Ensley stands out

opinions

July 23, 2010 - 12:00 AM

Elizabeth “Libby” Ensley, election commissioner for Shawnee County, is far and away the most qualified candidate in either party for Kansas secretary of state.
She has been running elections in Shawnee County for the past 18 years and worked in the secretary of state’s office for 11 years prior to that. She would hit the ground running on the first day of her term.
The public knows the secretary of state as the chief election officer. That, of course, is an important responsibility, one which has been carried out faithfully and well over the years by such outstanding Kansans as Jack Brier, Bill Graves and Ron Thornburgh.
But the primary function of the office is to keep records and to work with the businesses of Kansas, large and small, on their corporation returns. Record keeping is what the office does for the 90 percent of the time that it is not involved in conducting elections.
The operation of the secretary of state’s office, therefore, requires a steady, well-organized, competent administrator with unquestioned in-tegrity.
Libby Ensley fits the bill to a T.
That is why she was appointed to her Shawnee County post and reappointed five separate times by two different secretaries of state.
That also is why the list of those who endorse her candidacy reads like a Who’s Who of Kansas Republicans:
— Former secretaries of state, Bill Graves — also a two-term governor of Kansas — Ron Thornburgh and Jack Brier.
— Eight former Republican state chairs: Rochelle Chronister, William Falstad, Mary Alice Lair, Don Schnacke, Don Concannon, Morris Kay, George Nettels and Kim Wells.
— Nancy Landon Kassebaum, the three-term U.S. senator from Kansas who may go down in history as the state’s most widely respected elected official.
An even longer list of noted Republicans from over the state who have served either in public office or as volunteer workers in the party serve on Ensley’s steering committee.
Those endorsements are significant. Ensley has made her living as a public servant and doesn’t have private wealth she can spend on advertising her candidacy. While running Shawnee County’s elections has put her in contact with politicians — which is how she earned their trust and their support in this election — she hasn’t been a politician and thus isn’t known outside of Shawnee County by the general public.
Libby Ensley will do a great job as secretary of state. Please help her help Kansas.

— Emerson Lynn, jr.

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