DGA Statement on the Resolution of the Kansas Republican Primary

Tonight, Democratic Governors Association Executive Director Elisabeth Pearson released the following statement on the resolution of the Republican primary in Kansas: 
“Kris Kobach is Sam Brownback on steroids,” said Pearson. “Kansans aren’t going to get a change from a candidate who praised Sam Brownback as a ‘transformative governor.’ Not only would Kobach reinstate the disastrous Brownback tax plan, he wants to go even further by slashing education funding. The last thing Kansas’ schools, roads, and economy need is the policies of Sam Brownback and Kris Kobach. 
“As Secretary of State, Kris Kobach proved he only cares about himself. He wasted thousands of taxpayer dollars on frivolous lawsuits. He chased the national spotlight while Kansas taxpayers paid the bill. He wasn’t looking out for Kansans as Secretary of State, and he’ll abandon them again as governor.”
Background:
Kobach Called Brownback a “Transformative Governor.” According to the Kansas City Star, “Secretary of State Kris Kobach praised Brownback, whom some have called the most conservative chief executive in Kansas history, as a ‘transformative governor’ who ‘has a lot of momentum going into his second year.’” [Kansas City Star, 2/4/12]
Kobach: “We Made A Huge Step With The Governor’s Tax Cut That Took Us Down To 4 Percent On Income Tax.” According to the Wichita Eagle, “Kobach said the state has gone ‘two steps forward and one step back’ in the past 10 years when it comes to taxes. ‘We made a huge step with the governor’s tax cut that took us down to 4 percent on income tax,’ he said. ‘Then this past cycle, sales taxes went up, I think, in a disturbingly high fashion.’ He said the state “must continue the march to zero on income taxes if we’re going to have this high sales tax.’ ‘It’s a long road ahead on that march,’ he said.” [Wichita Eagle, 8/8/15]
2015: Kobach Said that New Businesses Forming was Indication that 2012 Tax Cuts for Businesses was Successful. According to the Associated Press, “Kobach said at a news conference Tuesday that 15,780 new businesses were formed – 311 more than in 2013. Kobach says this indicates that a 2012 move to exempt 191,000 business owners from income taxes had succeeded in attracting investment. However, he did not say how many of the new businesses were of the specific designation that received the 2012 tax cuts. Critics of the current administration have said that some business owners are closing existing businesses and re-registering them with new designations for tax reasons and therefore the numbers do not indicate growth.” [Associated Press, 2/18/15] 
Wichita Eagle Editorial Headline: “Kris Kobach Has it Wrong On Education.” [Wichita EagleEditorial, 5/15/18]
Wichita Eagle Editorial: “Kris Kobach Thinks Fewer Dollars Should Be Spent on Public Education in Kansas.” According to a Wichita Eagle editorial, “Kris Kobach thinks fewer dollars should be spent on public education in Kansas. What’s more, he thinks some of that smaller amount should sometimes be spent at private schools. That’s not the way it should work. But if he’s elected governor, it may be.” [Wichita Eagle Editorial, 5/15/18]
Kobach Opposed Education Funding Increases. According to the Kansas City Star, “Both Selzer and Kobach panned the Legislature’s school finance bill.{…} Kobach said the spending increase would inevitably lead to a tax increase despite Colyer’s promises and complained that state taxes are already too high after lawmakers repealed Brownback’s tax cuts last year. ‘Purple, pot-smoking Colorado has a better tax environment than Kansas does,’ Kobach said. He contended that some school districts have been overfunded, enabling them to construct ‘Taj Mahal-like’ buildings and offer administrators inflated salaries. Kobach said he went to school in a “shabby building” as a student at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka. ‘My English classes were in a double-wide trailer… and somehow I managed to graduate and I got into Harvard and I did just fine,” Kobach said. “I didn’t need a supercomputer in every classroom.’” [Kansas City Star, 4/15/18]
Kobach Opposed More Than $500 Million Education Funding Increase. According to the Topeka Capital Journal, “Kobach said the state’s high court was incorrect in ruling the latest plan to fund public schools needs to be adjusted for inflation, which will add $300-400 million to the cost. As signed by Colyer, the plan already calls for a boost of $522 million over five years. ‘Look, this game is never going to end,’ Kobach said. ‘The Kansas Supreme Court has got to get out of the business of trying to tell legislators how much money to spend on schools.’” [Topeka Capital Journal, 7/10/18]