Just when you’re ready to swear off politics, someone gives you pause.
That would be Chris Mann, the Democrat running for Kansas Attorney General, who is “turning my pain into purpose,” in his first-time quest for elective office.
His story is compelling.
In 2002, Mann was working as a young police officer in Lawrence when one late night he had pulled over a driver whose car’s taillight was broken. While on the side of the road, Mann was hit by a drunk driver traveling an estimated 50 mph. The impact flung Mann’s body 30 feet. His injuries from the accident were such that Mann’s hopes of following in his father’s footsteps as a police officer were derailed.
His desire to serve, however, remained, propelling him to Topeka’s Washburn Law School. From there he became a prosecutor with the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office. In 2014, he served as a special prosecutor with the Kansas Securities Commission focusing on white collar crimes such as fraud, embezzlement, elder exploitation and pyramid schemes. In 2017, Mann started his own law firm.
Because of his personal tragedy, Mann has advocated for laws that prevent drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel. In 2017, he and LeAnn Briggs, a volunteer with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, testified before the state Senate Judiciary Committee on the value of ignition interlock devices for repeat offenders.
For the better part of 20 years Mann has volunteered with MADD. In 2011, he served as chair of its state advisory board and in 2014 was appointed to the MADD national board of directors, serving as board chair until 2020.
Mann has led discussions on DUI issues with law enforcement agencies, the National Football League and crime victims across the United States. As an attorney, Mann frequently defends victims of drunk driving accidents.
The contrasts between Mann and his opponent, Republican Kris Kobach, are stark.
Mann is a working attorney; Kobach, a figurehead.
If elected, Mann has said he would shift his focus to the needs of all Kansans.
“I have said from day one that I think this office should be about public safety, not politics.”
And Kobach’s agenda?
“I’ll wake up every morning having my breakfast, thinking about what our next lawsuit against Joe Biden is going to be,” Kobach said at an earlier debate, going so far as to establish a litigation division solely to fight the Biden administration.
So, current AG Derek Schmidt on steroids.
In his 12-year tenure as attorney general, Schmidt has signed Kansas on to countless lawsuits against the federal government including those that seek to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, void the Affordable Care Act, contest the COVID-19 vaccine, repress voter participation, protest the curb of greenhouse gases and stop the partial forgiveness of student loan debt.
How has that helped Kansas? Not a whit.
We also know from Kobach’s previous stint as secretary of state, 2011-2019, what we could expect from him as attorney general.
At the conclusion of his tenure, Kobach left the state with $1.9 million in legal fees in the defense of his misguided voter ID law that prevented more than 35,000 eligible voters from participating in elections. With no proof of widespread voter fraud, Kobach lost the five-year legal battle, with Kansas taxpayers picking up the tab.
The office of attorney general should be about enforcing the law, consumer protection, and criminal prosecution. That’s Mann’s bailiwick.
