The new chairman of the Kansas Republican Party is focused on winning back the governorship and the 3rd Congressional District. He told party leaders this weekend how he plans to do it.
Johnson County attorney Mike Kuckelman was the only one to present a full slate of leadership candidates for party officials to consider at their state convention Saturday.
Virginia Crossland-Macha of Iola is the partys new vice chair. Shes currently a member of the Kansas State Fair Board with connections to the construction industry.
Emily Wellman will serve as party secretary and Bob Dool, who was treasurer for Kris Kobachs gubernatorial campaign, will now be treasurer of the party.
Kuckelman told the GOP activists gathered for the convention that the party needs to improve its fundraising and engage unaffiliated voters in order to boost turnout and rebound from some stinging recent losses.
He urged the crowd to be prepared to pay for outreach to gather more votes.
I will be asking for money. Its just that important, Kuckelman said. We need the money to get this done.
He joked that some Republicans might start hiding their wallets when they see him coming.
The Kansas GOPs new leader takes over not long after Republicans saw their streak of congressional and statewide wins broken in 2018.
While Republicans held all other statewide offices and congressional seats, Democrat Sharice Davids unseated four-term 3rd District Rep. Kevin Yoder in the Kansas City area. And Democrat Laura Kelly beat the polarizing former Secretary of State Kris Kobach by a five-point margin in the governors race as she drew some Republican and unaffiliated voters.
Well over 500,000 Kansas voters are unaffiliated nearly a third of the total registered.
They dont know who to vote for, Kuckelman said Saturday. They dont understand why they should be a part of the Republican Party.
Along with engaging unaffiliated voters, Kuckelman said Latinos could also be key to reinvigorating the Kansas GOP.
Latinos make up about 6 percent of the states eligible voting population.
Kuckelman said in an interview that immigration rhetoric from President Donald Trump and others makes them harder to reach.
