natalie’s blog

Last Friday afternoon Alisa and I made our way to Topeka for the annual Kansas Days gathering of the Kansas Republican Party. It was an eventful weekend, and I thought I’d share some of the highlights here. (You can read about Kansas Days 2006 here.)

We spent Friday afternoon visiting the receptions of various office holders, including Senator Sam Brownback, who has declared his intent to run for President in 2008.

Senator Brownback graciously took time to shake our hands and get a picture with each of us.

Friday evening we attended the KRA banquet with Sandra, Jinny and Geri (taking the picture).

KRA President Helen Van Etten introduces Senator Brownback as the keynote speaker for the evening. Senator Brownback’s address was preceded by a salute to the American flag, prayer and addresses by each of the candidates running for State Party Chair.

After the banquet we visited for a while with Mark Rhodes, newly elected Representative from Harvey County. (Alisa, Jinny, Sandra and Geri are all from Harvey County and did an incredible amount of work to help him get elected.) He shared with us some of the adjustments he has had to make as a legislator, what his schedule is like each day and what the issues are that are being dealt with in the legislature this session.

From there we headed over to the After Hours event sponsored by the Kansas Young Republicans and then made our way to the home of some friends, where we were staying for the night.

Saturday morning we arrived back at the Capitol Plaza Hotel bright and early for the Kansans for Life Prayer Breakfast. Pat Roberts spoke briefly and called Jim and Anne Ryun to the platform, at which point he pulled a pair of running shoes from behind the podium to share with the attendees the message that Jim Ryun is running…to regain his seat in Congress.

Todd Tiahrt spoke for several minutes, reiterating the need to protect all life - from conception to natural death.

Jerry Moran was next to address the attendees. He concluded his remarks with the following statement, “Politics are important. But more important is our relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. We will change the world one soul at a time.”

The keynote speaker was a priest from Wichita. He gave a heartfelt and passionate speech, reminding us that to be pro-life is to be pro-American. He emphasized his point by declaring that we must not kill our own, that it is not reasonable to kill our own. Faith and reason are not divorced from each other. If you are pro-American, then you must be pro-life.

Our next stop of the day was at the Kansas Young Republicans meeting. They discussed a few items of business, heard from candidates running for State Party Chair (Mike Pompeo pictured), and heard from several visiting young people running for national positions with the Young Republican National Federation.

After attending several more receptions, we made our way to the 4th District meeting. We heard from Mike Pompeo, candidate for Kansas Republican Party State Chair. He expressed his appreciation to those in the 4th District for their prayers and support and emphasized his goal of returning the state to the Republicans.

Next we heard from Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh and State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins.

Todd and Vicki Tiahrt spent a few minutes speaking with their constituents and encouraging us to work even harder in order to win in the next election cycle.

Senator Tim Huelskamp, another candidate for Kansas Republican Party State Chair, spent several minutes outlining his reasons for running, the primary one being that “I’m tired of losing!” He reminded us that Republicans have the winning principles. We just need to do a better job of communicating them and getting our message out.

Kris Kobach, the final candidate for Kansas Republican Party State Chair, was the next to visit our meeting. He passed out his “Republican Road Map to Resurgence” with 30 specific ideas he plans to implement if elected.

After lunch and a briefing for all the delegates and alternate delegates, it was time for the much anticipated State Party Committee meeting. Alisa served as a delegate and since I didn’t end up getting seated (I’m an alternate delegate) I sat in the back and observed and took pictures.

Tim Shallenburger, outgoing Party Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:45. Each District reported their numbers - all had 37 delegates plus District Chair and Vice Chair. The Executive Committee reported 21 in attendance. After the minutes from the previous meeting and the financial report were approved, the Republican National Committeeman, Steve Cloud, and Committeewoman, Alicia Salisbury, gave reports from the Republican National Committee Meeting.

The next order of business was to confer the Huck Boyd Volunteer of the Year award upon Bud Hentzen, well-known and well-respected across the state for his contributions of time and money to the party and its candidates.

