A Right-Wing Legal Group’s Lawsuit Over a High School Wrestling Match Falls Apart on Video

This is another Riley Gaines  person trying to say she lost only because her opponent was trans.  They claim that the wrestler Kallie Keeler was sexually assaulted.  The issue is that all the wrestlers asked and the experts say the moves were standard wrestling moves.   Even the coach says that fingers often end up in places they don’t belong in normal activities in public.  I was not a wrestler, but I know someone who did wrestle in high school.  I had joked with him I couldn’t have done wrestling with all the hands on the crotch of the wrestlers touching each other’s cocks and balls or fingers in the butt.  He told me it was very common and if you watched many boys got up from the floor during or after a match with hard ons or wet spots on their uniforms where their dicks are.   The law suit is an over the top attempt to get wrestler Kallie Keeler a bunch of rewards that she did not earn and to punish all trans athletes.  It also is so she can repeat Riley Gaines track of using her anti-trans hate to be on TV and make a lot of money she wouldn’t make if she was not pushing bigotry and hate.  Plus if the opponent was a cis girl and accidentally did the same thing she wouldn’t have won either.  This is a Christian family who feels entitled to award seh did not earn.  Athe the end of the video he reads responses and comments from anti-trans people who said it was a commonly used move and sexual touching happens.   Hugs

 

The right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a sweeping federal lawsuit on behalf of Washington high school wrestler Kallie Keeler, claiming she was sexually assaulted during a match against a transgender opponent.

The problem? There’s video of the match, and according to multiple wrestlers, coaches, and wrestling experts I spoke with, it shows nothing controversial. Just legal, routine wrestling techniques.

The lawsuit goes far beyond the match itself, targeting the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), school officials, coaches, and state authorities while demanding that Keeler’s losses to transgender athletes be erased from the record books and that trans athletes be barred from competing against her in the future.

Despite the dramatic allegations, Pierce County prosecutors declined to pursue criminal charges, and even some conservatives who oppose transgender participation in sports have criticized ADF’s characterization of the match.

Open Secrets Checked Into Congressional Campaign Spending:

Pride Month politics: LGBTQ+ PACs are spending big on key congressional races

Pride Month politics(Photo by Douglas Rissing via Getty Images)

Political action committees focused on LGBTQ+ issues have already spent big in the 2026 election cycle. They have doled out hundreds of thousands of dollars to support congressional candidates who identify as sexual or gender minorities, as they seek to both defend and expand representation.

Ten LGBTQ+-focused PACs contributed a combined $637,849 to congressional candidates so far in the 2025-26 cycle (through March 31), supporting incumbent lawmakers, candidates pursuing historic firsts and contenders in open-seat and other competitive races. The top five PACs gave $593,041, or 93%, of that total.

(The chart coded below can be seen on the story page, linked in the title above, or at the end of the article.)

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Equality PAC, the political arm of the Congressional Equality Caucus, is responsible for 29% of the contributions to candidates from LGBTQ+ PACs ($185,000). It works to elect openly LGBTQ candidates and allies committed to passing the Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in areas including housing, employment and lending. 

The Human Rights Campaign, which describes itself as the nation’s largest civil rights and LGBTQ lobbying organization, gave $141,541 to many of the same candidates and accounts for 22% of this total. Equality Project PAC, which has also been associated with the Equality Caucus, has contributed $115,000 (18%). No Vote Left Behind PAC, which describes its mission as developing and funding voter registration and get-out-the-vote programs targeted to the LGBTQ community in battleground states, contributed $84,000. Christopher Street Project, which focuses on electing candidates committed to advancing trans rights, contributed $67,000.

Equality PAC leaders are also its recipients

Reps. Becca Balint (D-Texas) and Julie Johnson (D-Texas) serve as the PAC’s vice chairs and have received $7,500 and $5,000 from the PAC, respectively. Two co-chairs, Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.) each received $10,000 from the committee. 

