Those blue dots in a sea of red were enough to elect Democrat Laura Kelly our next governor. Metropolitan Kansans in Wichita, Topeka, Kansas City, Lawrence and Manhattan pushed Sen. Kelly to a comfortable lead over Republican Kris Kobach.
Always the diplomat, Kelly called it a wave of bipartisanship. True enough. It took a substantial amount of Republicans to get her the win, including those of us in rural Kansas.
Here in Allen County, 40 percent of voters aligned with Kelly against 51 percent for Kobach. In the 2016 election, 67 percent of area voters supported Donald Trump for president.
(Click here for complete Kansas election results.)
As someone who promoted himself as a cookie-cutter model of Mr. Trump, Kobach lost ground in these parts, and overwhelmingly so across the state, proving that we are tired of divisive politics and yearn for a leader whos not afraid to reach across the aisle.
Local support for Kelly also shows were not so far apart philosophically from city dwellers, who are predominantly younger and more progressive.
AS A STATE, Kellys win sends a huge message.
We will not be reverting to a destructive tax cut model. We will keep public education a priority. We will give the expansion of Medicaid a serious look. We will not discourage voter participation. And perhaps we will revisit laws that permit concealed carry on campus grounds.
LOCALLY, voters were equally positive, giving resounding approval to renewal of the citys 1 percent sales tax that helps keep our streets and sidewalks in good repair and lends support to Allen County Regional Hospital.
So now lets keep the momentum and address our local schools.
Susan Lynn
