BY: ANNA KAMINSKI
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Two former educators who are vying for a Manhattan-area state Senate seat are drawing lines in the sand on religion and partisan politics ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Incumbent Sen. Usha Reddi, a Democrat and former school teacher, faces a challenge from Republican Brad Starnes, a former district superintendent. In the undercurrent of their race is an effort by Democrats to break Republican supermajorities in the Kansas House and Senate. A Republican hasn’t won the 22nd District seat in Riley County since 2008.
Reddi has expressed concerns about Starnes’ stance on the separation of church and state. He said at a recent forum “there is no such thing in the law.”
“At every forum and discussion, the topic of public education and school vouchers comes up,” Reddi told Kansas Reflector. “One of my concerns is my opponent’s stance on the separation of church and state. He denies this principle, which raises serious questions about the kind of policies he would promote.”
She suggested Starnes would prioritize “his personal beliefs over the constitution” as a decision-maker.
Those are pure speculations, Starnes told Kansas Reflector.
“The bottom line is I’m a constitutionalist,” he said.
He said no state should dictate what religion ought to be practiced or how and where someone should worship, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment. Instead, he sees the topic of religion in campaign conversations as a way to “educate people about their constitutional rights,” he said.
However, he added the United States is “founded on Judeo-Christian values. We pledge allegiance to the republic under God.”
While superintendent of Wabaunsee public schools, Starnes supported a program focused on religion in education. The RESPECT project, which stands for Religious Expression Supports Positive Equity-Centered Teaching, was aimed at educating teachers and students about their First Amendment right to freedom of religion, Starnes said.
Reddi called out the project as problematic at an Oct. 9 candidate debate at Kansas State University.
“My concern is this blurs the lines between separation of church especially when there are private schools and churches that are set up for this purpose,” she wrote in an email.
Reddi, a Hindu, told the Kansas City Star in 2019 that religion rarely came up in her campaign for Manhattan City Commission. Now, as she seeks to retain her state senate seat, religion and the separation of church and state have differentiated her and her opponent.
Reddi was an Ogden Elementary School teacher. She was first elected to the city commission in 2013. She served as Manhattan’s mayor between 2016 and 2017 and again in 2020 before unsuccessfully seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. She was appointed to the Riley County district seat in the Kansas Senate in 2023 after her predecessor, Tom Hawk, retired on the first day of the session.
In the 2024 session, Reddi co-sponsored a bill to abolish the death penalty and a bill to allow local governments to set their own minimum wage rates, both of which died in committee. She has promised to support Medicaid expansion if reelected.
Starnes, who is active in K-State’s Catholic student center, was the superintendent of the Wabaunsee Unified School District 329 from 2015 until 2022 after serving as superintendent of Riley County Unified School District 328. He lost a 2022 primary bid for the district’s House seat. He has said he’s in favor of less government and more local control.
He and Reddi have both made promises on the campaign trail to fully fund public schools and defend abortion. Starnes also said he supports “school choice” but is against tax dollars following students from public to private schools.
Starnes said in an interview Republicans and Democrats can often agree on 60-80% of issues.
“We’re so caught in these political gains,” he said. “We’ve got to move things forward.”
If Reddi retains her seat, Democrats could break the veto-proof Republican supermajority in the Senate by flipping three other districts. Starnes said retaining the Republican supermajority has been on the back of his mind but that he is focused on “running to help people.”
Reddi said breaking the supermajority ensures “good governance.”
“If the supermajority remains intact, we are likely to see more extreme legislation, including expanded voucher programs that undermine public education, zero corporate income tax, blocked Medicaid expansion, and additional restrictions on women’s health care,” she said. “Without the need to work across the aisle, the majority party would have little incentive to compromise, making it difficult to stop harmful legislation.“