Bluestem Pasture Report back in publication

Contact: Lisa Taylor, Public Information Officer (785)296-2653

TOPEKA – Publication of the Bluestem Pasture Report will resume this year after taking a one-year hiatus due to budgetary constraints.

"I’m happy to announce we were able to eke out of our budget the few thousand dollars needed to get this report back in publication," said Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polansky. "It’s too important to ranchers and landlords who rely on it to determine appropriate lease rates in the 14 counties that comprise most of the Flint Hills."

The Bluestem Pasture Report has been in nearly continuous publication since 1927. The only exceptions are 1987, 1988 and 2005, when it was not published due to funding limitations. The 2006 report will be released later this month.

Ranchers and landlords look to the publication for an accurate assessment of pasture conditions and a detailed breakdown of lease rates. The report breaks into several categories the different lease rates for cow-calf pairs and stocker cattle of a certain weight, whether it’s for a partial season, a full season or yearlong grazing.

Polansky credits two legislators with inspiring him to find it within the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s budget to get the report back in publication.

"Every time I saw Sen. Laura Kelly or Rep. Sharon Schwartz, I heard how important this report was to their constituents," Polansky said. "Now I am delivering on my promise to them that I would find a way to get it back into publication."

The Bluestem Pasture Report is funded entirely by the Kansas Department of Agriculture. Data are gathered and reported by Kansas Agricultural Statistics, a cooperative federal-state program involving the Kansas Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Recount: Kelly's win over Sen. Jackson stands

By Chris Moon

Democrat Laura Kelly is headed for the Kansas Senate.

A recount of the roughly 30,000 votes cast in the 18th Senate District showed Kelly beating Sen. Dave Jackson, R-Topeka, by 100 votes. The two candidates each picked up five votes during the recount, which was finished Wednesday afternoon in Wabaunsee and Shawnee counties.

Kelly won 15,388 to 15,288.

Reached by phone after the recount, Jackson stopped short of conceding, saying he first wanted to review the results. But he said he had no plans to challenge the final numbers.

"So that's that," said the Topeka greenhouse owner, adding he wasn't sure what his political future would hold.

Kelly, the former director of the Kansas Recreation and Park Association, expressed relief.

"I'm just glad it's over," she said. "I'm very anxious to move on to the next stage, which is representing the people of the 18th District."

The race was the closest among any state race on Nov. 2. Jackson called for a recount Tuesday after county canvassers certified results showing him just 100 votes behind Kelly in the 18th District, which covers Wabaunsee County and northern Shawnee County.

Kelly picked up two votes in Shawnee County and three in Wabaunsee County during the recount. Jackson picked up all five of his votes in Shawnee County.

Shawnee County Elections Commissioner Elizabeth Ensley explained the vote-counting discrepancy by saying some ballots weren't properly marked, making it difficult for vote-counting machines to read them.

"Xs and checkmarks do cause a problem," she said.

Kelly's win preserves the Democrats' 10 seats in the Senate, where Republicans control the remaining 30.

Democrats had targeted Jackson, who won a surprising victory in 2000 in the longtime Democratic district. Kelly outpaced Jackson in fund-raising throughout the campaign.

Kelly won on election night by 39 votes, a lead expanded to 100 after the counting of provisional ballots. Jackson said he requested a recount because he owed it to his supporters to make sure there were no vote-counting mistakes.

The recount was conducted by machine and was paid for by the state because the margin of victory was less than a half percentage point.

Kelly maintains 100-vote lead after recount

By Chris Moon

Democrat Laura Kelly will be the next senator in the 18th Senate District, according to a recount that was conducted on the more than 30,000 votes that were cast in the race.

Kelly and Sen. Dave Jackson, R-Topeka, both picked up five votes during the recount, which was finished this afternoon in Wabaunsee and Shawnee counties.

Kelly finished with a total of 15,388 votes to Jackson's 15,288.

She picked up two votes in Shawnee County and three in Wabaunsee County. Jackson picked up all five of his votes in Shawnee County.

Neither candidate could be reached for comment early this evening.

Jackson on Tuesday called for a recount in the 18th District, which covers northern Shawnee County and all of Wabaunsee County, after county canvassers approved results that showed the Topeka greenhouse owner just 100 votes behind Kelly.

It wasn't clear why there was a discrepancy in the Shawnee County vote count.

In Wabaunsee County, Kelly picked up three votes after county elections officials completed a recount of the county's more than 3,500 ballots.

Wabaunsee County Clerk Jennifer Savage said she wasn't sure how three Kelly votes were missed on election night and during canvassing.

She said voting machines couldn't read some ballots on election night. Those ballots might have been miscounted when they were hand-tabulated by election workers, or they might have been mistakenly labeled when they were transported, Savage said.

"I honestly can't tell you," she said, noting three votes out of more than 3,500 cast was "a pretty, pretty slight margin of error."

