Letter to the editor: Mainstream Coalition, Stand Up Blue Valley hardly unbiased

Out of step

I must respectfully disagree with Kansas state Rep. Cindy Holscher’s assertion that Mainstream Coalition and Stand Up Blue Valley are “nonpartisan organizations” offering information on voting records of elected officials. (Feb. 12, 913, “Shawnee Mission schools teachers, Johnson County is standing with you”) Both groups are extreme far-left organizations that consistently promote a liberal Democratic agenda.

For example, according to the Mainstream Coalition’s 2019 “lifetime score” of Kansas state representatives, all 29 members who scored a perfect 100% (in other words, voted the coalition’s agenda) were Democrats. More broadly, of the 41 state representatives who scored between 80% and 100%, only two are Republicans. Mainstream Coalition consistently labels Republicans and conservatives “extremists,” with no such label for Democratic officials.

As for Stand Up Blue Valley, that group has published a combative blog post calling its political opposition “ultra-cons,” a term its members have used many other times. It advocates for higher and higher taxes, in the mistaken belief that more money will equate to better educational outcomes for the Blue Valley School District. Stand Up Blue Valley also supported the threat of closing Blue Valley schools during education funding discussions last year in the Legislature, even though the district was not a party to the funding lawsuit.

I encourage voters in Johnson County to do their own research and not rely on advocacy groups that are clearly ultra-liberal and not middle of the road in any regard.

- Reed Plate, Overland Park