Kansas House rejects taxpayer-funded presidential primary, citing concern over $5M cost
The Kansas House rejected a plan on Monday to give Republicans and Democrats the option of holding a presidential primary next year at taxpayer expense amid bipartisan opposition.
State senators had fast-tracked a plan to offer the two major parties a one-time chance to dump the traditional caucus system in 2024 in exchange for a higher-turnout primary. While President Joe Biden is expected to run for reelection on the Democratic side, Republicans anticipate a potentially large field that includes former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
But concerns over the cost and the appearance of using public money to aid political parties appeared to doom the effort during a short debate on the House floor. The House rejected the measure, HB 2053, in a 56-64 vote after the Senate passed it 28-12.
Election officials had estimated a state-run primary would cost up to $5 million if both parties chose to hold a primary. Speaking to her colleagues in the House Republican caucus, Rep. Brenda Landwehr, a Wichita Republican, urged a no vote.
“There’s a lot of programs that would like that $5 million,” she said.
Rep. Trevor Jacobs, a Fort Scott Republican, called the legislation a “one-time spend just for junk.”
Kansas has held party-run caucuses for decades with only limited interruptions; the last state-run primary was in 1992.
Rep. Brandon Woodard, a Lenexa Democrat, said some Democrats had expressed concerns that the bill didn’t include a three-day grace period for the arrival of mail ballots following Election Day, like current law. Still, “primaries encourage more people to be involved – I wish this would go beyond just the 2024 election,” he said.
Rep. Pat Proctor, a Fort Leavenworth Republican who chairs the House Elections Committee, acknowledged concerns about cost, but emphasized the ability of a primary to improve voter turnout.
“I think that the payoff is voter access,” Proctor said. “Neither party … is going to be able to bring the infrastructure that the state and the counties can bring to improving voter access.”
After the vote Proctor said the House would hold a vote to reconsider on Tuesday and that efforts were ongoing to shift enough “no” votes to “yes.”
Some Republicans have voiced concern with the ability of the Kansas Republican Party’s new chairman, Mike Brown, to handle a caucus, which are complex logistical operations. For his part, Brown, a former Johnson County commissioner who promoted election conspiracies during his failed run for Kansas secretary of state, had signaled a preference for a primary in a newsletter to Kansas Republicans.
The bill would have authorized a state-run presidential preference primary for both parties on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. The date comes after Super Tuesday on March 5, when numerous states will hold primaries and caucuses simultaneously. The parties would have had the choice to out of a primary by providing notice by Dec. 1.
This story was originally published April 3, 2023 at 3:23 PM.