The revised figures in Wabaunsee County showed Jackson still winning the county 2,215 votes to Kelly's 1,313.

Of course, the lion's share of the votes were cast in Shawnee County, where Kelly won by 1,005 votes.

Democrats long had targeted Jackson, who won a surprising victory in 2000 over three-term Democratic Sen. Marge Petty. Kelly outpaced Jackson in fund-raising throughout the campaign.

Kelly, who is the former director of the Kansas Recreation and Park Association, won on election night by 39 votes.

That lead expanded to 100 votes Monday after Shawnee and Wabaunsee county commissioners finished tabulating ballots that weren't counted on election night. Most of those ballots were cast as provisionals because there were questions about the qualifications of those voters.

Jackson requested a recount on Tuesday, saying he owed it to his campaign supporters to make sure there were no vote-counting mistakes.

The recount was conducted by machine and was paid for by the state because the margin of victory was less than a half percentage point.

Kelly wins by 100 votes

Jackson to request a recount of closest state Senate race

By Chris Moon

With all of the votes counted Monday, Democrat Laura Kelly pulled off a narrow upset in the 18th Senate District, unseating Republican Sen. Dave Jackson by 100 votes.

If Kelly's victory stands up to a recount, it would allow Democrats to maintain their 10 seats in the Republican-dominated Senate. The GOP has a 30-10 majority in that chamber.

But Jackson said late Monday he was asking for a recount. Kelly's margin of victory represented just 0.3 percentage points of the 30,666 votes that were cast. It was the closest state race from the Nov. 2 general election.

"You really owe it to the people who supported you and worked for you through the campaign. You want to make sure the voters have spoken and the votes counted correctly," Jackson said. "It's the responsible thing to do."

Jackson and members of his campaign committee plan to visit the secretary of state's office today to ask for the recount. Jackson said he was taking the recount process one step at a time.

"Like Coach Snyder says, you take it one game at a time," he said.

Kelly wasn't worried: "We're confident that this lead will hold," she said.

The election results were made official Monday after Shawnee County commissioners combed through roughly 2,000 provisional ballots that had been left uncounted because of questions about voter qualifications.

Of the ballots deemed valid in the 18th District -- which covers the northern half of Shawnee County and all of Wabaunsee County -- 309 went for Kelly and 217 for Jackson, giving the Democrat a 100-vote lead.

Before Monday, Kelly led by just eight votes.

"Obviously, I'm thrilled," Kelly said shortly after the results were announced. "Now I think I might take a nap."

Democrats long have had their eye on Jackson, who surprised many in 2000 with his 240-vote upset over three-term Sen. Marge Petty, D-Topeka.

This year, Kelly easily outpaced Jackson in fund raising and was supported by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who sent automated phone calls to voters in the district. Jackson, meanwhile, received help from the anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity, which sent mailers proclaiming Jackson "stood against higher taxes and bigger government."

Jackson and Kelly sparred most heavily over tax increases -- Jackson touting himself as a tax opponent while Kelly noted the senator actually voted for a large tax increase during the 2002 session.

Jackson is a greenhouse owner from North Topeka. Kelly lives in Topeka's Potwin neighborhood and is the former director of the Kansas Recreation and Park Association.

On election night, Kelly came away with a 39-vote lead in the race.

But Wabaunsee County commissioners tallied their provisional ballots on Friday, shrinking the margin to just eight votes.

Jackson won the mostly rural Wabaunsee County by a 2-1 margin. But Kelly had the edge in Shawnee County, particularly in Topeka.

Kelly, who has said her top issues are employment, education and health care, said she would reach out to voters in Wabaunsee County.

Jackson, meanwhile, was downcast after the vote canvass -- "Just a little bit disappointed we didn't pick up enough votes," he said.

Jackson will have to get his request for a recount to the secretary of state's office by 5 p.m. today (Tuesday). Because the margin of victory in the race was decided by less than half of a percentage point, or 153 votes, the state would pick up the tab for the recount as long as it is conducted by machine, said Jesse Borjon, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office.

But if Jackson asks for the votes to be recounted by hand, the state would pay for the recount only if the results were changed.

Shawnee County Elections Commissioner Elizabeth Ensley said her office could complete a recount in Shawnee County in one day by machine and and in three days by hand.

Other offices

No local, state or national races were overturned Monday after Shawnee County commissioners had finished tallying provisional ballots.

Commissioners, however, did confirm that write-in candidate Bud Bromich won a spot as a director in the Sherwood Improvement District.

Voters elected three directors on Election Day. William White and Bernard St. Louis were the only candidates listed on the ballot, receiving 1,651 and 1,383 votes, respectively. Bromich finished third with 146 votes.