Balint is the first woman and openly LGBTQ+ person to represent Vermont in Congress and has supported numerous pieces of legislation that protect LGBTQ+ Americans and their access to healthcare. In 2025, she introduced the Transgender Health Care Access Act, which would fund programs to train medical providers in providing gender affirming care.

Balint has received a total of $22,000 from LGBTQ+ PACs, including the $7,500 from Equality PAC, $5,000 from No Vote Left Behind PAC and $4,500 from Equality Project PAC. She also received $2,500 from both the Christopher Street Project and the Human Rights Campaign.

Johnson, who was running for reelection in Texas’ 33rd district, received over $40,000 in donations from various LGBTQ+ PACs, the most of any candidate, yet lost in the Democratic primary runoff on May 26.

In a statement about Johnson’s loss, Equality PAC said, “Texas – and likely the entire South – will lose openly LGBTQ representation in Congress. Many in our community remain deeply hurt by Colin Allred’s decision to challenge one of our own. As he moves forward, he bears a responsibility to help heal those divisions and rebuild trust with the communities impacted by this race.”

Torres, who represents New York’s 15th district, became the first openly LGBTQ+ Afro-Latino person elected to Congress after he defeated Patrick Delices in the 2020 election, receiving 88.7% of the vote compared to Delices’ 11.1%. 

In 2023, he was selected to serve as a co-chair of the Equality PAC. “Congressman Torres is one of Equality PAC’s greatest and proudest success stories. We all know that representation matters – and that is why Equality PAC was the first major national organization to endorse his congressional campaign in 2019,” said fellow co-chair Takano. “As the first LGBTQ Afro-Latino ever elected to Congress, Congressman Torres is a living example of Equality’s PAC mission to make Congress look like America — and that includes LGBTQ America.”

This cycle, Torres received $10,000 from both Equality PAC and Equality Project PAC. He also received $10,000 from No Vote Left Behind PAC and another $2,500 from the Human Rights Campaign.

In 2012, Takano became the first openly LGBTQ+ person of color elected to Congress. Takano serves as the chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus and is the lead sponsor of the Equality Act, the caucus’s flagship bill.

PACs focused on gay and lesbian rights donated $35,000 to Takano, who represents California’s 41st district. Contributions from Equality PAC, Equality Project PAC and No Vote Left Behind PAC compose a majority of this, with each organization donating $10,000 to Takano’s campaign. 

Takano also received $2,500 from the Christopher Street Project and $2,500 from the Human Rights Campaign.

Equality PAC prioritizes additional LGBTQ+ history-making candidates

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) is the first openly LGBTQ+ immigrant elected to Congress and has championed legislation promoting global gender and sexual equality, such as the International Human Rights Defense Act. 

Garcia, who represents the Golden State’s 42nd district, has received $22,000 from PACs focused on LGBTQ+ issues so far this cycle. Equality PAC, the political arm of the Congressional Equality Caucus (of which he is a co-chair) contributed $7,500 to Garcia’s campaign. 

Equality PAC has maintained its support for Garcia since 2024, having donated $7,500 to his campaign that cycle.

Rep. Emily Randall (D-Wash.) is the first openly LGBTQ+ Latina to serve in Congress and is the first woman to represent the state’s 6th district. Randall has championed the reintroduction of the Equality Act, which ensures nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Americans, and national LGBTQ+ organizations have continued to support her as she seeks reelection.

Randall, who will not face any challengers in the Aug. 4 primary, has received $11,500 from LGBTQ+-focused PACs this cycle. She received $5,000 from Equality PAC, as well as $3,500 from Human Rights Campaign and $3,000 from Equality Project PAC.

Equality PAC first endorsed Randall’s run for Congress in 2023, stating that she has “worked tirelessly” in the State Senate to make Washington one of the most inclusive and accepting places for LGBTQ Americans.

Marni von Wilpert, an LGBTQ+ member of the San Diego City Council and a former civil rights attorney, is running for California’s 48th district. She has raised $1.2 million so far, with $32,500 coming from LGBTQ+ PAC contributions.

