HUTCHINSON — Gov. Laura Kelly and Attorney General Derek Schmidt celebrated with rambunctious partisans at the campaign’s first debate Saturday while pointing to their own political accomplishments and heaping criticism on their main rivals in the November election for governor.
Their performances on the Kansas State Fair’s outdoor stage, within walking distance of the butter sculpture exhibit in the Pride of Kansas Building, offered voters opportunity to discern whether the incumbent Democratic governor or the aspiring Republican challenger withered in a punchy one-on-one encounter.
Kelly, a four-term state senator from Topeka, was elected to the top office in 2018. The state’s 48th governor said she warranted a second term after working with the GOP-led Legislature to balance the state budget and build a $1 billion rainy-day fund, to fully fund public education after years of litigation, and to sign into law a plan to eliminate the state’s 6.5% sales tax on groceries.