Laura Kelly can recover from unforced error if she wins important victory this month

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly remains in hot water for her unfortunate decision to sign a bill nullifying parts of a Wyandotte County immigration ordinance.

Democrats and activists understand: It’s hard to motivate their voters when the choices are 1) a Republican, or 2) a semi-Republican. Put Kelly down as a 2.

There is time to turn the narrative around. Here’s how: In the next two to three weeks, the governor must insist on immediate elimination, without conditions or strings attached, of the 6.5% Kansas sales tax on food.

She must convince lawmakers to pass the bill, and sign it. Putting more money in the pockets of the poor and middle class will remind Kansans why they voted for Kelly in the first place. Anything else will reinforce the perception that the governor is simply GOP-lite, not worthy of energy or support at the polls.

Republicans will do everything in their power to prevent a Kelly victory, or course. They’re working on a bill that phases out the food sales tax, dropping it to 4% next January, 2% in January 2024, and to 0% the following year.

That’s right: Even as the Kansas budget bursts at the seams with extra cash, some Republicans want to delay any sales tax relief for families until after Election Day, so Kelly won’t get credit for the cut. Which is just one more brazen political stunt.

Republican leaders claim they’re being fiscally responsible. Try not to laugh: The Kansas food sales tax is among the highest in the nation precisely because the GOP raised it to replace cratering income tax revenue under former Gov. Sam Brownback.

It was a bad decision then, and unconscionable now. The top income tax rate in Kansas is still lower than it was when Brownback’s experiment began, which means hundreds of thousands of wealthy Kansans have enjoyed an ongoing tax break for years.

Poor people, on the other hand, have paid hundreds of extra dollars for groceries during the same time period. It has to end, and now is the time for it to happen.

Will the governor insist on immediate food sales tax relief? She’s made the right statements, calling for a “clean” food sales tax bill this year, to take effect July 1. Lawmakers gathering for the misnamed veto session on April 25 will have a chance to move such a measure.

There are indications GOP leadership might agree to a more immediate phase-out of the tax, but there are also concerns that Kelly will accept a gradual reduction if it lands on her desk, then claim victory. Kansans won’t be fooled: Tax relief someday isn’t really tax relief.

(They also won’t be fooled by ridiculous claims Kelly vetoed an earlier version of a food sales tax cut. That bill was loaded with tax breaks for the wealthy, with a partial sales tax reduction tacked on for purely political reasons.)

Reelection campaigns are always a chance for voters to render a verdict about the incumbent. Kelly has fixed the state’s woeful budget mess, which is not a small accomplishment but not unique either. Almost every other state is flush with COVID-19 cash — Missouri is considering a $1 billion rebate.

Beyond the budget, what has Kelly accomplished? How has she made voters’ lives better? It isn’t clear.

Democrats will claim Kelly stopped the worst excesses of the right-wing GOP caucus. True or not, it’s hardly the message to inspire supporters: “It might have been worse” usually fails to work as a campaign slogan.

Kelly’s reelection will be helped by her likely Republican opponent, Derek Schmidt, whose fingerprints on state policy remain undetectable to the naked eye. She has remained free of scandal, and the state is in demonstrably better shape than four years ago.

But it may not be enough. Kelly stuck her thumb in the eye of Wyandotte Countians this week, an unforced error. She can help them now by insisting on tax relief at the grocery counter immediately.