Equality PAC donated $10,000 to von Wilpert’s campaign and stated in its endorsement that she “represents one of our best chances to elect a new LGBTQ woman to Congress this year.” Wilpert also received $10,000 from both Equality Project PAC and No Vote Left Behind.

Von Wilpert has also been added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue program, which provides Democratic candidates in particularly competitive races with organizational and fundraising support.

Rep. Chris Pappas (D) became New Hampshire’s first openly gay member of Congress when he was elected in 2018 to represent the 1st district. Now, as he runs for Senate, Pappas has become a focus for LGBTQ+ PACs looking to support increased representation in a chamber that has had very few openly LGBTQ+ members in its history.

If elected, Pappas would become the first openly gay man elected to the Senate, making the race particularly significant for PACs seeking to expand representation.

In its endorsement of Pappas, Equality PAC said New Hampshire “needs a fighter in the Senate who will put the Granite Staters first, and Chris Pappas has proven time and time again that he is that leader.”

LGBTQ+-focused PACs have contributed $11,050 to Pappas in 2025-26, including funding from LGBTQ Victory Fund, the Human Rights Campaign, No Vote Left Behind PAC and Equality Project PAC.

This article was originally published by OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that tracks money in politics. View the original article.

FED UP Graham Platner FINALLY SNAPS And COMPLETELY TORCHES Trump!!

Kyle kulinski breaks down the attacks on Platner on main stream media and the people pushing the attacks.  Such as the woman who was on CNN claiming it was a shame for the party that Platner’s transgressions were being over looked and that it was a gender problem.  Kyle points out that same woman was on the Edwards for president team and stayed on after it broke he was having an affair with another woman as his wife battled cancer.  Edwards committed 8 felonies to cover it up.   Womanizing did not seem to bother her then.  Maines House Minority Leader described Platner as having deep and disturbing personal issues.  That is the same person who threw a bucket of human feces (shit) at someone, sunk three boats, nearly killed his sternman with his fooling around on the water and claimed Jesus saved him when he capsized his boat.  Kulinski goes on to explain that the reason so many horrible people are attacking Platner is his stance against the oligarchy, his anti Israeli genocide, and his antiiwar stance, and he is a threat to the established order.   The worst thing is the DNC has removed Platner’s campaign from their list of candidates to run adverts supporting.  He is against their continuing the status quo so they would rather have a republican take the seat to maintain the support for Israel, the establishment, and more  money for the wealthy at the expense of the lower incomes.   Worth a watch.  Hugs

 

Sodom & Gomorrah is not about homosexuality

Dan McCellan again goes to great lengths to explain that the bible doesn’t talk about homosexuality.  He first explains that the frame work of same sex attractions did not exist in the people’s worldview.  The social frame work for sex was not desire but power / authority over others with the penetrative man being the top of the hierarchy with the receiving person the woman was lower in status because she received the man as he penetrated her.   If a man penetrates another man the man doing the penatrator is emasculating and feminizing the man receiving the penetration, lowering that man’s status to the level of a woman.  In the culture of the time of the bible status as a man was paramount so to show dominance over another man they would rape them.  Simple.  He explains why they did not do to Lot’s daughters what they did to the Levite’s concubine.   He goes over the reasons that Genesis 19 is about males using dominance over the other.  He explains it a lot better than I can.  But the main thing to understand is it was not same sex orientation that was the issue it was one man dominating another by penetrating him, which caused a loss of status that was what they were trying to say was a sin.  In other words men don’t ruin the good thing we have going by making some men have a lower status or women will see we are not really so much better than them.  Hugs

 

Today and tonight. And I am sorry

It is 6:15 my time and I am in a lot of pain and struggling.  I had my allergy shots this morning then when I got home, I started to work on the laptop Ron’s sister gave him.  It is a cheap incerolron windows 11 with 6 GB of RAM.  It was so frustrating to deal with.  I spent nearly five hours on it before I gave up, put his old Windows 10 laptop back on his desk and hooked it to his monitor along with his USB devices.  By this time my pain levels were hitting maximum.  

