Laura Kelly deserves Democrats’ support in Aug. 7 primary

In her 13 years in the Legislature, Democrat Sen. Laura Kelly has never wavered in efforts to make Kansas a better place to live in terms of safety, economic stimulus, and education.

Just last year, it was Sen. Kelly who called out the systemic abuses within the state’s Department of Children and Family Services, demanding better transparency and accountability.

It’s been Sen. Kelly who has voted yes for the expansion of Medicaid.

It’s been Sen. Kelly who has voted to fund state education.

It’s been Sen. Kelly who has voted to return Kansas to sound financial footing by rescinding Gov. Sam Brownback’s disastrous tax cuts.

It’s been Sen. Kelly who has supported women’s rights.

And what does her primary opponent, Josh Svaty, a former state representative and ag secretary, have to say about Ms. Kelly’s accomplishments?

All commendable, but “it’s not the plan, but the messenger,” that voters should consider.

Yes, at age 38 Svaty is young, dark and handsome, compared to Ms. Kelly’s graying 68, but his comment reeks of entitlement.

And frankly, that’s been the problem with American politics of late. We give too much priority to the messenger, and not what he has in mind.

SO PLEASE, give voters some credit.

It’s been Kelly, not Svaty — away from state government for now seven years — that’s been the one in the trenches fighting these battles. And it’s because her logic is sound that moderate Republicans have joined her efforts to bring Kansas back from the brink of insolvency.

This spring, Kansas’s bond rating was upgraded to a respectable “stable” from a shaky “negative” because of the turn-back on tax cuts. It was in 2012, that conservative Republicans held the day, lowering the top income tax bracket from 6.45 percent to 4.9 percent in addition to eliminating the tax on more than 300,000 pass-through businesses.

That “shot of adrenaline,” promised by then Gov. Sam Brownback, was poison to the state economy.

The result? Two downgrades to Kansas’s bond ratings, a loss of almost $900 million, and significant cuts to Medicaid, education, court funding, and infrastructure.