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New but not at all surprising, Americans for Prosperity-Kansas gave Sen. Tim Huelskamp's record this past session in the Senate as 100% perfect. Huelskamp was one of only seven Senators to receive a perfect score from AFP. Until the Kansas Taxpayers Network merged with AFP-Kansas, Huelskamp also had the highest lifetime rating of any sitting State Senator as well.
Clearly when it comes to advocating for the taxpayer, Sen. Huelskamp has the record to back up the rhetoric.
"It's always an honor to be recognized by AFP as one of the conservative leaders in the state senate," Huelskamp said. "As a state senator, I have always been willing to take up the cause of fighting for lower taxes and limited government, and that is something I will continue as Congressman for the Big First."
Jim Barnett didn't even come close to scoring 100% in the key limited government test. As of 2007, Barnett had a lifetime taxpayer rating of 44.7% from the Kansas Taxpayer's Network. That's lower than Democrat David Haley.
Barnett's voting record and thus his numbers, have improved as his aspirations for higher office has been made more clear."Conservatives would be hard-pressed to find a stronger and more consistent voice in the Kansas Senate than Sen. Tim Huelskamp," Derrick Sontag, the state director for AFP-Kansas, said. "We want to thank Tim for his hard work on behalf of limited government, lower taxes and less wasteful spending."
Congratulations Senator! It's certainly no surprise to anyone familiar with Kansas politics, but we thank you for your efforts just the same.
A Happy Anniversary is due to Rob Wasinger today.
November 4, 2008 was the first day Rob Wasinger voted in the first district of Kansas! If Rob had been just a little bit quicker coming back to Kansas to run for office, he could have voted in the Republican primary as well. So next year will not only be Rob's first time voting in a Kansas Republican primary, but it'll be his first time on the ballot too!
During Rob's first year, he's managed to go two full reporting cycles without a single itemized contribution from the first district, the area he wants to represent in Congress. Since then, Wasinger has only been able to gain 33 contributors. That's in comparison to 209 for Tim Huelskamp. This of course is all the more puzzling since the Wasinger for Congress campaign continues to send out emails claiming over 100 first district supporters. Are these supporters in name only?
Either way, congratulations to Rob Wasinger for making it one full year of voting in Kansas. I'm sure lifelong voters in Kansas will look favorably on the only voting record you have!
Last week's Hutchinson News article nicely defined where the first district race is to this point with first, second and third tier candidates. Now, I don't believe a campaign can be judged solely on fundraising as there are a lot of factors that play into a successful campaign. (And you know I really mean that since my guy is pretty much mopping the floor in that area.) But I do think in an off election year (yes, this is an off election year, despite what you've heard in the news), fundraising is the only tangible measurement of a candidates potential success.
As the Hutch News article points out, the race is quickly becoming a two man battle between moderate backed Jim Barnett and conservative Tim Huelskamp. This shouldn't be much of a surprise to anyone since they are the only two in the race with a voting record to back up their rhetoric (or lack thereof in Barnett's case), and the local connections needed to compete. What has been surprising is the failure of the second and third tier candidates.
Tracey Mann looked somewhat promising as a new moderate contender. This is looking less and less likely with Jim Barnett in the picture, backed by Morris, Vratil and Schmidt. I think originally Tim Barker was the mods guy, but with him out and Barnett in, there just isn't much room for Mann campaign. It also appears this past quarter that his fundraising is beginning to suffer after tapping out his family connections. Further, I'm sure endorsing Jim Slattery over Pat Roberts will certainly be noted by the Barnett campaign if the situation should warrant it.
Rob Wasinger continues to sputter in first district support. After two consecutive quarterly reports without a single itemized contribution from the first district, (a stretch that has to be unprecedented, although I know of no way to verify this), his October finance report showed he actually took in less in first district and Kansas contributions than last quarter. Only 5.9% of his total contributions have come from the district he wants to represent.
As What's Right With Kansas pointed out, Dennis Moore seems to be having local support problems, relying heavily on D.C. PAC contributions and receiving less and less individual contributions from everyday Kansans. Wasinger doesn't seem able to shake this problem either. I wholeheartedly agree with RWKS that voters seem to be following the DC insider money and voting with their pocketbook. And of course, a $2,500 contribution from John McCain's PAC certainly doesn't help the conservative cred, so it looks as though this will keep the first district in a two man race.
Huelskamp continues to build support. Most notable to is the endorsement by Club for Growth, one of the nation's premiere fiscal conservative organizations. Interestingly, Club for Growth has been a major force in New York's 23rd congressional district's special election, supporting the Conservative Party's nominee over the liberal GOP nominee. More on the similarities between NY-23 and KS-01 later.
Now, there's certainly still time for another candidate to get into the race, although by this time any Republican who announces is just looking for a meal ticket. With the mod squad behind Barnett, I'm sure the other mods in the race will be spoken with and quietly asked to exit stage left. There will be more than two names on the ballot come August, but for all intensive purposes, this has become a two man race.
