Kansas governor and conservative senator form 'unusual pairing' to GOP's chagrin

After a failed run for governor as a conservative independent and ongoing feuds with his own party's leadership, Republican Sen. Dennis Pyle has an ally in Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

Pyle is heading into a three-way Republican primary for the Senate seat representing rural northeast Kansas he has held since 2005. It comes on the heels of repeated clashes with GOP legislative leaders and Pyle's 2022 gubernatorial campaign that some in the GOP have blamed for Republican nominee Derek Schmidt's loss to Kelly.

With the Aug. 6 primary approaching, Kelly made public appearances in Pyle's district where she praised him and gave him credit for the bipartisan tax cut plan passed by the Legislature in a June special session.

Earlier this month, she held two ceremonial signings of the tax cut bill. Both were in Pyle's district, in Hiawatha and Holton. Kelly told reporters the ceremonies were held in those towns because "clearly this was to recognize Sen. Pyle, who has worked tirelessly to eliminate the state income tax on Social Security."

While the compromise tax cut plan was negotiated by Republican legislative leadership with Kelly, the governor gave credit to Pyle.

"This was really to recognize that this is Sen. Pyle's bill," she said. "This would not have happened if it hadn't been for Sen. Pyle. Because, if you remember, there were several bills that I had to veto, and he stuck with me, sustained those vetoes, until we got a package that really worked, eliminated the Social Security tax and some other things, but also left enough in the coffers for us to be able to pay our bills, fully fund our schools, build our roads and bridges."

Republican legislator gets photo ops with Democratic governor

Pyle, of Hiawatha, is running for reelection in Senate District 1 against two Republican primary challengers, Craig Bowser, of Holton, and current Rep. John Eplee, of Atchison.

Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, questioned whether Pyle's photo ops with the Democratic governor would help him in his Republican primary.

"I guess that's a choice they've made," Masterson told The Capital-Journal. "It's consistent with where he's been the last two or three years, you know, helping her defeat tax cuts. He actually helped her win the election, right? Becomes an independent to run for the office, splits the Republican vote and allows her to come in as governor.

"So he's been helping her for the last three years, so it's consistent with that. I don't know that it helps him in a primary."

Pyle told reporters that he doesn't know whether the alliance will help or hurt him politically.

"That's a good question," he said. "I don't really honestly know. A mailing was put out by an entity in Topeka saying that I was an ally with the governor. Well, I would say on Social Security tax and elimination of that, yeah, we have to be allies. But I think I had a lot of allies on that.

"I think it was passed by a lot of people in the chamber that voted for it. So are they all allies, too? I think we're all allies when we want good policy for Kansas."

More: Kansas politicians take credit for tax cuts but blame others for less property tax relief

Pyle said, "I don't think 'compromise' is a dirty word," and compromising with the governor was necessary to get a tax cut. He blamed GOP leadership for not working with the governor until the special session.

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, referred to Pyle as a "GOP obstructer, who strangely considers himself a conservative." In a newsletter, he described a photo of Kelly and Pyle at one of the ceremonies as a "Pic of Governor Kelly and her sidekick celebrating that you didn't get a bigger tax cut."

"This chaos coordinator consistently stood with the Gov to block other, more significant, tax relief legislation," Hawkins said. "They sure seemed proud of themselves. Go figure."

More: Kansas Democrats allege political retaliation in effort to defund US- 75 highway project

Will Laura Kelly's PAC support Dennis Pyle?

Kelly gave credit for the compromise tax cut plan to Pyle and Sens. John Doll, R-Garden City, and Rob Olson, R-Olathe, who "went to battle to bring these tax cuts to Kansans." Those three Republican senators formed a bloc that sided with Democrats on key tax votes, forcing GOP leadership to negotiate with Kelly.

Of that trio, only Pyle is running for reelection.

Kelly has her Middle of the Road PAC, which she has said she will use to support moderate candidates of both parties while also seeking to break Republican supermajorities in the Legislature. While Pyle is not known for being politically moderate, he has shown a willingness to work with Democrats to frustrate the plans of Republican leadership and fracture the supermajority.

"The Middle of the Road PAC was designed to really break the supermajority extremes in the Kansas House and in the Kansas Senate," she said. "So we will use the funds that we have in that to support the campaigns of moderate candidates who will come into the Legislature and work with me on things that Kansans care about: fully funding schools, including special education, continuing to fund our roads and bridges, continue to expand broadband and continuing to recognize that we need responsible tax policy, we need responsible budget policy."

Kelly didn't say whether her PAC will support Pyle in a three-way GOP primary.

"We have not made any endorsements at this particular point," she said. "That's still a little early yet."

Laura Kelly and Dennis Pyle worked together in Kansas Senate

Kelly opened her speech by praising Pyle.

"I'd like to start off by saying a sincere thank you to Sen. Pyle for sticking up for his constituents," she said. "While Sen. Pyle and I really don't agree on much, we do agree that hard-working Kansans need tax relief."

She described herself and Pyle as "an unusual pairing," but explained that have a history of sometimes working together on legislations. Before she was elected governor in 2018, Kelly served in the Senate, representing a North Topeka district that borders Pyle's.

"While, again, we don't philosophically agree on very much, I have always respected Sen. Pyle's integrity," Kelly said. "He is not a man who waivers from his moral core. He is incredibly principled and really there in the Senate to do what he thinks is right for his constituents, and each and every one of them should be extraordinarily grateful that they have someone like Sen. Pyle."

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and conservative senator are 'unusual pairing'