Yes, a Democrat runs Kansas state government. Tax cut mess shows GOP still hasn’t gotten over it.

Gov. Laura Kelly takes in the sights of downtown Emporia businesses with Kaila Mock on April 25, 2025. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

I can’t forget that the first response that Kansas Republican leaders had to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s election back in 2018 was to deny that she had any sort of mandate.

“It’s the legislative elections that are the more indicative of what is going on in the state,” current Senate President Ty Masterson told Associated Press reporter John Hanna back then.

Masterson’s take on Kelly’s election: “A tragic collision of timing.”

These leaders have never given Kelly the credit she deserves as the duly elected governor of a state of 3 million people, much less as a canny stateswoman. As such, they have repeatedly stepped on political rakes, with each bang to the forehead somehow making them less aware that Kelly not only remains governor but polls as one of the 10 most popular in the United States.

The Kelly files

• Gov. Laura Kelly radiates rock star charisma. Our sluggish Legislature can’t keep up.

• Kansas governor’s tax proposal throws a bipartisan wrench into GOP leaders’ ambitions

• Kansas governor cooked renegade rep’s goose. Like it or not, that’s how politics work.

• Kelly delivers dazzling show of bipartisanship — however unlikely — at State of the State

• Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly flaunts pragmatism, fortifying reelection plans

This applies now that Kelly appears all but certain to call a special session of the Kansas Legislature to take yet another run at passing a tax bill that 1.) doesn’t leave the state in the red and 2.) doesn’t benefit the wealthiest Kansans at the expense of everyone else.

The Legislature has considered several plans, but none of them has met Kelly’s standards. At least not yet.

In the meantime, Republican leaders have all but begged the governor to sign their latest proposal, whipped up on the last day of the veto session. Their candidates need to head out on the road and raise money for the primary election in August, after all. Some Democrats have joined the chorus, likely seeing Senate Bill 37 as the best deal they’re likely to get.

Kelly has stood firm. And she has clear reasons for doing so, given that 499,849 Kansans voted for her in 2022, compared with the minuscule numbers that cast ballots for any individual legislator.  She communicated her tax plan parameters early, unveiling a bipartisan proposal back in January with the support of Republican Sens. Rob Olson, John Doll and Dennis Pyle. What’s more, Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins showed no willingness this session to address her top legislative priority: Medicaid expansion.

The governor can now make her political opponents pay for their intransigence. So she will.

We should distinguish Kelly’s approach from that of legislative leaders. I wrote a column three weeks ago about their threats and bullying behavior toward colleagues, an approach best characterized as all stick and no carrot. Hawkins and Masterson have shown themselves more than willing to bring down the hammer at the slightest provocation. Kelly kept her powder dry throughout the session while warning that she would call a special session if needed.

“I have made it very clear from the get-go that I will veto any bill that came to me that would put Kansas in financial jeopardy. The bill the Legislature passed would do exactly that,” Kelly told KCUR last week. “There is absolutely no way that I would sign it. I’ll call the Legislature back into a special session to pass a good tax cut bill.”

Leaders have no one to blame but themselves.

They still can’t believe a Democrat runs the executive branch. They still can’t believe they have to deal with someone from the opposition party. They still can’t believe the reality that has stared them in the face for the past six years.

In 2018 and 2022, Kelly outfoxed and outfought two of Republicans’ heaviest heavyweights. She clearly doesn’t fear Hawkins or Masterson.

I’m not as nice a person as Kelly. I can be both grumpy and petty. If I had endured a session like the 2024 one, I just might call the Legislature into special session for every day of 2024 until Election Day, making it impossible for House or Senate members to raise money or campaign. The governor has authority under the state constitution to do so. Can you imagine the consternation and gnashing of teeth that would result?

The governor won’t do so, of course. Her ever-growing popularity stems from an avoidance of hard-edged partisan politics and assiduous embrace of moderate policy. I wouldn’t expect her to change course now.

No, the special session will likely unfold as follows. Senators and representatives will confer with the governor’s office, creating a plan ever so slightly more to her taste. They will return to Topeka some day in late May or early June and pass the compromise quickly, possibly in less than a day. Kelly will sign the bill, everyone will claim a win, and life will continue across the 105 counties of Kansas.

Who knows, however. Legislative leaders have never liked or accepted or comprehended Kelly. They may try to jam her again with a plan making Charles Koch richer and sending us into another version of former Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax “experiment.”

If they do, I sure wouldn’t bet on the governor backing down.

Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

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