The Kansas 2nd Congressional District News (Republican News You Can Use) |
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May 10, 2024, Vol. 2 No. 6 |
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We should talk. . .
There are several upcoming events in May, June, & July that 2nd Congressional District leadership should discuss.
I'm holding a Zoom Call for Republican County Chairs, Vice-Chairs and 2nd Congressional Delegates/Alternates to the State Committee on Thursday, May 16th @ 7:30 pm.
Please join me as we discuss several events designed to make our party more successful in 2024!
You may RSVP your intended participation by emailing me at: eric.rucker@hotmail.com. I will then forward you the Personal Meeting ID and the Passcode for this call. Hope to Talk To You Soon. EKR - - - - - - - - - -
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| SAVE THIS TENATIVE DATE July 20th, 2024
EVENT: 2nd Annual 2nd Congressional District Bar-B-Que & CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE !
WHERE: Topeka, Kansas LOCATION: To Be Announced DATE: July 20th, 2024
Last Year's 2nd Congressional District Bar-B-Que was a Finger-Lick'n, Lip-Smack'n success.
Over 100 Republican activists were in attendance, and the program was great. We will break that attendance record this year by adding a congressional debate to the event. Please make plans now to be there for what is shaping up to be a great congressional debate (WITH SLICES OF BAR-B-QUE HEAVEN!). |
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ATTENTION - - ATTENTION - - ATTENTION
REPUBLICAN STATE AND COUNTY OFFICEHOLDERS AND THOSE ASPIRING TO BE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES
2024 REPUBLICAN PARTY CANDIDATE and CAMPAIGN SCHOOL June 22, 2024 5th Floor State Capitol Building 9:30 am - 4:00 pm
All county and state candidates who want to learn the most up-to-date information regarding campaign management and financial reporting requirements—please listen up. The 2024 Republican State and County Officeholder Candidate School will be held on June 22, 2024, in Topeka at the State Capitol Building. This school is designed for ALL REPUBLICAN candidates running for public office and will address both local and state candidate concerns including, media relations, legal reporting and campaign laws, and current issues facing our counties and our legislature. Make your plans now to attend this meeting. You will not be disappointed in the political experts we have lined up to present this critical information.
ATTENTION - - ATTENTION - - ATTENTION |
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Special Meeting Notice KSGOP State Committee Official Notice
The Kansas Republican Party State Committee members are hereby notified of a KSGOP Special Meeting to elect Presidential Nominating Convention Delegates and Alternate Delegates for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee from July 15-18, 2024 The self-nomination deadline has now passed.
The meeting details are as follows: KSGOP State Committee Virtual Special Meeting Sunday, May 19, 2024. Virtual Platform Details and invitations with instructions will be provided. ~ Credentialing will occur before the meeting. No proxies allowed. ~ 2 pm Election
NOTE: Immediately following the election of Delegates and Alternate Delegates, all call attendees, except the newly elected, will be disconnected from the call, and we will move immediately to discussion and elections of a man and woman to serve on each of the four RNC Convention Committees: Rules / Platform / Credentialing / Permanent Organization. No proxies allowed.
IMPORTANT NOTES
1. This will be a professionally run meeting.
2. Per RNC Rules, no other business may or shall be conducted at this meeting. There will be no consideration or discussion of any rules, platform, agenda, or budget during this meeting.
3. The meeting will be convened promptly at 2 pm, and we will move immediately to voting for Delegates. After all delegate elections are complete, we will immediately move to alternate delegate elections.
4. A practice virtual session for interested folks will be conducted one evening of the week before the official meeting. The meeting date, time, and log-on instructions will be provided soon. The purpose of this meeting will be for those who may be less familiar with virtual meeting platforms to have the chance to go through the process. We want and need everyone to be an included.
5. There is no in-person meeting component of this meeting.
6. Per the rules, this meeting shall be the only official meeting for the purpose of Electing KSGOP Presidential Delegates and Alternates Delegates. No other meetings or "elections" shall be deemed valid by KSGOP or the RNC.
7. Each voter will have a unique security code they will be assigned upon completion of credentialing. Each vote will require entering this code and must be entered to vote. DO NOT SHARE THIS CODE WITH ANYONE. A couple may use one device (phone, tablet, laptop computer, or desktop computer) and may each vote individually, each using their own unique access code! Election Integrity is a huge priority to me, and we have a great secure system lined up for this process. I will always oppose any local, county, state, and federal elections being held online virtually as we don't know who the sizeable public voting base is amd cannot guarantee a secure process, however in a small inner-party election like this one, the voting base is small, finite, verified, and then further protected with a password/passcode. This election will be easy to attend, hard to cheat - and it is secure.
8. This process is a part of American history. It is an honor to be a part of the process at any level.
9. By serving as a delegate or alternate delegate, you will become a unique part of the American Experience. This is to be a fun exercise in American history, so don't let anyone suck the joy out of this for you!
