A gaffe, one famous political writer once explained, is when a politician accidentally tells the truth.
By that measure, Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle came up with a show-stopper in late September, while speaking to a conservative group called the Wichita Pachyderm Club. Video of the speech was posted on Facebook.
Republicans need to win two-thirds majorities in both houses of the Kansas Legislature this year, Wagle told an unmasked, un-distanced audience.
To fully fund schools, or make health insurance more accessible? To make the state safer in the COVID-19 pandemic? To help the economy?
No. Wagle wants supermajorities in both houses so her party can rig the redistricting process to elect and protect Republican candidates.
She wasn’t subtle. “During redistricting, I need to give (my potential successor) some more Republican neighborhoods in order to make sure she stays elected,” Wagle said.
Without a supermajority, Wagle added, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly could veto a congressional map that “takes out Sharice Davids” in the 3rd Congressional District in Kansas.
“I guarantee you, we can draw four Republican congressional maps,” Wagle said. “But we can’t do it unless we have a two-thirds majority in the (state) Senate and the House.”
First things first: Wagle is leaving state government in January, so she won’t have a direct role in drawing any maps for anything. In fact, Wagle’s statements make it more likely the process will end up in court, where the issue was decided the last time Kansas went through this process.
But her claims were clarifying, because they demonstrate just how far some conservative Republicans are willing to go to cling to power. We now know Wagle, and others who share her views, have no interest in fair representation or political balance.
They want to protect themselves and will gleefully gerrymander to do so. The only way to stop them is to elect fair-minded Republicans and Democrats willing to oppose it.
In an email, Wagle claimed the video clip posted on social media distorted her views, without explaining how. “I’m working tirelessly … to make sure Republicans keep control of the state Legislature as a check on Gov. Kelly’s liberal policies and to make sure we have a powerful seat at the reapportionment table,” she said.
But Wagle didn’t argue for control of the Legislature, which her party will almost certainly maintain. She wants veto-proof control, so Republicans can unilaterally impose partisan maps that last for a decade.
Gov. Kelly responded Friday by proposing the creation of a nonpartisan redistricting commission when census data comes in, and new maps are drawn. It’s a good idea, but it has little chance of becoming law unless moderate Republicans and Democrats in Topeka can assemble a working majority next year.
Wagle’s rambling address to the Pachyderm Club produced other eyebrow-raising moments. She said Davids is “very likely the winner” in her race with Republican Amanda Adkins.
“We are losing northeast Kansas,” Wagle said. “We’re losing our cities.” Again, it’s the truth. And a more reflective politician might try to figure out why that is.
