Check out the website: https://lenspoliticalnotes.com  Look at the recent Political Notes and Len’s Letters on the website.   

Governor: Political Note #402 Katie Hobbs Arizona Governor, Political Note #358 Laura Kelly Kansas Governor, Political Note #407 Janet Mills Maine Governor, Political Note #381 Gretchen Whitmer Michigan Governor, Political Note # 414 Steve Sisolak Nevada Governor, Political Note #366 Tony Evers Wisconsin Governor.

Lt. Governor: Political Note #419 Matthew Dowd Texas Lt. Governor

Attorney General: Political Note #425 Chris Mann Kansas Attorney General, Political Note #415 Dana Nessel Michigan Attorney General, Political Note #367, Political Note #360 Aaron Ford Nevada Attorney General Josh Kaul Wisconsin Attorney General

Secretary of State: Political Note #409 Bee Nguyen Georgia Secretary of State

November 9th, 2021             Political Note #425 Chris Mann Kansas Attorney General

2022                                         General Election

You can look now.  Look at Kansas politics.  Kansas has a Democratic Governor, a Democratic Lt. Governor, and a Democratic State Treasurer (a very conservative Democratic State Treasurer).  After the 2020 election, Kansas could have a Democratic Attorney General.  These Democrats are a product of two Kansas experiments gone awry.  Governor (and former US Senator) Sam Brownback’s tax experiment was one.  If you keep reducing taxes, he believed, you create prosperity.  Kansans discovered that if you keep reducing taxes you have to reduce services, you might even eliminate public services.  Kris Kobach’s experiment was second and more personal.  Can a Harvard, Oxford, and Yale educated lawyer be hateful enough toward minorities and immigrants and incompetent enough (He consistently had campaign finance problems, for instance) to change Kansas politics?  Kobach’s experiment had mixed results.  He has defeated Republicans in primaries for Congress in 2004, for Secretary of State in 2010 and 2014, and for Governor in 2018.  He has lost to Republicans in a primary for the US Senate in 2020.  He has lost to Democrats in a race for Congress in 2004 and a race for Governor in 2018. He did get himself elected Secretary of State in 2008 and 2012.   In 2022, he could defeat Republicans in the primary for Attorney General and lose to a Democrat in the General election.

If Kobach is the nominee, he will be particularly vulnerable to Chris Mann https://www.chrismannforkansas.com as the Democratic nominee.  In 2002, the year he was finishing his BA at the University of Kansas, Chris Mann was a Lawrence, Kansas cop.  In his early twenties, he ran marathons in his spare time.  As part of his work, he made traffic stops. On January 11 of that year, he stopped a car with a missing tail light. A speeding, drunken driver slammed into the back of the patrol car which then slammed into Chris Mann.

Until the accident, Chris Mann had no other ambitions.  His father was a cop and he was doing what his father did.  With muscles and nerves injured, he struggled.  It was a couple of years before he could stand up for any length of time.  He tried to return to work, but it would not last. Occasionally, his legs would give out; he’d collapse while doing his police work.   He retired and tried real estate.  He tried being a private investigator.

Chris Mann tried school; school to become a lawyer.  As he had loved his father the cop, he loved the law.  He was convinced of his commitment to the law when he testified in the trial related to his injury.  He went to Washburn School of Law in Topeka.  Graduating, he got the job he intended to get.  In Wyandotte County (Kansas City), he was hired as a prosecutor.  He had redefined himself.  He prosecuted drunken drivers and became part of a movement.  He volunteered for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, lobbied in Kansas and Washington for programs to reduce drunk driving, helped create the Kansas DUI ignition lock law.

Chris Mann was becoming a figure in Kansas and nationally.   In 2014, he expanded his working practice – serving as a prosecutor for the Kansas Securities Commission.   In 2015 he became the Chair of the National Board of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.  In 2017, he became a member of Kansas’s Sentencing Commission, which works to ensure fair sentencing in the state.  Chris Mann continues with MADD and the Sentencing Commission.  In 2016, encouraged by his wife, who is a surgeon, he opened his own legal practice.  He has focused on the legally underserved and representation of families with complaints against drunk drivers.

Chris Mann is a contrast to Kris Kobach.  Kobach, with the opportunities that an Ivy League education can bring, has been focused on hatred while doing his work in ways that appeared to be careless.   Chris Mann https://www.chrismannforkansas.com , facing life with a disability, looked for and found a way to be productive.  He has combined the vigor of a traditional prosecutor with a deep and personal concern for victims, regardless of whether they can afford an attorney.  Help Chris Mann make Kansas bluer.

