Republican Scott Schwab and Democrat Brian McClendon disagree on the most basic of questions about the job theyre competing for, Kansas secretary of state.
Case in point: Is it the secretarys job to increase voter turnout?
Schwab, a lawmaker of more than 10 years, says no. He says the things that drive voters to the polls lie beyond the secretarys control times of war, ailing economies, contested races.
The secretary of state cant make people vote and I cant change peoples hearts, he said. All I can do is make sure its a good experience when they do go vote.
McClendon, a former Google vice president from Lawrence, doesnt buy that.
The current secretary of state Republican candidate for governor Kris Kobach has done the opposite, he said.
This summer, a federal judge ruled that Kobach had unconstitutionally blocked tens of thousands of people from registering to vote.
Kobach is appealing, but wont be in the office long enough to see that through. McClendon wants to drop the appeal. Schwab wants to pursue it.
Schwabs campaign cuts a low profile no flashy promises, just to do the job well. McClendon is pitching his Silicon Valley sensibility a competitive drive to push beyond the status quo and make Kansas a leader in election administration.
Schwab is a former chairman of the House elections committee. He helped usher in the raft of statutory changes that reshaped Kansas election law during the Kobach era. Schwab offers to be the caretaker to that legacy who will work out any kinks and make things run smoothly.
McClendon is a technology executive turned ballot-access crusader. He sees myriad ways in which Kobachs office is behind the times and poor at customer service. He launched KSVotes, an app that (according to its own data) nearly 25,000 Kansans used to register with the ease of their own smartphones and nearly 21,000 used to order advance ballots.
Kobachs legacy
During his eight years as secretary of state, Kobach transformed a quiet workhorse office into a megaphone to talk about everything from immigration to guns.
Hes a regular on Fox News and a Breitbart columnist who carries sway with the Trump White House and made secretary of state Kansas second-most visible statewide office eclipsing the attorney general.
