Democrats confused. President stumps. Mail ads. Ed board. Marion case.

By Sherman Smith | editor-in-chief

TOPEKA — The Kansas Democratic Party stoked confusion and frustration by issuing restrictive guidelines to county party leaders about ethics rules surrounding candidates for federal office, saying county parties couldn’t include the candidates in events or printed materials.

The guidance sent in early June was based on a misunderstanding between Democrats and the state agency that governs ethics violations, the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission, and stems from the Johnson County Democratic Party’s attempt to promote select candidates for U.S. Senate and disregard U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids’ primary challenger, Sarah Preu.

The disclosure commission informed Democrats that state law forbids them from spending money to promote “a single candidate” for federal office, but that it was OK to “provide information for all candidates in a race.” The Kansas Democratic Party then sent a statewide directive that said county parties weren’t allowed to hold forums for federal candidates, print materials that reference them, or spend money on anything that would aid them.

As a result, the party unnecessarily blocked candidates from participating in parades and other events that could have boosted their public awareness in the weeks ahead of the primary. The Johnson County Democratic Party deleted federal candidates from its website and reprinted its voter guide.

TOPEKA — President Donald Trump encouraged Kansans to vote leading up to Tuesday’s primary election while on a phone call Wednesday to boost Kansas GOP gubernatorial candidate Ty Masterson’s profile.

Much of the Republican Party has rallied behind Masterson, who is facing six other Republicans, in an attempt to turn the governor’s office red and maintain supermajority strongholds in the Legislature.

Wednesday’s call was at least the second “tele-rally” Trump has participated in this week. He touted Masterson’s record as a state legislator, denigrated immigrants and praised Kansas values in a roughly five-minute spiel. He called Kansas’ primary an “important” election.

By Eric Thomas

It’s interesting to see how Kansas campaigns try to reach voters when we see each slick cardstock design as junk mail. Our culture’s attention span to media messages gets shorter each year, so the design, imagery and words on political mailers must cut right to the point.

Along with a mixed bag related to candidate elections, my neighbors and I mostly receive mailers related to the amendment that would establish direct elections of Kansas Supreme Court justices. The message here is even simpler than a candidate election, where voters need to remember a name.

Here, as the mailers make clear, it’s just “yes” (establish elections) or “no” (maintain the current process).

What did I see? Blunt messaging and simple images, aimed at catching our reluctant gaze and quickly persuading us.

TOPEKA — While the Democrat running for the Kansas State Board of Education’s northeast district wants the state to fully fund special education, the Republican candidate says the board should investigate spending first.

TOPEKA — The attorneys for former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody have asked the court to withdraw from his criminal case because of a broken relationship between the attorneys and their client.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not planning an aggressive campaign at voting sites during the upcoming midterm elections, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday in response to a States Newsroom inquiry about a letter from U.S. Senate Democrats voicing concerns about armed federal agents at polling places.

WASHINGTON — For the second time in as many weeks, a War Powers Resolution aimed at curbing President Donald Trump’s war with Iran failed to pass the U.S. Senate Thursday.

Thanks for reading Read & Reflect. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.