Voters in Kansas and Missouri will cast votes on Tuesday for state and local races, and the results could rebuke or endorse current policies on both sides of the state line.
KCUR’s “Up to Date” host and Kansas City Star political reporter Steve Kraske broke down Tuesday’s primary.
For Kansas
Brownback on trial?
“I think the philosophical direction of the state of Kansas is very much at stake here. Will voters sort of support Governor Brownback’s very conservative direction, or are they going to say, ‘Hey, timeout. It’s time to move in a different direction and maybe rethink the tax cuts of 2012 which’ve had such a very strong impact on the shape of the state budget going forward,’” said Kraske.
Public school funding
“You could say that the schools and the future blight of public schools in Kansas will be decided to some degree by what happens in these elections,” said Kraske.
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Varied conservatism
“In a state like Kansas where Republicans typically win, the flavor of Republicanism that voters pick [Tuesday] night again will be very informative about the direction of the state for the years to come,” said Kraske.
For Missouri
Nixon’s 8 years
“In Missouri, the big question is who’s going to challenge Kris Koster to be the next governor of Missouri. We’ve had 8 years of Democratic control of that office, the governor’s office. Is it time the voters will tell us to change course and go a more conservative direction in one of the four candidates for governor on the GOP side,” said Kraske.
Tight race to replace him
“You know I haven't seen a race like this in a really long time where we have four candidates for one office who are all four candidates seem to have a very good shot at winning this primary [Tuesday] night. So there’s great drama around the Republican race for governor in Missouri right now,” said Kraske.
LeVota’s seat
“A very important race for the city of Independence right now. The state Senate seat that surrounds that city. Nixon endorsed Rizzo. They haven't had a representative in the state Senate for a while now since Paul LeVota resigned in disgrace,” said Kraske.
State Republican trifecta?
“Will Republicans, will voters in Missouri say, ‘Hey, it’s time to go in a different direction’ and set up a government that’s completely dominated by Republicans, and let them really set their agenda up and really change the state in a very dramatic way in some ways?” asked Kraske.
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Brian Abel can be reached at brian.abel@kshb.com.
