Embattled KCK Democrat who delivered key GOP votes loses reelection in crowded primary
A Democratic lawmaker who made political enemies within his own party for routinely voting in step with Kansas Republicans lost reelection in a four-way primary Tuesday.
State Rep. Marvin Robinson, of Kansas City, Kansas, lost the race to Wanda Brownlee Paige, one of three challengers who ran on the Democratic ticket this year. Paige, a retired schoolteacher, earned 49% of the vote, according to the Wyandotte County Election Office’s unofficial results.
Paige is now slated to represent House District 35, a longtime Democratic stronghold centered in northeastern Kansas City, Kansas. She faces a clear path to election in November as no Republican candidate is on the ballot.
During her campaign, Paige cast herself as a strong organizer who can better advocate for the interests of her community in the Legislature. Some of her top goals include bettering public education and finding tax relief for her neighbors.
In the leadup to the primary, Paige and her fellow challengers criticized Robinson over his policy decisions in Topeka that broke ranks with Democratic leaders and aligned with key Republican goals.
First elected in 2022, Robinson entered the House with a primary objective of finding state support for revitalization of the Quindaro Townsite, a historically significant Civil War-era stop along the Underground Railroad.
Before joining the Legislature, Robinson spent decades working to advance the area’s restoration and boost its national recognition. Critics have since accused him of abandoning other needs in the district for the prospect of state funding for Quindaro.
Among the policy positions his opponents criticized were Robinson’s votes to deny Medicaid expansion, limit access to food assistance, add abortion restrictions and undo diversity and equity policies at publicly funded colleges.
Robinson also received wider criticism from fellow Democrats and activists over his consequential votes on veto overrides that enacted sweeping rights restrictions on transgender Kansans.
In the wake of Robinson’s party defection, some influential supporters abandoned him during his reelection campaign.
Organized labor groups, including the local chapter of the United Auto Workers, instead backed Paige, an elected member of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools Board. Gov. Laura Kelly’s political action committee also supported Paige’s candidacy.
During the highly competitive Democratic primary, Robinson had newfound support from another source: Kansas conservatives.
In the final weeks and days before Tuesday’s primary, conservative political action committees paid for advertisements to boost Robinson’s reelection campaign.
One of those groups, Lift Up Kansas PAC, issued mailers prominently displaying former President Barack Obama that said Robinson “helped bring the change to Kansas.”
Over the weekend, the Kansas Democratic Party and Wyandotte Democratic Party took the rare step of publicly condemning an ad made on behalf of a fellow Democrat. The party called the move “insulting” to voters, including “the African American community at large,” in a district where roughly 40% of residents are Black.
“We are appalled by the latest mailing in the House District 35 race implying some sort of vague association between Marvin Robinson and President Barack Obama,” the Democrats said in a joint statement, adding that it was “no surprise” Republicans were working to improve Robinson’s reelection prospects.
The outcome Tuesday marked a rare example of a district representative’s ousting during a primary. Before Robinson’s election, the seat was held by his cousin, retired state Rep. Broderick Henderson, from 1995 until 2022.
Some Wyandotte County political observers had raised the prospect that a field with three challengers could lead to split votes among those unhappy with Robinson’s leadership, ultimately giving the embattled lawmaker a greater competitive edge.
In all, Robinson landed in a distant second place with 22% of the vote.
Reached by phone Tuesday night, Robinson said he was “grateful and humbled” by the support he received during his reelection effort. After leaving office, Robinson said he intends to return to his work advocating for revitalization of Quindaro and broader economic development in northeast Kansas City, Kansas.
“It’s been an honor of a lifetime serving the good people of the 35th District in the Kansas House of Representatives,” Robinson said. “And I’m incredibly grateful they entrusted me with that opportunity for the past two years.”
Other challengers in the race were Michelle Watley, founder of local advocacy nonprofit Shirley’s Kitchen Cabinet, and Kimberly DeWitt, a business consultant specializing in information technology. Watley won 20% of the vote, followed by DeWitt with 9%.
Robinson was the only of three sitting state lawmakers from Wyandotte County to lose reelection in the local primaries Tuesday.
Longtime Sen. David Haley, a Kansas City, Kansas Democrat, comfortably defeated challenger Ephren Taylor III in a primary race to represent Senate District 4.
Haley is a lawmaker who boasts 30 years of elected experience and deep community ties. He faced some backlash this year over his recorded yes-vote on a controversial proposal to enact a flat income tax rate.
Taylor, a 20-year-old community organizer, promoted his youth and relative inexperience in Kansas politics as benefits, inviting voters to elect a new state senator to represent the area for the first time since 2000. He won 42% of the vote.
Easily warding off a primary challenger Tuesday was Republican Rep. Mike Thompson of Bonner Springs, who won 91% of the vote in a bruising defeat of Clifton Boje, a private music teacher and anti-abortion activist.
In November, Thompson will face Eli Woody, who won 58% of the vote in a two-way Democratic primary Tuesday. Woody, of Kansas City, Kansas, is a former public schoolteacher who now works for an educational nonprofit.
The race for Thompson’s House District 33, which includes parts of Bonner Springs, Edwardsville and Kansas City, Kansas, could prove competitive in the general election.
Voter turnout in the Democratic and Republican primaries Tuesday was almost evenly matched. Before the last legislative redistricting, former state Rep. Tom Burroughs, a Democrat now elected at large to the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, represented the area.
In 2022, Thompson won 51% of the vote to secure the seat over Democratic candidate Bill Hutton. The upcoming November election will provide the first test of the new map as a presidential race is on the ticket and voter turnout is likely to be higher.
Seven more state Democratic lawmakers whose districts fall entirely or substantially within Wyandotte County — Reps. Louis Ruiz, Pam Curtis, Valdenia Winn, Lynn Melton and Melissa Oropeza of Kansas City, Kansas; Sen. Pat Pettey of Kansas City, Kansas; and Sen. Jeff Pittman of Leavenworth — faced no primary challenger. Only Winn is uncontested on the Nov. 5 ballot.
This story was originally published August 6, 2024 at 8:48 PM.