So then I went to my office and started to make tomorrow’s cartoons / memes / news post I just wore out.  I started too late and am in too much pain.  So Ron made supper so I could go to bed.  We had originally planned for a hamburger and salad each.  But as he went to make supper I told him I just wanted the salad.  After I ate I was glad I did I barely ate the entire salad he made for me.  

But when I thanked him and said it was good he had not cooked the hamburgers he told me he had cooked them after I told him that as he figured I wouldn’t be able to eat a salad and a hamburger so he had always planned to eat both burgers himself, which he did.  I guess good that it worked out for both of us but bad that he already knew I wouldn’t be able to eat.  

By the way even though this bit of information is not needed or necessary the salad was the only thing I have eaten today.  I don’t know what changed.  I was making great improvement in staying up and in eating.  I was up to eating two rather decent meals a day.  Then suddenly I couldn’t, and I suddenly needed to go back to bed in the morning and to bed before 6 or 7 pm.  Ron is again worried.  I told him it probably was my pain levels as the pain clinic needed to cancel my in person visit to get my trigger point injections.  But I am not sure if he is buying it.   Anyway.  I will try to get up by 4 or 5 to get the mentioned post out in the morning.  But no guarantees on that.  I can only say I enjoy doing them, I really love that people want and enjoy them, but my idea of doing them one day to post the next has not worked out since my relapse.   Best wishes for all and hugs for those that want them.  I am off to bed.  

Interior Dept Declares Reflecting Pool Is “Crystal Clear” As Huge Chunks Of $14M Paint Job Float To Its Surface

The gaslighting is telling the public to disbelieve anything that doesn’t make the dear leader good is on max.  The below post will show how badly tRump is at picking contractors, selecting the desired result, and that everything he does is a grift to gain him money.  This last few years it has been at the expense of every person who pays any kind of taxes to the US government.  All while cutting every social safety net to the people of the country to give even more wealth to the most wealthy that tRump desperatly wants him and his family to be a member of.  Hugs

Interior Dept Declares Reflecting Pool Is “Crystal Clear” As Huge Chunks Of $14M Paint Job Float To Its Surface

The Huffington Post reports:

President Donald Trump positioned himself as a swimming pool expert as he touted the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovations he ordered this year, having put in “more than 100” over his career. But after spending $14 million, the reflecting pool now looks arguably worse than it did before. Aside from the green hue of the water, the product of what is reportedly one of the largest algae blooms in recent years, the “industrial-grade swimming pool topping” that Trump chose is already peeling off in sheets.

A man who gave his name as Sean told HuffPost that he had experience working on swimming pool coatings in the past, and did not seem surprised to see the peeling. “This is an epoxy,” he said of the coating. “This is something you would do on a concrete — on a shot concrete sort of pool where you have leaking. And then you spray this out. But in a pool, you’re dealing with a whole lot less square feet. So you can do special treatments on it … so it isn’t going to come back up.”

The Interior Department writes on X:

The advanced nanobubbler technology very effectively killed the algae that has plagued every Lincoln Reflecting Pool reopening—most infamously Obama’s reopening—since 1922.

The Reflecting Pool water is crystal clear, and our National Park Service team is now vacuuming up the dead algae resting on the bottom of some parts of the Reflecting Pool—just like the destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf.

The vacuuming is the final maintenance step after refilling the pool, and it will be complete in a few days. Already, the section of the Reflecting Pool closest to the Lincoln Memorial has been vacuumed up, and the beautiful American Flag Blue coating on the bottom of the pool can be seen clearly.

Previous administrations—most notably under Obama—failed to maintain the Reflecting Pool, and after refilling the pool, the water would quickly become murky and thick with massive clumps of algae floating on the surface.

Video below already has over 4.3 million views.

The videos I can’t post because they are on the horror experience are called X.  But below are a few comments from site viewers.

