In Red Kansas, GOP Governor Appears Vulnerable

By JOHN HANNA AP Political Writer
Despite accomplishing much of his agenda — or perhaps, because of it — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has run into a wave of negative repercussions that have roiled his prospects for re-election and ignited Democratic hopes in this deeply red state.
Elected three years ago as a leading conservative voice for making state government more business-friendly, Brownback has rolled over his opponents in Kansas to pass tax and spending cuts that seemed to pave a smooth path to a second term.
But recent developments have left his office on the defensive, illustrating the difficulties of putting some of his fiscal ideas into effect.
The state’s bond rating recently was downgraded over concerns the state would have to burn through its rainy day funds to make up for revenues lost to his tax cuts. Angry teachers have staged demonstrations at his public appearances and charged that his fiscal experiment will short schools and lead to crowded classrooms.
And the FBI has launched an inquiry into whether members of Brownback’s inner political circle tried to pressure companies to hire certain lobbyists close to Brownback’s administration.
Even Brownback’s admirers acknowledge that his aggressive agenda has complicated his future.
“Brownback has become a real reformer in the constellation of Republican governors,” said Phil Musser, former executive director of the Republican Governors Association. “That, of course, has political costs.”
Suddenly, Democratic groups that ignored Kansas in 2010, when Brownback won election by 30 points after giving up his U.S. Senate seat to run, are showing interest. A national party organization is training four field operatives to help Democratic candidates in the state and the Democratic Governors Association sent out a fundraising email touting Brownback’s leading opponent, Democratic state Rep. Paul Davis.
Recent polls have shown the race to be close, but Republicans enjoy a nearly 20-percentage advantage in registered voters, and Brownback predicts more will move his way later.
“You’re going to be in through late summer before they really pay attention to the race,” he said.
But Davis said he’s encouraged. “For a state that is very concerned about public education and values that, this is a lot of angst and a lot of concern about the direction we’re going,” Davis said.
Brownback, who grew up on a farm and was state agriculture secretary before being elected to the Senate, envisions using low taxes and other incentives to attract more businesses to replace the jobs being lost to declining agricultural and manufacturing employment. Job growth for the previous decade had been stagnant.
But his aggressive schedule for cutting tax rates has reduced revenue faster than economic growth can replace it. With the owners of 191,000 businesses exempted from paying anything at all and the top rate cut by 40 percent by 2018, tax collections are running 9 percent behind the previous year, with some estimates projecting the budget going into the red by mid-2017.
School officials and moderate Republican lawmakers are worried about the impact on education, which draws more than half the state’s revenues.
 
Read the full article: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/red-kansas-gop-governor-appears-vulnerable-23820464