It’s only been in the last 10 years that Kansas politics have gone from being competitive — that is, that a Republican could feel a Democrat breathing down her neck — to today, where the GOP has a lock on most state races.
Kansas is one of the most solidly Republican states in the nation, leaving little to no representation for those of a more liberal bent.
Believe it or not, it’s only been a short 25 years that Democrats once held a majority in the House.
In 1991, there were 63 Democrats to 62 Republicans in the Kansas House and Joan Finney was our Democratic governor.
It didn’t last long, and ever since Kansas Democrats have been falling off a cliff like lemmings.
Today, Democrats hold only eight of the 40 seats in the Senate, and only 28 of 125 in the House.
Coupled with the Republican landslide is the fact that the party has two factions, moderates and conservatives, with the latter holding the majority. Nary a moderate holds any position of considerable power.
The result is a very narrow vision for how Kansas should be governed. And as we have witnessed over the past six years of the Brownback administration, it includes a bloodletting of services and programs.
THAT KANSAS has become so red is not some quirk of fate, nor is it unique.
Ever since the 2008 national election when Barack Obama was elected president, Republicans have worked assiduously to systemically turn the tide against Democrats.
To their credit, they worked hard to field and give substantial financial backing to Republicans in state races where Republicans and Democrats were closely matched.
Once elected, Republican-heavy legislatures could see through the redistricting of congression-al maps so that elections favored their party.
A particularly good example is in North Carolina where a handful of districts represent a disproportionate number of Democrats leaving the majority to Republicans.
North Carolina’s congressional map has districts that snake along mostly metropolitan corridors yielding districts that are heavily Democratic, with the more rural districts favoring Republicans.
