Topeka couple leading God's Storehouse wants to be a political pair in Kansas Statehouse

The husband-and-wife duo best known in the Topeka area for running God's Storehouse plan to run for the Kansas Legislature in the 2024 elections.

Sen. Rick Kloos, R-Berryton, will run for reelection in a contested race, while Pennie Boyer-Kloos will seek a seat in the House, potentially challenging an incumbent Democrat.

"Senate incumbent Rick Kloos, District 3, and Pennie Boyer-Kloos, candidate for Kansas House District 56, are eager to unveil the official announcements of their respective campaigns at a private kick-off event scheduled next week," said Megan Stookey, a spokesperson for both campaigns. "During this event they will each tackle the pressing issues and outline their vision for the future.

"In addition, Senator Kloos plans to address unfounded claims made to the IRS by the Freedom From Religion Foundation against the Storehouse Church."

Husband-and-wife duo runs for Kansas Legislature

Rick Kloos currently represents Senate District 19, but he will run in Senate District 3 due to redistricting. Topeka Democrat Dena Sattler is also running for that seat. District 3 covers portions of southeast Topeka and southeast Shawnee County, plus parts of Douglas and Franklin counties and all of Osage County.

Kloos holds leadership roles in the Senate as majority whip and vice chair of the influential Federal and State Affairs Committee, as well as vice chair of the Transportation Committee. He also serves on the information technology, security, utilities, interstate cooperation and financial institutions and insurance committees, as well as interim committees.

Rick Kloos's last campaign finance report, filed in January, shows he had a little over $20,000 cash on hand at the close of 2022.

Pennie Boyer-Kloos will run for House District 56. Rep. Virgil Weigel, D-Topeka, holds that seat. He ran unopposed in 2022 but has not apparently filed paperwork, at least not yet, to run again in 2024.

District 56 covers portions of south and southeast Topeka, plus some rural parts of Shawnee County.

As of Thursday, the Kansas Secretary of State's Office's candidate list did not show either of the Klooses having filed for those races, but both have appointment of treasurer forms on file with the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission and a campaign poster for the kickoff event.

IRS is investigating Klooses and God's Storehouse

The campaigns by the Klooses come as God's Storehouse remains embroiled in a court battle with the Internal Revenue Service. Rick Kloos is pastor of God's Storehouse, and he and his wife appear in TV ads touting God's Storehouse as "Topeka's better way to thrift."

Information on the IRS probe has been made public through court records as God's Storehouse challenges IRS efforts to obtain bank records. A federal judge in Kansas ruled against God's Storehouse, which has appealed. Kloos's attorney got a filing deadline pushed back to Nov. 15, after which the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to rule.

The IRS is probing God's Storehouse status as a church, or whether it is primarily a thrift store; whether taxes were paid from its coffee shop, Judee's; whether the church engaged in prohibited political campaign activity; and whether it failed to withhold employment taxes on wages paid to Rick Kloos and Pennie Boyer-Kloos, despite withholding taxes from other employees.

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: Topeka couple leading God's Storehouse runs for Kansas Legislature