A Kansas Republican Party statement chastising a controversial Kansas political group for accusing two Kansas Republicans of being linked to the Klu Klux Klan is itself generating some controversy.

The Kansas Traditional Republican Majority issued a press release Aug. 1 claiming Phill Kline, the incumbent Johnson County district attorney, and Jim Ryun, a former U.S. representative, were linked to the KKK because of an association with a political activist at the Family Research Council.

The activist had been accused by a liberal weekly political magazine, The Nation, of purchasing a mailing list from white supremacist David Duke in 1996. The activist and the Family Research Council denied the charge.

The racism charges against Kline and Ryun were made by Rep. Jerry Moran's former press secretary, Ryan Wright. Wright left Moran's office to become executive director of KTRM, an organization that supports liberal Republicans.

“This disgusts me,” said Wright in the Aug. 1 press release. “Kline and Ryun are cut from the same cloth; they owe it to voters to prove that they do not share these racist beliefs. Ryun and Kline must explain their associations with the Family Research Council.”

The statement outraged conservative Republicans, and the official state Republican Party issued a statement condemning the KTRM charges. But the statement wasn't released until Aug. 8, three days after the primary elections were over - and then it was retracted.

The statement had been signed by the chairman of the state Republican party, Kris Kobach, along with U.S. Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback, and Congressmen Todd Tiahrt and Moran. State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins also signed the statement.

Kline lost his re-election bid to a KTRM-supported candidate, Steve Howe, and Jenkins, a pro-choice "moderate," beat the conservative Ryun by fewer than 1400 votes in the Second Congressional District primary. She will face Democratic incumbent Nancy Boyda in November.

No one associated with the statement knew why the state party had failed to respond to the charges before the election - or why the statement had been retracted now.  Jenkins Spokesperson Josh Hersh said he is not certain why there was a gap between the KTRM statement and the Kansas Republican Party press release.

“I can’t really tell you why it came out then. I just know that the party wanted to send something else out and so we signed on to that,” Hersh said. “But as far as timing I don’t have any information on that.”

The statement issued by Wright was criticized almost immediately by Kobach. Moran, Jenkins, Roberts and Brownback all remained silent, however. Wright had first gone to work in Moran's office in 2004.

Moran’s office did not return requests for comments Monday or Tuesday.

KTRM also circulated literature accusing conservative candidates of wanting to arrest parents for seeking medical care for sick children and of being indifferent to the suffering of cancer patients.

The state Senate Leadership PAC and the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce were among those funding KTRM's pre-election activities. The Senate Leadership PAC alone gave KTRM $45,000. Senate President Steve Morris told Kansas Liberty the donation was essential to keep conservative candidates from winning in state Senate races.

The statement issued Friday by the Kansas GOP said, "It is simply unacceptable for any organization that claims to represent the Republican Party to slander fellow Republicans in this way. Falsely accusing someone of being linked to the racism of the KKK is a personal smear that has no place in Republican politics."

The statement also praised the state media for not covering the controversial KTRM campaign and the manner in which it was financed, although the Harris News Service did carry the KTRM allegations Saturday.

Corrie Kangas, vice chair of the Kansas Republican Party, said the Aug. 8 statement was not meant to be read at all. Although it had been widely distributed by email almost immediately and carried no embargo time or date, it was retracted shortly after it was released.

Kangas said the statement had been sent because of a technical error. She said a new statement could be expected from the party sometime in the next few days.

Kangas would not comment on why the party did not attempt to issue a statement on the KTRM accusations until after the primary elections.

Holly Smith
for KansasLiberty.com

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