10. Kansas is Trump Country! Stay tuned. More information coming soon! |
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An Editorial
Seldom have I used the pages of this Republican leadership newsletter to tout my own views. It's rarely necessary because our readers generally agree on most fiscal and social matters as stated in our National and State Republican party platforms. We also generally accept the premise that our common beliefs are our political strength. And, we understand that emphasizing our differences often results in defeat. That said, one still must determine when it is appropriate to point out something is wrong within our party.
With this editorial, I am including recent emails from the 1st and 4th Congressional Chairs of the Kansas Republican Party to their respective districts. I urge you to read them carefully. These emails outline some of the problems we have experienced when attempting to work with our current party chairman. Some of you may not be aware of the depth of these problems because those in party leadership have attempted to create remedies addressing these issues without creating public notoriety. However, our chairman has failed to provide timely information regarding our financial condition; he has failed to timely communicate with party leaders, regarding how and when the meeting to select delegates and alternates to the RNC convention would be conducted, and he recently vowed not to work with the congressional district chairs but instead to only communicate with them through our party's legal counsel.
The actions of the chair have resulted in the penning of this "editorial".
Checks and balances exist within our form of government and political institutions because our citizens have long feared unreasonable chief executives. Particularly those executives who wrongfully characterize those who differ with them as destructive or evil. I assert here that many who have ardently disagreed with the chairman are neither. I have found that most Republicans have been willing to give him a chance but firmly believe that to be an effective party chairman, he must: First, dedicate himself to creating amiable, honest, and professional relationships with those who also hold leadership positions within our state and national party who are charged with the oversight of party affairs as stated in our party's constitution and by-laws. Second, he must immediately establish a state party headquarters. Third, he must hire staff capable of administering an effective plan to elect members of the Kansas Legislature and candidates for our 105 county courthouses. Fourth, he must begin coordinating and conducting robust fundraising efforts. After speaking with many Kansas Republicans, almost everyone believes he has created an admirable weekly newsletter, but he has not provided the basic necessities to run an effective state party.
That is the rub.
At a time when Democrats are bent on promoting record government debt, record illegal immigration, laws that undermine election integrity, weaken law enforcement, seek to legitimize medical procedures that destroy the sexual identity of children, expand abortion, and ignore the mental incompetence of their most senior leaders, Republicans should reap a bountiful harvest of new voters in 2024.
We should not be struggling to provide basic political services to our party membership and the candidates who bear our brand. EKR |
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Greetings, 4th District Delegates to the KS GOP State Committee! As I hope you know, the 4th District Republican Committee met on April 6, 2024, to select our district delegates to the RNC National Convention this summer (and their alternates). Every four years we go through the process to elect the 39 members of the Kansas delegation who will attend and represent Kansas at the RNC National Convention. The 39 members who attend the RNC National Convention include: · KS GOP Chair (Mike Brown) · KS RNC National Committeeman (Mark Kahrs) · KS RNC National Committeewoman (Kim Borchers) · 12 District Delegates (3 from each of the 4 congressional districts elected at the district level) · 24 At-Large Delegates (6 from each of the 4 congressional districts elected at the state level) Every Kansas Republican had the opportunity to nominate themselves as a delegate or alternate with a final deadline of April 26 for the at-large (statewide) positions. After each of the 4 congressional districts completed their meetings to select district delegates, it was communicated that the state party would call a Zoom meeting to elect the at-large delegates. Most of you may remember that due to COVID lockdowns, we were required to conduct the 2020 delegate selection via Zoom. There were numerous problems with the technology related to glitches, user error, broadband issues, problems with individuals who use the same email accounts or who do not have an email account, computer or smartphone, etc. We soldiered through the situation and accomplished what we needed. However, we are now in 2024. Thankfully, there is no COVID lockdown, and, thankfully, we are all a bit better handling technology for virtual meetings. However, all of the problems we experienced in 2020 still exist…except for the COVID lockdown! The fact is that outside of the unique 2020 COVID situation and occasional KS GOP Executive Committee meetings involving far fewer participants, the KS GOP whole state committee has never before met via Zoom. I have been involved at the state level for decades and have served under multiple state party chairs including Kris Kobach, Amanda Adkins, Kelly Arnold, Mike Kuckelman and Mike Brown. In addition, no one can remember ever having a meeting called on a Sunday. All of us understand the important family obligations that occur in May (and, frankly, throughout the year). Family should always come before political activities! There is never a perfect date to call a meeting; we almost never have every delegate present, which is why our KS GOP Constitution and By-Laws allow for the seating of alternates for missing delegates. There is nothing inherently different about this particular KS GOP State Committee meeting that should require us to meet virtually rather than in person. We all know the problems that can occur when using technology, especially in our rural counties that continue to experience broadband challenges. The purpose for the letter/petition that was recently submitted to KS GOP leadership per the guidelines of our rules was simply to call for an in-person meeting. Given the current divisiveness in the state party (regardless of your perspective), it only seems wise to conduct this meeting in a very transparent, public manner like we have done every four years (except 2020) to allow for open counting of the votes and the use of