By Clay Wirestone | opinion editor
Good morning! I was walloped by a spring cold last afternoon, so I’m not nearly as bouncy this Tuesday as I might be otherwise. Ah, well. Time heals all wounds — or is that time wounds all heels? Let’s just move straightaway into the newsletter.
Anna Kaminski / Kansas Reflector
OPINION
Beware false hope: Democrats face uphill race against Roger Marshall, no matter their candidate
By Clay Wirestone
Democrats have put the U.S. Senate race in play!
Johnson County pastor Adam Hamilton throwing his hat in the ring to run against Sen. Roger Marshall transforms the political landscape! Democrats finally have a shot at a marquee race! Just look at all the money he raised!
… that’s what people have been saying, at least, over the past few days. I need my Democratic friends to take a gigantic deep breath and return to the real world, if only for the length of this column. The U.S. Senate race in Kansas will be interesting this year, and many qualified Democrats are running for their party’s nomination.
But whomever the party selects — Hamilton or Christy Davis or Erik Murray or Patrick Schmidt or one of the six others running — he or she will be an underdog. Kansans haven’t sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1933. Marshall’s unflinching allegiance to Trump all but guarantees support from the president and his teetering Make America Great Again movement.
Could a Democrat win? Sure. In some world, with some lucky combination of factors. I’m just not convinced we’re living in that world.
Tim Carpenter / Kansas Reflector
Democratic state senator in Kansas eager to break through pack in crowded U.S. Senate race
TOPEKA — State Sen. Patrick Schmidt believes he can separate from a large field of Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate and overcome nearly a century of one-party dominance by Republicans by campaigning against deep-pocketed special interests thwarting reasonable reform.
Sherman Smith / Kansas Reflector
Gov. Laura Kelly issues pardon in 1993 Lyon County aggravated battery case
TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly granted a pardon to a man convicted of aggravated battery more than three decades ago in Lyon County and sentenced to serve 32 months in prison.
Democrat running for U.S. Senate receives $1 million in donations in campaign’s first week
TOPEKA — Kansas Democratic candidate Adam Hamilton has raised more than $1 million since launching a campaign for U.S. Senate, his campaign said Monday.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids denounces federal court’s decision on access to abortion drug
TOPEKA — U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas urged the public to contact lawmakers to express opposition to a federal appeals court’s order undercutting a U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation broadening access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
US Supreme Court issues temporary stay preserving nationwide abortion drug access
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary stay on an appeals court ruling from Friday that was blocking remote access to an abortion drug, restoring access until at least May 11.
Gas prices jump again as Trump turns to new plan for Strait of Hormuz
WASHINGTON — Americans saw prices at the pump sharply rise in recent days as the nationwide average cost for a gallon of regular gas shot up 38 cents over the past week, according to GasBuddy.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Kansas Reflector staff will participate in the following free public forums.
7 p.m. May 11, Books & Brews, Riverbank Brewing in Council Grove. Hosts: Flint Hills Books and Riverbank Brewing.
6:30 p.m. June 12, Kansas Museum of History in Topeka. Opinion editor Clay Wirestone will join a panel discussion: "From the Desk of William Allen White: What Can Journalism Today Learn from the Sage of Emporia?"
7 p.m. June 27, Park City Senior Center. Host: Park City Community Pride.
2 p.m. Sept. 27, Red Rocks Visitor Center in Emporia. Host: Red Rocks.
If you're interested in having us talk in your town, email Sherman Smith at [email protected].
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