Longtime Kansas City meteorologist, Republican Mike Thompson, running for Kansas Senate
Longtime Kansas City meteorologist Mike Thompson announced on Monday he is running for the Kansas state Senate, warning that residents are threatened by an “unrelenting storm of higher taxes and spending increases.”
Thompson, a Shawnee resident who retired from his role as chief meteorologist at Fox 4 in 2018, is seeking the District 10 seat being vacated in mid-January by Mary Pilcher-Cook. The Republican state senator announced on Friday she is resigning, after 15 years as one of the Kansas Legislature’s most conservative members and strongest abortion opponents.
Thompson said he plans to seek the appointment to fill the remainder of Pilcher-Cook’s term and then run in the primary for a chance at a full four years in November 2020. Earlier this year, two other candidates — Republican state Rep. Tom Cox and Shawnee City Councilwoman Lindsey Constance, a Democrat — said they are running for the seat.
In his campaign announcement, Thompson described himself as a “pro-life, committed conservative, who will uphold the core Republican principles of limited government, individual liberty, free enterprise and traditional values.”
“For 40 years, I enjoyed talking to people about the weather, providing them facts and information and warning them about dangerous conditions. Now, an unrelenting storm of higher taxes and spending increases threaten to leave Kansas behind the rest of the nation in terms of economic prosperity and quality job growth,” Thompson said in the statement.
This past summer, Thompson spoke out against the city of Shawnee adopting a nondiscrimination ordinance, aimed at protecting the LGBT community from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The City Council passed the measure this fall.
Pilcher-Cook is stepping down on Jan. 16, just after lawmakers open their annual session. She was first elected to the Senate in 2008 and previously served in the House.
Republican precinct committee members in her Senate district will name her replacement.
This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 1:51 PM.