Finally the moment arrived that everyone was waiting for. While many delegates arrived already having pledged support to a specific candidate, many others were undecided even up until the ballots were cast. The resounding sentiment was that all three candidates would uphold the conservative ideals of the Republican Party and any one of them would do a fine job as the Party Chair. There was a great deal of uncertainty going into the meeting and, although District Chairs had been doing their best to get commitments and vote counts from their delegates, no one could predict what the outcome would be. At this point in the meeting, nominations were made, candidates gave their final speeches, ballots were distributed, and each delegate cast his or her vote. The results were as follows:

Huelskamp: 56
Kobach: 65
Pompeo: 55
Abstaining: 1

Since none of the candidates received a majority vote, Huelskamp and Kobach were retained on the ballot and a second ballot was cast. Kris Kobach won with a 109 vote majority and is the new Kansas Republican Party State Chair. Following his election, the following people were elected to their respective positions by acclimation:

Sharon Meisner - Vice Chair
Bev Caley - Secretary
David Thorne - Treasurer

The following 4 candidates were then elected to fill at-large positions on the Executive Committee:

Keith Esau
Ray LeBouef
Helen Van Etten
Vonda Wiedmer

After the transfer of the gavel took place, Kris Kobach first thanked Tim Shallenburger for his service as Party Chair. Even though he plans to step out of the political arena for a while, Tim declared, “I will continue to be a republican, no matter what.” He received a hearty applause, to which he replied, “That shouldn’t deserve applause, but it does.”

Kobach’s first official act as Party Chair was to appoint the two remaining at-large Executive Committee members. He wasted no words in appointing Tim Huelskamp and Mike Pompeo to fill these positions, declaring as he did, “Let the democrats understand that we are united as we come out of this meeting.”

Next, Kobach announced the formation of five new committees and called for volunteers from across the state to be part of each committee. The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

Faces From the Weekend

Mike and Susan Pompeo shortly after the ballots have been cast and Mike is out of the running for the Chair position.

Kris Kobach looks on as he prepares to take over his new position as Kansas Republican Party State Chair.

Alisa and Mary wait expectantly as the ballots are counted.

Mike and Brenda discuss the recently concluded proceedings.

Earl Glynn, owner of The Kansas Meadowlark and regular blogger at the Salina Journal, takes a moment to visit with several others following the meeting.

Tamara looks on as the meeting comes to a close.

Susan, Kelly, Kim and Tamara ponder and discuss the proceedings.

Alisa and Susan Estes, outgoing State Party Vice-Chair, traverse the hallway back to the main part of the hotel.

Vicki Tiahrt requests a meeting with all 4th District members to discuss the election, what went wrong (the Tiahrt’s were supporting Mike Pompeo for Party Chair), and what direction the district should head at this point. Many offer thoughts and words of encouragement to the Pompeos, along with exhortation to stay involved and for Mike to accept the appointment to the Executive Committee and continue to represent the 4th District in that way. Although the disappointment for many is acute, there is hope that all will pull together and work in partnership with the other Districts and the State Committee to implement new plans and ideas that will promote conservative values in Kansas.

One of the biggest events of the weekend was the Kansas Day Club Gala Banquet. It was a formal event and Alisa and I had fun dressing up for the occasion!

The banquet theme was “A Tribute to Kansas” and Senator Pat Roberts, a fourth generation Kansan, was the keynote speaker.

We concluded the evening by attending a reception hosted by Senator Pat Roberts and his wife, Franki. We enjoyed visiting with friends for a couple of hours before calling it a night.

I realize more and more that politics is a world of its own. And, as I told Alisa last week, it finally hit me that there is a huge difference between politics and party politics. Some will know what I mean. Our political system has drifted so far from what our Founding Fathers originally intended. I have great respect for those who spend their time and energy doing the best they can in the system we now have to bring about reformation and the advancement of Biblical principles. Indeed, as Christians, we cannot condemn politics as a whole and remove ourselves and our influence from its sphere. Instead we must seek to infuse it, not merely with conservative or republican principles, which are wont to change with the passing of time or the presence of new leadership, but with the Biblical principles found in the Word of God. For His “word is true from the beginning: and every one of [his] righteous judgments endureth for ever.” Psalm 119:160

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