After arrest, Kansas Rep. Mark Samsel seeks forgiveness but faces a tough election foe
Republican Kansas state Rep. Mark Samsel has been asking voters for forgiveness and empathy as he navigates a mental health crisis that went viral and led to his arrest.
Samsel was placed on probation for a year after the April 2021 day in a Wellsville classroom when he was serving as a substitute teacher and kicked a student in the groin while ranting about God, lesbianism and suicide. The Wellsville superintendent said afterward that Samsel would no longer be allowed to work for the district.
The lawmaker said that everything he did that day was “unintentional,” the result of a manic episode and undiagnosed bipolar disorder.
Since then, Samsel says he has gotten the treatment he needs, publicly apologized and worked to rebuild trust within his House district. Those efforts, coupled with his record as a moderate unafraid to buck the party line, have earned him the endorsement of some notable groups, including public education advocates.
But whether that’s enough to win him another term in the 5th District will be determined on Tuesday, when Samsel faces primary opponent Carrie Barth, a Baldwin City conservative who has raised twice as much money during the campaign. Voters in the district — covering parts of Douglas, Franklin, Johnson and Miami counties — can cast ballots early or on Aug. 2 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
There is no Democratic candidate running for the seat.
“I seek out and I listen to (constituents’) opinions, and I do my absolute best to represent what they want in the district. I don’t just go rubber stamp party line stuff if it’s not what the district has asked me to do or if it wouldn’t do right by the district,” Samsel said. “And I can’t count the number of hours I’ve volunteered trying to help people with agencies and other problems they have at the state level. That’s something I’ve spent a ton of time on. … If that’s what the voters are looking for, I’m happy to continue to provide that option.”
Samsel, a Wellsville attorney who has served in the Kansas House since 2019, considers himself a “traditional” or “Eisenhower” Republican. He has raised more than $5,300 ahead of the primary. Barth, who says she is a business leader with two decades of experience in human resources technology, benefits and health care, has raised nearly $11,000.
Barth did not agree to The Star’s request for an interview, although she did answer The Star’s previous candidate survey.
“I believe my values, priorities, and approach to public service are more in line with the voters of District 5 than those of my opponent,” Barth said then. She has received broad support from voters in the district, where her family has deep roots, as well as from the Kansas Farm Bureau. She recently said on Facebook that she spoke at an event held by Kansans for Health Freedom, a prominent anti-vaccination group.
Education has become one of the more defining issues of the race, as Samsel gains support from public education advocacy groups, and after a session where lawmakers debated a wave of education legislation, some of which was aimed at expanding school choice, capitalizing on parents’ frustration amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve known Mark for a long time. He’s in a pretty conservative district. And Mark’s predecessor was not a friend to education,” said Judith Deedy, executive director of Game on for Kansas Schools. “So when he came into office, we finally had someone who was voting with us a substantial amount of the time, which we had not had before in that seat. His voting record is strong.”
Samsel vowed to push for lawmakers to fully fund public schools, and argued that having strong private schools should not be at the expense of public systems or the children who rely on them. He also backs school districts and educators across the state who have pleaded with lawmakers to increase special education funding to the level required by state law.
In a candidate voter guide, Barth has said that she strongly supports school choice and expanding parents’ ability to use state dollars on private or home schooling.
“Now, more than ever, parents are rising up and taking control of their children’s education and we should welcome that,” Barth said in the survey.
Efforts to ban transgender athletes from girls sports and establish a parents bill of rights failed in the Kansas Legislature this spring, when the House failed to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto on both issues. Samsel voted against both measures, which Barth has criticized, saying she supports “fairness in women’s sports.”
Kansas Family Voice, which calls itself a “Christ-centered organization” and advocates for anti-abortion policies and other similar issues, endorsed Barth, partly because she supports prohibiting transgender athletes from playing girls sports.
Samsel said that much of the proposed education policy changes have been “tone deaf,” adding pressure on overly stressed public school systems and educators. The proposed parents bill of rights, which would require districts to allow parents to inspect and challenge material in schools, for example, was opposed by teachers statewide who said it was an attack on educators and that parents already had such rights.
But Barth disagrees, saying that students suffered as schools went to remote learning during the pandemic and that parents should have more control.
“While local school boards and our State Board of Education play a key role in turning this around, the state legislature can also do its part,” she said. “I support fully funding our schools, but we have to look at where those dollars are being spent and if we’re getting the results we expect.”
Game on for Kansas Schools has received some heat for endorsing Samsel, Deedy said, after he faced national backlash last year following his arrest.
“Mark Samsel in 2021 was not who he had been. He had a mental health crisis,” Deedy said. “Sometimes something bad happens in your life, and that’s not ideal, but a lot depends on how you handle it and where you go from there. He apologized and he’s done the right things since then. We’ve had some time to see that he is behaving honorably and he’s back to being the person we knew before.”
Samsel said that he had sought mental health treatment for years, for what he believed to be depression brought on by burnout and stress. It wasn’t until after the incident at Wellsville high school last year that he learned he had bipolar disorder. Samsel believes his personal experience offers him a unique perspective at the statehouse, where he has been a vocal advocate for mental health, pushing for increased resources and funding.
But residents in the district have remained divided on whether they can move past the incident.
“I wish I was the last person to have a manic episode, and one caught on camera,” Samsel said. “I’m blessed that I’ve worked with these individuals for a long time, and they have looked at the longer course of my track record instead of one incident. I don’t want to minimize it because it was bad, but it was 100% unintentional. When I was going through the mania, I was convinced I was doing what was best for the kids and their mental health. I was wrong, but it felt real at the time.”
“My biggest supporters have known I’m 37 years old, and that’s the one incident I’ve had in my entire life. I’ve been fully transparent on the backside of it. I haven’t tried to run or hide from this thing. I’ve tried to share it and use it for as much good as possible.”
This story was originally published July 28, 2022 at 11:21 AM.
