by Sam Zeff, Kansas News Service
It may not be a blue wave, but two more Johnson County Republicans legislators have decamped for the Democratic Party.
In quick succession Tuesday morning, Republican moderates state Sen. Dinah Sykes and state Rep. Stephanie Clayton announced they are changing parties. They followed the path of a moderate Republican state Sen. Barbara Bollier, who earlier this month became a Democrat.
Clayton said she hoped the hard right turn of the GOP was going to be a “blip” and would blow over.
“(But) I’ve been in this a long time and things are not blowing over,” she told KCUR. “Things have not changed. They appear to be getting worse.”
Both Clayton and Sykes represent politically moderate districts. Sykes said, “I can choose to try and change the Republican Party or I can choose to represent my district.”
Sykes said she made the jump because of “how deep the right wing has gotten into the Republican Party.”
There were tipping points for both lawmakers in the past week, the two lawmakers said. For Sykes, it was Republicans picking conservative Eric Rucker to replace state Sen. Vicki Schmidt in Topeka. Rucker is assistant secretary of state appointed by Kris Kobach, the conservative who lost his race for governor to Democrat Laura Kelly. He also worked for Phill Kline when Kline was Kansas attorney general.
Schmidt was elected insurance commissioner in January.
Clayton says she decided to end her lifelong membership in the GOP when house leadership suggested it might rework a school funding bill passed last year.
“This is just counter-intuitive to what I think is best for my district,” Clayton told KCUR.
She also said party leadership appears to, once again, be spoiling for a fight with the state supreme court over school funding. Some in the party have renewed talk about pressing for a constitutional amendment that would free legislators from hitting any particular mark on state aid to local school districts.
“I did think that was behind us,” she said. “I want us to move on and build a stable Kansas so that Kansas can really, truly prosper. I’m looking forward I’m not looking back.”
Senate President Susan Wagle, who was very harsh on Bollier when she crossed over to the Democrats earlier this month, was less so with Sykes. Bollier had endorsed Democrats in the November election.
“While I am disappointed that Senator Sykes will be joining the party of higher taxes and big government,” Wagle tweeted, “she believes this move will allow her to better represent her district.”
There was much talk about state Rep. Diana Dierks, a moderate from Salina, also defecting. But she decided to remain a Republican. “I will not do that to my constituents,” she told KCUR.
Sam Zeff is KCUR’s metro reporter. You can follow Sam on Twitter @samzeff. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.
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