BY SYDNEY HOOVER
Grassroots organizers are encouraging voters in Kansas House District 42 to write in their incumbent, Jim Karleskint, on the ballot this year.
Karleskint, who has served as District 42’s representative since 2017, lost the Republican primary election to Lance Neelly. Neelly will now be listed as unopposed on the ballot. Karleskint said if he were to win a write-in, he would accept it, and from there organizers began spreading the word on social media.
“In my opinion, I think he’s more of a moderate Republican, whereas Lance Neelly has said he is a true conservative,” said organizer Bob Sailler.
Sailler is the Democratic chairman for Eudora’s precinct and is a former teacher. He said after seeing the effects the Brownback administration had on the Eudora School District — including losing 11 teaching positions and requiring a $500 fee for full-day kindergarten — he’s worried about having a “true conservative” representing the district.
Neelly said in a Facebook message to the Eudora Times he believes the grassroots campaign for Karleskint is spreading false information about him and his alignment. He said he plans to represent every voice in District 42.
“We all want to see the 42nd and the state of Kansas prosper, no matter what party or wing we align with,” Neelly said. “I am very anxious to get started achieving that goal.”
In a close race, Neelly beat Karleskint by 123 votes out of more than 3,000 Republican votes cast.
Sailler said he believes many voters who previously voted in the Republican primary switched their affiliation to independent or Democrat because of current rhetoric from President Donald Trump and the party at a national level. Because of that, there were more conservative voices voting for Neelly in the primary.
In 2018, when Karleskint first ran for reelection, he defeated Neelly in the primary by 167 votes of the 2,561 ballots cast.
Ahead of the 2020 race, Karleskint said two organizations — Americans for Prosperity and the Kansas Chamber PAC — sent out mailers encouraging constituents to vote against him in the primary. Both organizations endorsed Neelly.
Karleskint said he believes this is because of the way he voted in some instances during his term in office. He crossed party lines in some instances, including to support Medicaid expansion and to override Brownback’s veto on tax legislation in 2016. Despite this, he said he does not regret the way he voted throughout his term.
Karleskint estimated it would cost around $20,000 to run a successful write-in campaign. He did not have the time or resources to raise that much money, he said, but organizers have made efforts to send emails and post on social media encouraging voters to write his name in.
“I feel like the constituents think there’s not a good choice in Lance because he’s about to be ultra-conservative,” Karleskint said. “It’s not that I’m liberal. I’m more moderate. In many situations I vote conservative, but I think the issue is I work to represent the people, and there’s concern that he won’t.”
Organizers have been at work for a few weeks now, but Karleskint said he thinks it’s too late with many advanced ballots already cast.
“I think it’s a very long shot,” Karleskint said.
Reach reporter Sydney Hoover at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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