Kansans voters will have a lot to decide in Nov. 5 elections, from the presidency to the balance of power in the state Legislature, but the results will also serve as a report card for state political party leadership.
Those are the officials who work to recruit and campaign for their party’s candidates in races up and down the ballot. They're also critical for fundraising.
Some disagreements over the Kansas Republican Party’s direction under Chair Mike Brown, a former Johnson County commissioner, raise questions about the unity of the party during a pivotal election cycle.
Several divisive events have taken place since Brown took over as chair of the Republican Party in Feb. 2023. Early on, the party rules committee unsuccessfully moved to make changes to the party’s leadership structure, a decision Brown said he was not involved in.
A Johnson County Republican Party fundraiser earlier this year featured a booth where participants paid to attack an effigy of Democratic Pres. Joe Biden. Brown said he did not plan the event or know about the booth ahead of time.
He’s also recently made headlines for weekly newsletters featuring fiery language and the theory that a shadowy organization called the “Deep State” controls parts of the government from behind the scenes.
Before the 2024 elections are over, Brown already has a challenger for his seat, which party officials will vote on early next year. Danedri Herbert, a longtime ally and spokesperson for Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, is putting herself forward to be the party’s next top official.
Brown’s predecessor, Overland Park attorney Mike Kuckelman, said he supports Herbert because in his view, the party has been disorganized under Brown.
“One of the critical functions of the state party historically has been to work on ‘get out the vote,’ and those efforts frankly aren't happening like they should be,” Kuckelman said.
Brown has been busy advertising a bus tour around Kansas to help encourage voting at more than a dozen stops across the state. But Kuckelman said the proposed Oct. 29 start time is too late as advance voting will have already begun on Oct. 16.
Kuckelman also criticized the language Brown uses in his weekly newsletters.
“The Friday File” features headlines such as “21,000,0000 Illegals in USA / Kamala Harris Fully Responsible,” “Shady Sharice (Davids)" and “Dismantling the Deep State,” referencing the idea that government officials are manipulating policy without the knowledge or accountability of the voting public.
Brown has advocated for dismantling or overhauling major government agencies like the Department of Transportation, the FBI, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Education.
“His rhetoric is so strong,” Kuckelman said. “He just says things in awkwardly outlandish ways at times.”
In an interview, Brown said his views are in line with the majority of Republican voters in Kansas.
“The federal government is excessively bloated, massively inefficient and shockingly unresponsive,” Brown said.
Though he acknowledged some of his proposals would take time and be difficult to implement, for Brown it’s all part of his brand of bold conservative leadership.
“That's what I'm offering: big ideas, big swings at big problems,” he said.
Brown said the party should judge him based on his campaigning and fundraising record. Republicans won huge majorities in 2023 municipal elections.
As for fundraising, Federal Election Commission filings show the Kansas Republican party raised close to $1.3 million in the periods corresponding to Brown’s chairmanship. That’s about $200,000 less than at the same time for the previous chair, though that could be because there aren’t any major statewide elections in Kansas this year.
Herbert, who’s running to be chair next year, said her fundamental goals and views are aligned with the current leader’s.
“I actually agree with Mike Brown on a whole lot of things,” she said. “The major difference between he and I is more style and approach.”
Herbert said she would provide more centralized leadership to help direct party activity in individual counties and districts. And while she shies away from “Deep State” rhetoric, she agrees with the idea that federal agencies spend too much money and exert too much power.
Unlike Brown, however, Herbert said she does not believe the 2020 Presidential election was stolen or that Kansas elections aren’t secure. And as a former newspaper columnist, she doesn’t go as far as he does in his critiques of the media.
With statewide and federal races for governor, attorney general and Congress on the horizon in 2026, Herbert said it will be important to have someone who puts party unity over persona.
“If I’m elected chair, it will not be the Danedri Herbert show,” she said. “I want the focus to be on our candidates and our policies because I think they're better for Kansas and better for Americans.”
Zane Irwin reports on politics, campaigns and elections for the Kansas News Service. You can email him at zaneirwin@kcur.org.
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