By Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Rep. Kyler Sweely and former Rep. Jason Probst added a chapter to their political feud Tuesday by offering different interpretations of a verbal exchange that transpired at a charitable event for the Kansas State Fair.
The new dispute between the two men, whose legislative race was decided by 294 votes last November, involves the governor’s office, the Kansas Republican Party and an accusation that Probst made unspecified “homophobic remarks.” Probst said the accusation was a gross exaggeration.
The Kansas Republican Party released on Sweely’s behalf a letter Sweely sent to Gov. Laura Kelly alleging, without audio or visual evidence, that Probst made “homophobic remarks” during a short exchange with Sweely during the Boots and Bling event Saturday at the fairgrounds in Hutchinson. The Democratic governor appointed Probst to the State Fair Board about one month ago.
“His repeated conduct raises serious concerns about his fitness to serve in any official role representing the state of Kansas,” Sweely’s letter said. “I call on Governor Kelly to take this matter seriously. The people of the state should expect nothing less.”
In an interview, Sweely said he had a previous personal encounter with Probst that resembled the clash at the state fair foundation event.
Olivia Taylor-Puckett, a spokesperson for Kelly, said “the governor’s office is looking into the matter.”
Rob Fillion, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, said Kelly should request Probst’s resignation from the State Fair Board.
“For a Governor Kelly appointee to make homophobic slurs to a state legislator at a public event is a disgrace,” he said.
Probst, a Democrat who represented Hutchinson from 2017 until replaced by Sweely in January, said Sweely didn’t accurately portray their interaction at the state fair fundraiser attended by hundreds of people.
Probst said in a statement that Sweely was “doing all he can to deflect from his history of abuse and dishonesty.”
“If his feelings get hurt so easily, perhaps public service isn’t for him,” Probst said. “He is grossly exaggerating the exchange, which isn’t surprising coming from someone who can’t even be honest about something as simple as his address.”
Sweely’s letter to the governor’s office characterized the conduct of Probst approximately three hours into the event as “deeply troubling.” In the one-page letter, Sweely alleged Probst showed signs of being “visibly intoxicated.” Sweely said Probst approached him and “engaged in highly inappropriate behavior.”
“In full view of numerous attendees, including elected officials and local leaders, Mr. Probst made disturbing sexual comments, directed homophobic remarks at me and had to be physically restrained by friends due to escalating and aggressive behavior,” Sweely’s letter said.
Sweely said that regardless of political affiliation, such behavior was “disgraceful, unacceptable and damaging to the reputation of the fair board and the state of Kansas.”
During the 2024 campaign for the Kansas House seat, Probst portrayed Sweely as someone not legitimately from Reno County. Probst said Sweely had engaged in “district shopping” to find a House seat in which a Republican could be competitive.
Several Republicans in Reno County asserted Sweely didn’t live at the residence where he signed a lease before filing as a House candidate.
Before ballots were counted in November giving Sweely a nearly 300-vote margin of victory, videos surfaced showing Sweely holding a pillow to the head of a woman lying motionless on a bed. The video was thought to have been taken during 2023 at a Wichita apartment. The video included an appearance by Rep. Avery Anderson, a Republican who serves a Newton district.
The Wichita Police Department investigated the images before they appeared online. The woman in the footage told investigators that she didn’t consider herself the victim of a crime.
Meanwhile, in February during a House floor debate, now-former Rep. Patrick Penn, R-Wichita, posed a hypothetical question to Sweely about ordering the shooting of “that guy from Hutch,” a reference to a moniker Probst adopted for himself. Their back-and-forth was part of a House hazing ritual in which freshmen representatives undergo questioning by a colleague. This verbal targeting of a peer reflected the U.S. Army service of Penn and Sweely.
In response to the remarks by Penn and Sweely, House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard issued a statement denouncing “use of inflammatory rhetoric that incites violence in any form.”