Meanwhile, U.S. Senate write-in candidate Horace Edwards tallied 744 votes in Shawnee County. Elections officials said those were impressive numbers for a write-in candidate.

Edwards, a former state transportation secretary, still finished last in Shawnee County behind the four candidates on the ballot. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., easily won re-election in the statewide race, tallying 53,491 votes in Shawnee County.

Cait Purinton contributed to this story.

Kelly edges Jackson by 100 votes

By Chris Moon

With all the votes counted, Democrat Laura Kelly pulled off an upset win in the 18th Senate District, unseating Sen. Dave Jackson, R-Topeka, by a 100-vote margin.

Jackson said he is considering a recount.

Shawnee County commissioners today combed through roughly 2,000 provisional ballots that were cast on Tuesday but were left uncounted because there were questions about the voters' qualifications.

About one-third of the votes were cast in the 18th District. Of those deemed valid, 309 went for Kelly and 217 for Jackson -- giving Kelly a 100-vote lead in the 18th Senate District, which covers the northern half of Shawnee County and all of Wabaunsee County.

Before today, Kelly had a mere eight-vote margin in the race.

"Obviously, I'm thrilled," Kelly said shortly after the results were announced. "Now I think I might take a nap."

On election night, Kelly grabbed a 39-vote lead over Jackson, who won his first term four years ago. But Wabaunsee County commissioners tallied their provisional ballots on Friday, shrinking the lead to just eight votes.

Jackson won the mostly rural Wabaunsee County by a 2-to-1 margin. But Kelly had the edge in Shawnee County, particularly in the urban areas of Topeka.

Jackson was downcast today -- "Just a little bit disappointed we didn't pick up enough votes," he said.

His campaign attorneys said the senator would make a decision about a recount by mid-morning on Tuesday. Jackson would have to make his request for a recount to the secretary of state's office by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Jackson, Kelly race heats up

By Chris Moon

Democrat Laura Kelly on Friday accused Sen. Dave Jackson of misleading voters by campaigning on an anti-tax platform.

Jackson, a Republican, countered by saying Kelly would march lock-step with the governor toward tax increases. The hot words, just four days before the election, flew in what is considered one of the most hotly contested races in the Legislature.

Already, an anti-tax group has been blanketing the North Topeka district with postcards in favor of Jackson. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has been sending voters pre-recorded phone messages in favor of Kelly.

Kelly on Friday noted three votes Jackson has taken in support of tax increases. Jackson signed a pledge in 2000 from the Wichita-based Kansas Taxpayers Network promising not to raise taxes.

KTN executive director Karl Peterjohn acknowledged Jackson signed the no-tax pledge in 2000, the year the senator first was elected. He said Jackson has a 40.9 percent lifetime record with the organization on tax bills.

It takes a 75 percent record for the group to be considered "taxpayer friendly."

But Peterjohn was reluctant to blow Jackson out of the water. In a KTN survey on tax issues, Jackson said he would oppose new taxes, support property tax limits and support a proposed constitutional amendment -- the so-called taxpayer bill of rights, or TABOR -- that would put tax proposals to a public vote. Peterjohn said Kelly gave two unclear answers on those issues and then declined to support TABOR.

"Dave certainly did better than Laura did," Peterjohn said. "She's probably not going to be too helpful to taxpayers in 2005."

"In the 18th Senate District, you've got a flawed incumbent and a flawed challenger, and the challenge to the voters is how to sort out their views on fiscal issues," he said.

Democrats have pinned some of their highest hopes on Kelly, believing they can win the historically Democratic 18th District, which covers North Topeka, northern Shawnee County and all of Wabaunsee County.

Jackson, considered among the Senate's more conservative members, said his no-tax pledge in 2000 lost its significance after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. That is when the state's economy soured and revenues lagged.

Jackson did vote for one failed motor fuels tax increase in May 2001 -- four months before 9/11 -- that was designed to bolster the state's highway plan. He explained the vote as keeping promises to communities waiting for highway improvements while not stripping money from public schools to do it. Jackson also voted for a $252 million tax increase in 2002 to bail the state out of a revenue shortfall. And, in 2003, he voted to extend those increases, again, he said, to protect education funding.

But the political action committee of the Kansas National Education Association has recommended Kelly for Senate. KNEA president Christy Levings said Jackson hasn't been supportive of public schools, which haven't seen per-pupil funding increases in three years.

Kelly won't say how she would have voted differently had she been in Jackson's shoes during the past four years.

"I can't answer that question. The devil is always in the details," she said.

Jackson says he knows how Kelly would vote.

"Laura Kelly will vote for any tax increase the governor proposes," he said, noting Sebelius and Kelly are friends.

Sebelius ties keep 18th District race under scrutiny

By Chris Moon

Sen. Dave Jackson says he is on the run.

Less than a month before the November election, the first-term Republican from North Topeka says he can sense the noose tightening around the neck of his fledgling political career. Holding the rope, he believes, is none other than Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

The evidence is there, he contends.

