By Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Rep. Alexis Simmons waited until conservative Earl Glynn finished a lengthy presentation of proposed reforms to Kansas election law before raising objections with colleagues about the partisan approach of a House and Senate committee assigned to work on campaign-finance transparency.
Simmons, a Topeka Democrat, asserted Glynn epitomized the ideological tilt of the interim committee against Democrat-aligned organizations. She said focusing on testimony by conservatives who ignored Republican-leaning groups was a disservice to the public.
“I find it not factually appropriate to have only focused on the left,” Simmons said. “I think if we’re going to be making changes to the law around campaign transparency and integrity in our elections that we need to have fair, accurate, factual discussions. This is not.”
Glynn, a retired data scientist from Olathe and a member of the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission, recommended Kansas crack down on nonprofit organizations that he suspected of abusing rules on issue advocacy. He condemned Kansas Values Institute, which had a prominent financial role in opposing a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution to restrict abortion rights. In 2022, the amendment was overwhelmingly rejected by voters.
Nonprofit tax-exempt organizations should be banned from registering voters in Kansas if they targeted partisan segments of the population, he said.
Glynn also endorsed Wyoming’s decision to drop everyone from that state’s voter registration list who didn’t participate in a federal general election. He said voter rolls in Kansas were stuffed with hundreds of thousands of inactive voters who must be removed. He complained about the state’s inability to make campaign finance data more accessible to him and the lack of clarity about who was financing two new Kansas political parties.
“I have a serious concern, frankly, with the entire presentation,” Simmons said. “This felt like an incredibly partisan presentation given during what should be a constructive and transparent committee hearing with integrity.”
“All the nonprofits I talked about are nonpartisan nonprofits,” Glynn said. “How could I be partisan if I’m talking about nonpartisan nonprofits?”
Simmons continued: “I find that insulting to the intellect of this committee to pretend like this is a fair analysis of the state.”
Kansas organizations involved in previous Kansas election reform debates, including the League of Women Voters of Kansas, Loud Light and American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, weren’t on the committee’s agenda.
“Challenge me on my facts,” Glynn said.
Rep. Kirk Haskins, also a Topeka Democrat, picked up the line of questioning. He asked Glynn how he factored personal ideological bias in his campaign-finance research.
“I’m a conservative, center-right person,” Glynn said.
“Obviously, the ones that you selected supported the Democratic ideology,” said Haskins, who inquired as to whether Glynn also had research on GOP-leaning nonprofits that could justify his recommendations for campaign reform.
“I probably don’t currently, but I have in the past,” Glynn replied.
The back-and-forth among Simmons, Haskins and Glynn illustrated intensity of political opinion about demands to reform Kansas’ electoral system.
Sen. Mike Thompson, the Shawnee Republican and chairman of the interim committee, said the exchange initiated by Simmons was out of order.
“Representative, let’s move on. You’re just using this as an opportunity to attack,” Thompson said.
Committee members Rep. Pat Proctor, R-Leavenworth, and Sen. Caryn Tyson, R-Parker, came to Glynn’s defense.
“Thank you, Earl, for being here,” Tyson said. “I’ve known you for years. You are somebody that knows the data, studied the data. You’ve been studying voter data since before it was even an item in Kansas. So, I really appreciate your presentation.”
During a subsequent 10-minute break in the meeting Wednesday, Simmons attempted to speak one-on-one with Glynn to express her disappointment that he had laughed at her criticism.
“It works both ways,” Glynn said.
Tyson stepped into their conversation and accused Simmons of looking for a fight.
“No, I’m looking for respect,” Simmons said. “My point is, please do not come to committee and laugh at members.”
“I didn’t intentionally laugh at you. It was your comments,” Glynn said. “I’m sorry if you were offended, but that wasn’t intended. No disrespect was intended.”
Tyson directed another thought at Simmons: “Oh, my God. I’ve never met somebody so rude.”
The committee’s agenda featured a presentation by David Keating and Bradley Smith of the Institute for Free Speech, which uses litigation, research and education to promote the deregulation of elections. The organization has opposed campaign finance restrictions, including limits on contributions, primarily on First Amendment grounds.
They told the legislative committee disclosure of low-dollar campaign donors created “cancel culture concerns” for contributors and complicated fundraising. The duo recommended Kansas raise donor disclosure thresholds and tie contribution limits to inflation. They said Kansas ought to require redaction from public view of the street address of campaign donors, which would prevent potential “violence or harassment” of contributors.
“Simplify the system as much as possible,” said Keating, president of the Institute for Free Speech.
Josh Ney, an attorney with KN Law Group in Olathe, also addressed the committee. He has represented Kansas conservatives in disputes about investigation of potential campaign finance violations, as well as assertions that grassroots activists engaged in local politics should register as lobbyists.
He proposed the Legislature address a problem in which political adversaries of his clients relied on civil subpoena power to seek access to their confidential communications with government officials. Use of a subpoena for that purpose should be forbidden on constitutional grounds, he said.
At conclusion of the committee’s meeting, House and Senate members proposed the Legislature review campaign finance limits and possibly link caps to inflation. A majority said the Legislature should consider requiring candidates and political action committees to report small-dollar donations to state regulators even if that information wasn’t distributed publicly.
Tyson, the Republican senator, said the Legislature ought to take action to address false information in political mailers and advertising.
“We need to look at that threshold for slander and libel against legislators or elected officials that are also committing it,” Tyson said.
Rep. Shawn Chauncey, R-Junction City, said scrutiny of political advertising should be a priority because bogus claims damaged voter impressions of the character of candidates and was hurtful to candidates’ families.
Proctor, the House Republican running for secretary of state in 2026, said Kansas also should tame “shadowy nonprofits” that narrowly avoided violation of election regulations and made use of millions of dollars in contributions to influence political outcomes.
Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, encouraged the committee to support a law enabling Kansans to register on Election Day. She said the state should take that step if lawmakers made it easier to remove people from registration rolls. Her proposal, however, wasn’t included in the committee’s report.
