Judge orders Kansas Secretary of State to remove Julia Lynn from November ballot
A Shawnee County judge on Friday ordered the Kansas Secretary of State’s office to remove Sen. Julia Lynn, a 15-year veteran of the Kansas Senate, from November’s ballot.
Lynn, an Olathe Republican who has served since 2005, said in a petition this week that she submitted paperwork on Sept. 1 to have her name removed from the ballot, citing her sister’s medical hardship.
Sept. 1 is Kansas’ deadline for candidates to withdraw from races.
The documents included a note from an Olathe neurologist attesting that Lynn’s sister required continuous care and oversight of her medical and financial affairs.
An initial version of the doctor’s note had the doctor’s name along with a handwritten notation by a nurse in the doctor’s office.
The following day, Lynn was told she needed to obtain a doctor’s note with a handwritten signature. It was provided a day later but, according to Lynn’s petition, the Kansas Secretary of State rejected it for arriving a day late.
In his initial denial, Schwab’s office said that Lynn had turned in a note signed by a nurse instead of a doctor.
After a hearing Friday morning, a judge ruled that Lynn submitted all the necessary documents to withdraw from the race on September 1, including a doctors note.
Kansas Secretary of State, Scott Schwab, was ordered to remove her name from any ballots and notify the Johnson County Republican Party Committee of the vacancy in the election, according to court records. Republican Party precinct members in her district will be able to select a new nominee for the seat.
In a statement, Friday, Schwab said his office consistently works with candidates to ensure that they meet requirements and deadlines.
“For some odd reason, Senate staff and the candidate failed to coordinate with our office to guarantee compliance with state law and, instead, waited until the last minute to submit the required documents,” Schwab said. “This issue was made unnecessarily complicated with unsolicited opinions from outside entities and supplemental information being provided to our office well after the September 1 deadline.”
Katie Koupal, a spokeswoman for Schwab, said the order shouldn’t cause any problems with finalizing and printing ballots. She said the Johnson County Republican Party will likely choose a candidate next week, ahead of a Sept. 19 deadline to send out overseas military ballots.
“It will be tight but we believe that should work,” Koupal said.
Lynn, 63, ran unopposed for her party’s nomination in August. She was chair of the Senate Commerce Committee and had expressed interest in reevaluating the state’s economic development incentives, including STAR Bonds, a controversial program that effectively allows developers to borrow against future anticipated tax revenues.
In a statement on September 1, Democrat Stacey Knoell, said nothing had changed for her campaign.
“I was never running against Ms. Lynn; I am running FOR the people of District 9,” Knoell, a sign language interpreter and math teacher, said.
Jonathan Shorman contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 5:26 PM.