Below are candidates for Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State where there is an incumbent Democratic governor or an open Democratic seat and where the governor’s seat is not considered solidly Democratic.  Take a look and see who you would like to provide some support for.  We need to defend these seats

Kansas Gov             Laura Kelly (Toss up) https://www.laurakellyforkansas.com 

Kansas AG               Chris Mann https://www.chrismannforkansas.com  (not the incumbent)

Maine Gov               Janet Mills (Likely D) https://www.janetmills.com/

Michigan Gov          Gretchen Whitmer (Lean D) https://www.gretchenwhitmer.com 

Michigan AG            Dana Nessel https://www.dananessel.com

Michigan SofS        Jocelyn Benson https://votebenson.com 

Minnesota Gov       Tim Walz (Likely D) https://walzflanagan.org 

Minnesota AG         Keith Ellison https://keithellison.org

Minnesota SofS      Steve Simon https://stevesimonmn.com

Nevada Gov             Steve Sisolak (Likely D) https://stevesisolak.com

Nevada AG               Aaron Ford https://www.fordfornevada.com

Nevada SofS            Cisco Aguilar http://www.cisconv.co  (not the incumbent)

Pennsylvania          Josh Shapiro https://joshshapiro.org  (Open Democratic seat)

Virginia Gov            Terry McAuliffe . https://terrymcauliffe.com November 2, 2021 election date

Virginia Lt. Gov      Hala Ayala https://www.halaforvirginia.com November 2, 2021 election date

Virginia AG              Mark Herring https://herringforag.com November 2, 2021 election date

Wisconsin Gov       Tony Evers (Lean D) https://tonyevers.com

Wisconsin AG         Josh Kaul https://www.joshkaul.org

Wisconsin SofS      Doug LaFollette https://www.facebook.com/sosdoug

Think about Republican Governors  and Lt. Governors we can flip.  In some cases, we know who the Democratic nominee will be.

Arizona                     Secretary of State Katie Hobbs https://www.katiehobbs.org will be the nominee (Toss up)

Arkansas                  African American Nuclear Engineer Chris Jones https://chrisforgovernor.com is making a stir in the Democratic primary for this open seat that would ordinarily be considered (Safe R)

Georgia                     Ex State House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams will be the nominee (Lean R)

Georgia                     State Rep Bee Nguyen https://www.beeforgeorgia.com  is the probable nominee for Secretary of State

Texas                         Ex Congressman Beto O’Rourke has not yet announced but will be the nominee

Texas                         Political commentator Matthew Dowd https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dowd4tx?refcode=ga2  (though he may have a primary opponent)

 

In some states, we don’t know who the Democratic nominee for governor will be

Florida               Ex Gov and Rep Charlie Crist, Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried, and State Sen Annette Taddeo are the principal competitors for the Democratic nomination (Lean R)

Ohio                   Mayors John Cranley and Nan Whaley have announced for this seat where the Republican governor is facing a primary challenge (Likely R)

Maryland          I count eight candidates so far for this formerly Republican open seat (Lean D)

Maryland AG.  Congressman Anthony Brown. https://www.anthonybrown.com  (Open Seat)

 

We do not yet know who the Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor,  Attorney General or Secretary of State will be

Arizona            Three candidates for AG, two candidates for Secretary of State

Georgia            Four candidates for Lt. Governor, two for Attorney General.

Pennsylvania  Two candidates for Lt. Governor

Texas                 Three candidates for Attorney General

REDISTRICTING AND ITS IMPLICATION – in order of map adoption

Oregon                       Adds a competitive sixth seat.  Probable gain of one Democratic seat.

Maine                         Slight changes in its two seats.  Probable no change.

Nebraska                   Changes in its one competitive seat.  Probable no change

Indiana                       Makes a competitive seat less competitive.  Probable no change.

Arkansas                   Reduces potential minority strength in one district. Probable no change.

West Virginia            Loses one seat. Probable loss of one Republican seat.

Texas                         Gains two seats from 23 R 13 D. Adds an R seat and a competitive seat. Probable gain of two Republican seats

Colorado                    Gains one seat from 4D, 3R. Adds a competitive seat with slight R lean. Probable gain of one Republican seat.

So far:                        Probable net gain of one Democratic seat and two Republican seats.

Organizations to support

The Democratic National Committee (DNC). https://democrats.org

The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC) https://www.dscc.org

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) https://dccc.org

The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) https://democraticgovernors.org

The Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) https://dems.ag

The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State (DASS) https://demsofstate.org

The Democratic (State) Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) https://dlcc.org

Fair Fight https://fairfight.com Stacey Abrams organization to support fair elections

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