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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