Four former Kansas governors to tour in support of state justices

Four former governors will travel across Kansas next week to advocate for state Supreme Court justices to be retained come Election Day.

Kansans for Fair Courts sent out an email saying former Republican governors Bill Graves and Mike Hayden will go on a media tour with former Democratic governors Kathleen Sebelius and John Carlin.

The goal is to keep “Kansas courts nonpolitical and nonpartisan,” according to the email.

The bipartisan coalition will start the tour Tuesday at Union Station in Kansas City. The former governors will then travel to Topeka later that day and make a stop in Wichita on Wednesday.

Five Supreme Court justices are up for retention come November. The vote has attracted attention this campaign cycle because of people in Kansas campaigning for or against the justices.

Kansas House Republican leaders sent out an email last week advocating for four of the five justices to be ousted on Nov. 8. The only justice they said should not be removed is Caleb Stegall, who was appointed by Gov. Sam Brownback in 2014.

In the past, Brownback has talked about changing the way the justices are selected and been vocal in his criticism of the court.

This story was originally published September 2, 2016 at 11:35 AM with the headline "Four former Kansas governors to tour in support of state justices."