’s office dedicated to filing lawsuits against President Joe Biden.
“I just don’t think this office should be focused on one man’s political agenda. The office is far too important for that. This is the top law enforcement office in the state,” Mann said.
Kobach was twice elected secretary of state in his career, but lost campaigns for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House.
“I’m running for this office to help the people of Kansas,” Mann said. “My opponent is running for the office just to run for another office because he’s a politician.”