 

 

 

Another Funny Riley Gaines Jab-

(I’m away for the rest of the afternoon of course, so enjoy and I’ll catch up ASAP.)

Riley Gaines Sparks Backlash After Video Of Her Taking Directions On Her ‘Very Passionate’ MAGA Beliefs Goes Viral

maga influencer Riley Gaines sparked controversy after a behind-the-scenes video of her practicing a spot for Patriot Mobile and repeatedly asking what conservative talking points she should hit went viral.

By Amelia Mavis Christnot

Fifth place collegiate swimmer turned anti-trans activist turned MAGA trad-wife influencer Riley Gaines is drawing new backlash and mockery online after requiring her sponsor, Patriot Mobile, to tell her what she “feels very passionately about” in a recently leaked behind-the-scenes video from an ad campaign video shoot.

In the clip, Gaines asks what the MAGA brand Patriot Mobile wants her to say, asking what the “pillars” of her beliefs are and counting on her fingers as she repeats them. An offscreen company representative can barely be heard answering her questions.

The pillars listed include the First Amendment, Second Amendment, reproductive freedom is bad, and something about veterans. Gaines then does a quick take before stopping again and asking how exactly to state the beliefs Patriot Mobile told her to have.

The clip quickly went viral across social media.

You can watch the clip here on multiple platforms:

https://youtu.be/ON3zZGgyJZw?si=7Ots7kmIGrZDHDiX

(snip-above is YouTube; there are BlueSky and other social posts embedded on this story’s page, linked in the title above. The posts are hilarious, as one would infer. Enjoy!)

Gaines was once the darling of the MAGAsphere, garnering invitations to the White House, CPAC, and MAGA rallies, but has lost some of her shine. She’s since even drawn criticism from MAGA Republican President Donald Trump and ridicule from both the right and left.

An ad campaign for anti-trans clothing line XX-XY Athletics drew widespread mockery instead of the sympathy it was aiming for. The brand, who made transphobia their brand—literally—released an ad on X featuring Gaines claiming she had been “silenced” by trans rights activists.

With her single focus of anti-trans bigotry and hatred no longer paying off like it had in the past, Gaines has tried to branch out to embrace other MAGA core values, but with very limited success.

Since it’s a new angle for her, no wonder she needs to be told what it is she now believes.(snip-end)

WaPo: Reflecting Pool Algae Is Now Worse Than Ever – Joe.My.God.

So I question the sudden need and ever escalating cost of this not needed in a time of austerity cuts to healthcare and food for lower incomes. It recently came out that tRump charges a contracting fee of 2.4% on all these projects he is pushing at taxpayer expense. This failed project costs went from 4 million up to over 13 million, and tRump got a cut of that even as the costs rose. Again with tRump is is just another scam to rake in money he did not deserve nor did any work to earn. tRump and crew are using the US federal treasury like their own unending horn of plenty slush fund to enrich themselves while starving the public. And it is all illegal as congress has not approved any of it and the president can not spend or authorize funds that congress doesn’t approve. We have to have the democrats gain control of the congress and put a stop to this lawless raiding of the public funds to enrich a crime family and their republican sycophants. Hugs

https://www.joemygod.com/2026/06/wapo-reflecting-pool-algae-is-now-worse-than-ever/

Best Wishes and Hugs,
Scottie

GOP Rep Reintroduces “Family Month” Resolution – Joe.My.God.

This is another attempt to push fundamentalist Christian nationalist way of life on the entire public / population. These people don’t seem to understand religious freedom of belief is for everyone not just them and most of the public don’t agree with them. While they are free to live as they wish and think how they want they are not allowed to oppress and dictate the way others live and think. Also my family is a loving nuclear family of two men and a son. The fact is the man woman only marriages can easily end up being a house of horror for many abused children. These people act like the only good families are one man / one woman only and all others are harmful. The implication is that only one man one woman relations are healthy for children and all others are horrific for kids. But the data shows that to be completely wrong. Peer reviewed studies have shown that the children of same sex couples normally do as well or even better than opposite couples. But facts, truth, and data don’t matter to the Noah Ark believing crowd.
I am at my allergist geting my shots. Lately meaning the last few days I have regressed to not eating and needed to sleep a lot. Ron and I plan to work on getting my food intake back to a more normal level. Hugs

https://www.joemygod.com/2026/06/gop-rep-reintroduces-family-month-resolution/

Best Wishes and Hugs,
Scottie

Look At This Chicken S–t Thing KS Republicans Are Plotting:

(Republicans ruin everything; I was only checking the TV schedule! I included the entire article here; the position Marshall may take is quite far into the article. The thought is that RFK Jr. will be ousted after the ’26 elections.

This is why every election on the ballot matters, and why a Republican supermajority state legislature is to be avoided.)

Kansas Republicans could try to delay election for U.S. Senate if Roger Marshall leaves office

  • Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector
  • Jun 18, 2026 Updated 36 mins ago

TOPEKA — A Republican-conceived law usurping Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s discretion when filling vacancies in certain Kansas statewide elective offices could complicate the competitive race for U.S. Senate.

Candidates and political observers wonder whether Kansas Republicans could attempt to avoid holding an election for U.S. Senate this year by having the incumbent, Republican Roger Marshall, resign from office to take a position with President Donald Trump’s administration. The power play would raise constitutional questions.

The catalyst for this fear is a 2025 law requiring vacancies for U.S. Senate, state treasurer and state insurance commissioner to be filled by Kansas governors by choosing from a list of finalists endorsed by the full Legislature or a 12-person GOP-controlled legislative committee. A governor of Kansas in the past could immediately and unilaterally choose a person to temporarily fill these jobs pending an election, but the new law limited the governor’s options to members of the former officeholder’s party.

In addition, the same state law says if the vacancy were created after May 1 in an even-number year, such as 2026, the appointed replacement wouldn’t go before voters in an election until “two years following the year in which such vacancy occurs.” A simple reading of this Kansas statute — in isolation from the U.S. Constitution — suggests appointees chosen to fill these jobs this fall would avoid facing voters until 2028.

“This is certainly not the norm in the United States,” said Bob Beatty, a political science professor at Washburn University. “Waiting two years is pretty extreme.”

Despite confusing text in the 2025 Kansas law, the U.S. Constitution’s 17th Amendment, ratified in 1913, grants states the right to have temporary officials hold vacant U.S. Senate seats until an election could be held to determine who served out the unexpired term. The constitutional amendment wouldn’t permit states to artificially extend a U.S. Senate term beyond six years regardless of the number of people who were elected, appointed or resigned from the position during the six-year window.

This constitutional intent wouldn’t prohibit an individual or organization from raising legal challenges that portray Senate Bill 105 as a clever way of delaying an election amid a senator’s resignation.

Republican and Democratic strategists and candidates in Kansas have been weighing the possibility of Marshall prevailing in his August reelection primary and resigning a month or so later after securing a coveted appointment in the Trump administration. For the first time, under this scenario, Kelly and the Legislature would be responsible for implementing the 2025 law.

Without changing state statute on U.S. Senate vacancies, Marshall’s departure would have enabled Kelly to appoint a Democrat to his seat and weaken the GOP’s grip on the U.S. Senate.

Former Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer dropped out of the GOP’s gubernatorial race June 1 after Trump attempted to break the GOP candidate logjam by endorsing Senate President Ty Masterson for governor. If Colyer were to be nominated to a vacated U.S. Senate seat by Republicans in the Legislature and if he was chosen from among three finalists by the Democratic governor, the new state law could be interpreted to mean Colyer could avoid having his name on a ballot until November 2028.

“This would be helpful for Republicans,” said Beatty, who expected GOP candidates to suffer at the ballot box from Trump’s sagging approval rating. “You get two years for the handpicked person to raise money and avoid an off-year election.”

Statutory uncertainty

Marshall’s chief of staff, Brent Robertson, bluntly answered an inquiry Wednesday about his boss’ future: “Senator Marshall will be running for reelection.”