secret, paper ballots. However, since this state party meeting was called as a virtual meeting and based on our concerns about the 2020 experience, the four GOP district chairs reached out to request that we be briefed on how the process will work so that we can begin informing our district delegations and start making provisions for issues that we know will arise. According to the legal counsel for the KS GOP, the request for a briefing was denied, and the message was delivered that the party chair is done working with the district chairs. This is disappointing after our district invited the Chairman to speak at our district convention and has a strong history of working together with both our county parties and the state party. In addition, we still have not been provided a list of all of those individuals who have self-nominated for at-large positions between the 3/22/24 deadline for the district positions and the 4/26/24 deadline for the at-large positions. Since this list has not been released to the district chairs, I am unable to send it to you with this email for your consideration of the applicants. This is a concern, because even at the district convention, there were individuals who said they had submitted their names, but they were not included in the list provided by the state party. I'm sure you are all aware of the growing lack of trust between factions in our state party. Certain elements also cast aspersions and assign motives to other elements and all, unfortunately, on display all over social media, most of the time with little working knowledge of context or background. I agree with the calls to STOP THIS! None of us are paid for the time we volunteer and invest into the support of our great Republican candidates and our conservative party platform. In fact, most of us do this with great personal expense. More importantly, we do it from a sense of calling and duty to preserve the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity. Republicans are rugged individualists! We encourage robust debate. Since when did a disagreement about process (or anything, really) become hysterically labeled as some sort of disloyalty or other spurious intent? It's normally the Leftists who walk in lock step without questioning anything or without requiring accountability. Here in the 4th District we are known for working together to support our Republican candidates up and down the ballot. We know each other and work together. Most of these accusations and constant turmoil is coming from people who don't know us or who have no idea what we've worked through together in the trenches to elect our overwhelmingly Republican delegation of elected officials at all levels of representative government here in the 4th. When we divide ourselves into these silos and sub-groups (instead of working together), we only help elect Democrats. We see these unfortunate results in other districts. So, moving forward, a virtual KS GOP State Committee meeting has been called for Sunday afternoon, May 19, 2024 (see details below and attached). We will be voting on 24 at-large RNC delegates (6 from each of the 4 congressional districts) and 24 at-large RNC alternates (6 from each of the 4 congressional districts). In addition, following that election process, all 39 members (delegates only) of the Kansas delegation to the RNC National Convention will vote virtually about who will be on the four RNC Convention Committees (Platform, Credentials, Rules, and Permanent Organization). The election for these RNC committee members (per the rules) should include everyone elected as a district delegate and everyone elected as an at-large delegate as well as Chair Brown and both RNC National Committee members (Mark Kahrs and Kim Borchers). Please let me know ASAP if you plan to participate in the May 19th Zoom meeting. Further details should be forthcoming.
As always, if you have any questions, about the meeting or the process, etc., please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your work and dedication to our conservative, Republican candidates and platform! Onward to Victory, Debbie Luper, Chair KS GOP 4th District Republican Party 316-573-9987 cell
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Dear Big First Committee,
I know there has been some confusion and questions about how the upcoming state committee meeting will take place. I have been trying to get answers about the meeting details since our district convention on 4/13. Unfortunately, Chairman Brown is refusing to meet with me and the other district chairs about the upcoming meeting. In fact, he is now using the KSGOP legal counsel as a communication liaison for all matters. Since serving as vice and chair to the 1st District, I've tried to make planning and coordinating a priority in all of our meetings and events. It is important to me that we communicate and work together, even through disagreements, so we can build our party and attract others to our mission. When we have questions, concerns, or need answers to things, we have reached out to the chair and have even sent formal letters and requests but they are ignored. I cannot identify why we have been denied communication other than disagreements and/or seeking answers to things. To be clear, I've tried to be very private and professional when it comes to internal issues with our leadership team for the past year, but now I believe it is important for the district committee to know that I am unable to communicate with the chair and am being told I will have to go through our legal counsel from now on. I am uneasy about the impact this will have with communication sharing and future meetings/events. For example; I still do not know the individual names that have submitted the at-large self-nomination forms to attend the RNC Convention. As you know, communication is vital and when an organization is not communicating effectively we obviously can't function well or reach our goals. I will continue to try and keep things moving in this critical election year, but need you to understand the level of difficulty that we are dealing with. Please see the meeting notice from the KSGOP's Friday File below. I apologize for not being able to provide any details or answers to your questions and concerns about the upcoming state committee meeting. Thank you all for your involvement and tireless work for the Party. It's refreshing to see your impact in the communities you serve. Keep up the great work!
In Liberty, Laura Francis, Big First Chairwoman
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ERIC RUCKER - CHAIRMAN 785.250.7461
PEGGY MAST - VICE CHAIRMAN 620.344.0959
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|  | LINDA HIGHLAND - SECRETARY 785.844.1087
RAY SHINN - TREASURER 785.294.1514 |
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