Johnson County Democrat becomes first openly gay member to serve as a Kansas party leader
Kansas House Democrats on Monday elected Brandon Woodard of Lenexa to serve as minority leader, making him the first openly gay member in state history to lead either party.
Woodard, 34, will oversee a Democratic caucus that’s set to shrink by three members in January thanks to Republican victories that expanded supermajorities in both chambers.
“As we look toward the important task of addressing issues important to Kansans — from passing a balanced budget that fully funds our public schools and institutions of higher learning, to maintaining the fiscal stability we have worked with our colleagues and Governor Kelly to achieve — I appreciate my colleagues for putting their faith in me to lead our caucus, and I’m ready to get back to work for Kansans,” Woodard said in a statement.
House Democrats elected Woodard over another Johnson County member, Rep. Stephanie Clayton of Overland Park.
“As we were counting the votes, it was just, I could feel the weight and pressure of generally, just being able to be the top voice for this caucus. Of course it’s a historic first for us, but that’s what we do here in Kansas,” Woodard told reporters after the vote.
Woodard was first elected to the Legislature in 2018 alongside Susan Ruiz, making the two of them the first openly LGBTQ state lawmakers in Kansas.
“We’re excited to see representation from the LGBTQ community at a leadership level,” said Taryn Jones, policy director at Equality Kansas. “That’s really exciting to finally see representation and to have people that we can look up to in Legislature — especially younger kids who have maybe political aspirations,” Jones said.
‘Effective opposition’
Republican supermajorities will remain in place during Kelly’s final two years as governor, despite her $2 million political action committee spending heavily to promote Democratic candidates.
“The majority does belong to the Republicans, but the vast majority of the issues that Kansans care about are those that we advocate for,” Woodard said of his party.
An emboldened Republican caucus is likely to thwart Kelly’s priorities, including Medicaid expansion, which more than 72% of respondents supported in a recent Fort Hays State University survey.
Republicans’ victories at the polls also give them the ability to more easily override Kelly’s veto, which requires the support of two-thirds of members in both the House and Senate. Since 2023, House Democrats have only needed to flip two Republican votes to sustain vetoes. Now, the same maneuver will require flipping five votes.
“Effective opposition is making sure that when we have the ability to pick up five votes from the Republicans to sustain vetoes, we do that in a way that continues to hear them out, educate them and earn their vote to protect Governor Kelly’s vetoes,” Woodard said.
On the other side of the aisle, Republicans on Monday re-elected Dan Hawkins of Wichita to serve as Speaker of the House.
The Star’s Jonathan Shorman contributed reporting
This story was originally published December 2, 2024 at 3:57 PM.