Nevertheless, Secretary of State Scott Schwab’s staff has been working on an analysis of SB 105 to outline how the process of filling a vacancy for U.S. Senate, state treasurer and insurance commissioner might unfold in 2026. The report hasn’t been released by Schwab, who is the state’s top elections official and a GOP candidate for governor.

In Kansas, the August primary ballot for U.S. Senate has been set. It includes Marshall and one GOP rival, Lawrence resident Pond Naramore, who filed with a campaign email address indicating he could be a “Republican in name only.” There are 11 Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate in Kansas.

If nominated on Aug. 4, Marshall’s name could legally be withdrawn from the November ballot if he was deceased, medically unable to perform the job, or he transferred his official residency outside of Kansas.

Colin McRoberts, an attorney and Democratic candidate for U.S. House in the 1st District, has questioned whether SB 105 could lead to the unprecedented postponement of the 2026 U.S. Senate election. He said Kansas would be forced to unravel the issue if U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. were ousted and the president nominated Marshall, a physician, for the HHS job.

“They probably want someone they can confirm relatively easily, and that would be Roger Marshall,” McRoberts said.

Impetus for amending the Kansas election law was driven by GOP anxiety about Marshall’s possible departure from the U.S. Senate and GOP frustration with Kelly’s decision in 2020 to name Democratic Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers to replace Republican state Treasurer Jake LaTurner, who had been elected to the U.S. House.

The Legislature passed the vacancy statute in March 2025 on votes of 84-36 in the House and 31-9 in the Senate. Kelly choose not to veto the bill, but referred to it as a “partisan power grab” by the Legislature when she allowed it to become law without her signature.

“I was there the day they voted. I knew it was ill-advised,” said Christy Davis, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. “This is just another example of the Kansas Legislature changing the rules to take power that they’ve not been given by the public.”

Kobach’s assessment

During consideration of SB 105, Attorney General Kris Kobach said the U.S. Constitution required Senate vacancies to be filled temporarily so representation could continue until an election was organized. More than 35 states placed sole authority to fill vacancies for U.S. Senate with a governor, pending the election.

Ten states, including Kansas, now require appointees for U.S. Senate to be drawn from the same political party as the vacating senator. Kobach said a process in which the Legislature limited a Kansas governor’s appointment options in this way was “likely consistent with the 17th Amendment.”

However, he said, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear raised constitutional concerns about the Kentucky Legislature’s authority to constrain his appointment power by forcing him to choose from a list of candidates. Eventually, Kentucky lawmakers decided to cut governors out of the process and mandated special elections to fill vacancies.

“While appointment limitations have been implemented successfully in some states, they are not universally accepted and may be subject to legal or political challenges,” Kobach said.

Kobach said amendments to state law on replacing a state treasurer or state insurance commissioner had a good chance of withstanding legal challenge because those offices were a creation of the Legislature rather than a constitutionally mandated office, such as the U.S. Senate.

In the past three decades, four state treasurers have resigned before their terms expired. Three Republicans — Lynn Jenkins, Ron Estes and LaTurner — quit with two years left on their four-year terms after they won elections to Congress. Over that time, no state insurance commissioner has quit.

In the past 100 years, Kansas has had four vacancies for U.S. Senate. Republican Sen. Charles Curtis resigned in 1929 to become vice president, and a Republican was appointed pending a special election in 1930. Republican Sen. Clyde Reed died in 1949 with one year left on his term. A Republican appointee held the seat until a special election in 1950. Likewise, Sen. Andrew Schoeppel, a Republican, died in 1962. He was replaced by an appointee who won a special election in 1962.

In 1996, Sen. Robert Dole resigned to focus on his GOP presidential campaign. Gov. Bill Graves appointed Shelia Frahm, his lieutenant governor, to fill Dole’s seat. In a 1996 special election, then-U.S. Rep. Sam Brownback won a special election for Senate. He won a full term in the Senate in 1998.