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Dennis Moore Retirement Gives GOP A Shot At Kansas House Seat
Every election cycle, on a list of "vulnerable incumbents," the name of Rep. Dennis Moore always comes up. The Kansas Democrat represents the small 3rd District, centered around Kansas City in the eastern part of the state. Aside from Lawrence, which includes the University of Kansas (the most liberal part of the state), the district is reliably Republican. For a dozen years, until her retirement in 1996, the seat was held by Jan Meyers (R).But the ideological war that some Republicans find themselves in was in full bloom in Kansas in the mid-1990s. Vince Snowbarger, a strong conservative who replaced Meyers in '96, had battled with more moderate members of his own party en route to Washington. Moore took advantage of that divide in 1998, ousting Snowbarger and subsequently beating back strong Republican candidates. (Another Kansas Democrat, Kathleen Sebelius -- now the Secretary of Health and Human Services -- also benefited from the GOP family feud by winning the first of two gubernatorial campaigns in 2002.) In his last three races, Moore finished with at least 55 percent of the vote, a sign that some took to mean that Moore was settling in. So while Moore continued to find his name on the list of potential vulnerables, sources in Kansas say that was not based in reality ... that Moore did his homework and was solid with constituent service. They said the only way the GOP could win the seat is if Moore retired. And that's what's going to happen today. The move by Moore, after six terms, is thought to be a body blow to the Democrats' chances of holding onto the seat. The Kansas City Star's Steve Kraske says his retirement is "likely to open a political gold rush of potential successors." He lists several Republicans who are ready to jump in the race, including Nick Jordan, who got 40 percent of the vote against Moore last year. Republicans say "they believed Moore ... was in trouble because of his support for many of President Barack Obama's initiatives, including the stimulus package and health care reform." Democrats say that his willingness to break from party orthodoxy, such as his votes on free trade, is what helped keep him in Congress. Posted by: Fred 2009-11-24 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=284075 |