Star endorses this traditional Kansas Republican in 2nd Congressional District primary
Dennis Taylor has served Kansas with coolheaded, issues-driven leadership for decades. So how can a political candidate so well prepared and deep-rooted in the state seem to come out of the blue?
Yet Taylor’s vast experience, his laser focus on what’s important, and his old-fashioned, statesmanlike demeanor actually make the darkhorse the best candidate in the Aug. 4 Republican primary in Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District.
He’s inarguably and in every respect superior to the fatally flawed incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Watkins, who was recently charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor for using a Topeka UPS store as his voter registration address in a 2019 municipal election and then allegedly lying to investigators about it.
It wouldn’t be the first time Watkins has been caught in a substantive lie. In the 2018 election, he assured GOP primary voters that he’d started and grown his own small business. Neither assertion was remotely true: What is true is that he worked for a subsidiary of Versar Inc., a global project management firm that predated his employment there, and that a Star investigation proved someone else was responsible for the company’s impressive growth. Turns out a former CEO and several board members also have no recollection of someone named Steve Watkins.
The third candidate in the Republican primary, Jake LaTurner, is the respected state treasurer and a former state senator with solid conservative credentials on welfare reform, property tax caps and gun rights. LaTurner, who declined to participate in an interview with The Star, would be a much better choice than Watkins.
But not nearly as good as Dennis Taylor.
In temperament and decorum, Taylor is cut from the same cloth as Bob Dole and Nancy Kassebaum: a conservative who puts ideas above ideology, results above rhetoric.
Still, the first thing that jumps out at you about Taylor is the enormous breadth and depth of his political and policy résumé: He was a research attorney to two Kansas Supreme Court justices; he served as Shawnee County commissioner; he spent four years as Jackson County, Missouri county manager; he was chief of staff for Gov. Mike Hayden and secretary of administration under Gov. Sam Brownback; he was chief of staff for Kansas Senate President Bud Burke; and, notably, he spent 10 years promoting democracy in the former Soviet bloc and beyond.
Beyond his sweeping public policy background, Taylor brings rich foreign policy experience that few congressional candidates can claim.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWho decides the endorsements?
Members of The Kansas City Star Editorial Board interview political candidates, as well as advocates and opponents of ballot measures. The editorial board is comprised of seasoned opinion journalists and is separate from The Star’s newsroom. The board’s members are editorial writers Toriano Porter and Mara’ Rose Williams — all veteran journalists with decades of experience. Editors Derek Donovan is also a member, and editor David Tarrant, while not a member of the board, reads and often improves each editorial we publish. Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.
What does the endorsement process entail?
The Star Editorial Board invites candidates in each race to meet with the board in an on-the-record discussion, the purpose of which is more fully understand what distinguishes one candidate from another. Board members do additional reporting and research to learn as much as possible about the candidates. The editorial board then convenes to discuss the candidates in each race. Board members seek to reach a consensus on the endorsements, but not every decision is unanimous..
Is the editorial board partisan?
No. In making endorsements, members of the editorial board consider which candidates are well prepared to represent their constituents — not whether they agree with us or belong to a particular political party. We do weigh heavily their stances on issues we consider basic tests of judgment and candor, such as whether they even acknowledge climate change as real, or if they continue to deny the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. We weigh these factors against many others, and state clearly what our conclusions are. Primarily, we evaluate candidates’ relevant experience, their readiness for office, their depth of knowledge of key issues and their understanding of public policy. We’re seeking candidates who are thoughtful and who offer more than just party-line talking points. The editorial board will endorse both Republicans and Democrats, making recommendations about who the best-qualified candidate for each job is.
Why are endorsements unsigned?
Endorsements reflect the collective views of The Star’s editorial board — not just the opinion of one writer. Board members all discuss and contribute ideas to each endorsement editorial.
Taylor bills himself as “the independent choice” because, while he reveres traditional GOP values of small and locally-centered government, national security and free and fair trade, he opposes what he calls an “imperial” presidency of either party. He wants the financially feckless Congress to reassert its oversight and budgetary powers — for instance, in whether to allow a president to siphon funds for a border wall from other areas of the federal budget.
Taylor also points to CARES Act coronavirus relief funds that went to major corporations rather than to the small businesses that are the economy’s backbone.
And while avoiding any kind of criticism of his opponents, Taylor laments their penchant for attacking each other instead of focusing on the issues Kansans care about — such as massive unemployment in the age of COVID-19.
“They seem to think they can be nominated and go on and run in the fall without even addressing some issues,” Taylor says.
Further exhibiting an independent streak, Taylor proposes a stand-alone Department of Justice free of “presidential and congressional interference” — like the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission. And though a free-market Republican, Taylor sees the need for “a virus-tracing jobs program to employ hundreds of thousands of out-of-work Americans to massively ramp up tracking and killing the virus,” in order to elevate consumer confidence and “produce a real economic recovery.”
Taylor’s welcome campaign almost did come out of the blue, launched at the very last minute on candidate filing day. He waited at the secretary of state’s office and pounced when he saw no one else surface to take on the failed incumbent Watkins and LaTurner.
Making Taylor’s campaign all the more of a long shot is the fact that he will end up spending about $75,000 — he wanted no PAC money, and it likely didn’t want him. That’s a tenth or less of what his opponents will spend.
Republican primary voters will undoubtedly get his and their money’s worth. Dennis Taylor has earned The Star’s endorsement, and deserves GOP voters’ support for the 2nd Congressional District Republican nomination Aug. 4.