November 11, 2025
First, it is Veterans Day and I want to acknowledge the sacrifice that our veterans have made protecting our freedoms. Too bad so few take seriously protecting our freedoms at the ballot box with fewer than 25% voting in Johnson County last Tuesday.
So, yes, it has been a week today that the Republicans took a shellacking at the polls in Johnson County. Not one of the conservatives made it through the election, that I am aware of.
Jim McMullen, incumbent and only conservative on the Blue Valley (emphasis on BLUE) School Board lost. Incumbent Marg Vogt lost her seat on the Olathe City Council. Mark Hamill, incumbent and the only conservative on the Johnson County Community College Board of Trustees, LOST!! Even Bob Reece, incumbent and conservative on the Johnson County Water One Board, LOST!! All of the challengers in Prairie Village, LOST!! Conservative Nancy Moneymaker running for De Soto School Board, LOST!! In short, it was a bloodbath of bad news for Republicans.
So, how did this happen? Well since 1907 in Kansas school board and city council elections along with water boards and counties (which choose) are non-partisan.
Isn’t that most nonsensical two words to connect, non-partisan?
There are politics in every household, at every kitchen table from who’s cooking to who’s cleaning, what’s for dinner and then, oh yes, the family budget.
Every human endeavor has a political element in it!!! Why in the world does Kansas have non-partisan municipal elections?
Because of the backlash against Tammy Hall, big city crooked politicians. That was over 100 years ago! Time to reassess.
What has happened over the years is small towns have grown into big cities. As an example, in 1907 the population in Johnson County was approximately 17,000. It is now approximately 630,000.
No longer are we a small community where everyone knows everyone’s politics. Back then, if you were a Republican, you would vote for your Republican friends and if you were a Democrat vice a versa.
However, today many Republicans won’t vote in these off-year non-partisan elections for fear of voting for the wrong person. That is one of the reasons turnout is abysmally low, less than 25%.
So, what to do? Well, we do have a Republican supermajority in our Kansas Legislature, so get on your phones, call your state representatives and state senators and demand that off-year elections be changed to partisan elections, simply for transparency.
Obviously, the Democrats would cry foul and beat their chests saying we Republicans want to politicize potholes!!! All a bunch of hooey…the non-partisan scam is working beautifully for the Democrats, turning Johnson County (more than 20% of Kansas’ population) blue, blue, blue.
Add to the Democrats’ bag of tricks: the Soros like dark money coming into Kansas via PACs such as Amberwave. This PAC was formed by uber leftist, Mike Kelly, Chairman of the Johnson County Commission…elected in a non-partisan election. In this YouTube video he brags about funding from the European Union and the Global Covenant of Mayors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuohvg6s8fs
Then we have the problem that the Republican Party is riddled with RINOs. How do we to weed out RINOs? How about demanding that our Republican Party ask candidates to sign a party platform loyalty pledge?
Republican Party leadership asked the gubernatorial candidates to sign a party nominee loyalty pledge, (which I signed with a stipulation-the only candidate to do so-that the nominee must be pro-life and pro 2nd Amendment) but not a party platform loyalty pledge. WOW!!
Partisan elections are a MUST to increase transparency and voter turnout in off year elections. Fat chance our Kansas Republican House will show the courage to do the RIGHT thing and make all elections in Kansas partisan. But we can lobby and hope. AND you can elect me as governor!! When elected, I will use the bully pulpit to steer and lead, push and pull the Republican Party RIGHT where it should be, CONSERVATIVE.
Paid for by O’Hara for Kansas. Lisa Huesers, Treasurer