Democrat Laura Kelly, a political newcomer in Jackson's 18th District, raised more money than the incumbent better than three to one through July. More pointedly, Kelly is a friend of Sebelius. The two were neighbors in Potwin, and the Democratic governor encouraged Kelly to run.

Jackson said he compounded matters by upsetting three-term Democratic Sen. Marge Petty, also a Potwin resident and Sebelius friend, during the 2000 election.

And the Kansas Democratic Party considers Jackson's seat the GOP's most vulnerable.

"(Sebelius) probably wants somebody who has a more liberal viewpoint than mine as her senator," Jackson said.

Rebuttal

Not the case, said Kelly, clearly tired of answering questions about her ties to Sebelius. She said she had been planning a run long before the governor asked her. She said Jackson is in jeopardy because she wants his seat, not because of Sebelius.

"I think there's the sense that this is a seat that can be (competitive)," she said. "But whether there's a vast conspiracy, I doubt it. He's just got a very active opponent."

Kelly said Sebelius has attended only two of her fund-raisers, one last fall and another this spring. And Kelly said Sebelius pre-recorded a telephone message to voters before the primary election.

That is all of the governor's involvement Kelly knows about.

"She's been awfully busy running the state," she said. "Some find it hard to believe she's not pulling all the strings. But she's not."

Nicole Corcoran, a spokeswoman for Sebelius, said the governor was willing to help Kelly any way she can.

"(Kelly's) the person I've heard the governor talk about most who would be a good addition to the Senate," Corcoran said, but stressing that the governor was "absolutely not" running Kelly's campaign.

Through July, Kelly's fund-raising prowess had given her one of the biggest campaign war chests in the state for a legislative candidate. New campaign finance reports aren't due out until Oct. 25. But as of July 22, Kelly had $72,438 in the bank as compared to Jackson's $27,595.

Kelly won't say whether she is planning campaign commercials leading up to the Nov. 2 election. Jackson says he can't afford them.

He also says the 18th District can't afford Kelly's politics. Kelly returns the favor, although she tries to refrain from an all-out verbal attack.

Differences

Jackson, a North Topeka greenhouse owner, has painted himself through the years as one of the Legislature's more conservative members. He has called himself a fiscal conservative, saying government should run more efficiently.

Jackson also sides with conservatives on some social issues.

Kelly was the longtime director of the Kansas Recreation and Park Association. She quit her job to run full time for the Senate. She describes herself as a "common-sense moderate."

She says her top issues are education, the economy and more affordable health care.

The candidates have their share of differences.

• Jackson is pro-life. Kelly is pro-choice.

• Jackson voted in favor of a proposed constitutional amendment that would have banned gay marriages and same-sex civil unions in Kansas. Constitutional amendments in Kansas require public approval before going on the books, and Jackson said he wanted to give the public a vote.

Kelly noted Kansas has had a state law banning gay marriages for more than a century, and she said a constitutional amendment isn't necessary.

• Kelly said she would have supported a bill that passed the Legislature this session allowing illegal immigrant students to pay in-state, rather than out-of-state, tuition to attend Kansas colleges. She noted the law requires eligible students to have attended Kansas high schools for at least three years and to be in the process of applying for citizenship.

She said educated immigrants are more likely to stay in Kansas and be productive.

Jackson voted against the measure, saying Friday that many constituents in the 18th District were opposed to it.

• Jackson said he supports a proposed constitutional amendment -- which gained no traction during the 2004 session -- that would have put caps on government spending and require new taxes to be put to a vote. Kelly said she was cool to the so-called "taxpayer's bill of rights," saying it was being pushed mainly by an out-of-state group seeking to alter Kansas politics.

• Kelly doesn't concede the Legislature should raise taxes to beef up the state's school system, which is under court review. She said schools first must prove that they are spending their dollars efficiently through budget reviews.

Jackson repeatedly voted against tax increases for schools during the 2004 session. He said the state needs to make sure more money gets to the classroom and improve its distance learning offerings to avoid closing schools.

Redrawn lines

One factor likely to play into the race is redistricting conducted by the 2002 Legislature, which trimmed some of the 18th District's Topeka precincts and added all of Wabaunsee County.

Jackson considers the more rural nature of the district a plus for him. Kelly said she feels at home in all areas of the district.

Supporters on both sides, of course, are split.

"People are tired of the Legislature being up there and bickering all the time," said Joe Scranton, a former director of the Kansas Democratic Party who is working as a political consultant for Kelly.

Kathy Strunk, a commercial harvest operator and farmer from northern Shawnee County, donated $150 to Jackson's campaign in May.

"Dave is a small business owner with an agricultural background," she said. "I think he has a background that represents this district well when considering that we have both a city and small towns in this district."