<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1596142924492.jpeg" alt="Kansas candidates for U.S. Senate and congressional seats during the primary ending Tuesday have produced a record number of TV commercials and flooded homes with direct-mail postcards that offer pointed commentary. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
                        <figcaption>Kansas candidates for U.S. Senate and congressional seats during the primary ending Tuesday have produced a record number of TV commercials and flooded homes with direct-mail postcards that offer pointed commentary. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p><b>By TIM CARPENTER</b><br><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/07/30/avalanche-of-kansas-ads-in-gop-primary-races-ignore-restraint/"><i>Kansas Reflector</i></a></p><p>TOPEKA — Competitive 
Republican campaigns for U.S. Senate and House seats in Kansas have 
inspired an unprecedented candidate-fueled, PAC-reinforced barrage of 
advertising that blurs the boundary between edgy and toxic.</p><p>The 95 television 
commercials aired so far is a record for a GOP primary season. Political
 novice Bob Hamilton, who leapt from plumbing company owner to surprise 
Senate contender, stands at 19 ads, also an all-time high in Kansas. But
 the distinguishing feature of the Kansas races churning through 
millions of dollars is that the the heavyweights are embroiled in 
contests demonstrating a previously unmatched affinity for name-calling,
 exaggeration, dark humor, mockery and abuse.</p><p>“The ads this primary have
 taken a step. They’re more provocative. Or, some might say, offensive,”
 said Bob Beatty, a political scientist who has compiled <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/kansaspolitics/videos">a campaign commercial archive</a> documenting decades of Kansas political showdowns.</p><p>The 2020 version of the 
how-low-can-you-go limbo dance includes a colorful offering from 
Sunflower State PAC, which is tied to Democrats fond of attacking Senate
 candidate Roger Marshall: “The swamp creature. He’s at home in the D.C.
 swamp — not Kansas.”</p><figure>
                        <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NNJjW6ddH0c"></iframe>
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>The Plains PAC devoted to derailing Kris Kobach: “Why would Kris Kobach lose again in November? Let’s see, Kobach has strong ties to white nationalists. Kobach was pro-abortion before he was against it. And, he was passed over for a job in President Trump’s cabinet.”</p><figure>
                        <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yvpcRggEmlM"></iframe>
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Hamilton got into the act 
with an ad allowing his wife, Teresa, to offer an insider’s view of the 
candidate: “You hate Hillary and we can’t say what you say about Pelosi.
 These career politicians lying about you. One is a squish and the other
 couldn’t get elected dog catcher.”</p><p>In another Hamilton spot, 
he brags about being a supporter of President Donald Trump, promises to 
drain the swamp and proposes fortification of the border wall with 
Mexico to deter illegal immigrants.</p><p>“Electrify the wall,” Hamilton declares. “Quit crying liberals. It’s just a joke.”</p><figure>
                        <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/91PPqSxSzss"></iframe>
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Heartland PAC’s contribution, at the expense of congressional candidate Jake LaTurner: “Jake voted for the largest tax increase in Kansas history after he signed a pledge promising not to raise taxes. We call that a lie in Kansas.”</p><figure>
                        <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vNtRQOYKFNI"></iframe>
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>And, the Kansas PAC assault on U.S. Rep. Steve Watkins: “Disrespecting and ignoring the law is Steve Watkins’ specialty. Charged with three felonies, including voter fraud. Vote no on Steve ‘Above The Law’ Watkins.”</p><figure>
                        <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RIXk1exgc64"></iframe>
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>In the 3rd District 
congressional primary, GOP candidate Amanda Adkins, a protege of former 
Gov. Sam Brownback, dropped a commercial that bluntly characterized 
rival Sarah Hart Weir’s perspective on the Affordable Care Act signed 
into law a decade ago by President Barack Obama.</p><p>“Sara Hart Weir is lying 
about Obamacare,” Adkins’ ad says. “Why? Because Weir worked to elect a 
Pelosi-backed, Obamacare-supporting Democrat.”</p><p>At the close, Atkins says she approved the message because “Congress doesn’t have a clue and that’s about to change.”</p><figure>
                        <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/41W6QTnHwsw"></iframe>
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Beatty, who teaches 
political science at Washburn University in Topeka, said attention to 
the 11-person U.S. Senate campaign from political action committees 
highlights the national value placed on the seat to be vacated by 
retiring Republican Pat Roberts. Interest in the GOP campaigns for 
Senate has historical roots because no Democrat has won a race for that 
job in Kansas since 1932.</p><p>In the three competitive 
Republican races for U.S. House seats, he said, the candidates and their
 allies have been willing to push the envelope in terms of deflating the
 foe.</p><p>Bill Clifford, a 
physician, Air Force veteran and Finney County commissioner, has taken 
aim at Tracey Mann, who served as Kansas’ lieutenant governor in 2018. 
Clifford’s ads accuse Mann of financially supporting “liberal Democrats”
 and supporting hundreds of millions in new state spending during tough 
times.</p><figure>
                        <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P1egbs38cBU"></iframe>
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Mann responded by accusing Clifford of repeatedly increasing property taxes in Finney County and of voting to extend a stay-at-home order to slow the spread of COVID-19. Mann also pushed out commercials objecting to protests in other states about police shootings and promising to stand with Trump against the “liberal mob.”</p><figure>
                        <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8enoDa-uc9Y"></iframe>
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>Beatty said the emphasis 
on television advertising also may result from the COVID-19 pandemic 
undercutting candidates’ ability to spend six months to one year 
blanketing the state or district. The unwillingness of voters to attend 
public parades, debates or forums since the coronavirus took hold in 
March has restricted opportunities for candidates to make personal 
appeals.</p><p>There’s only one candidate
 for federal office in Kansas investing precious campaign resources on 
the nation’s most pressing issue — the mysterious virus that has killed 
153,000 and infected 4.5 million Americans. Dennis Taylor, the long shot
 Republican candidate in the 2nd District congressional primary, has 
concentrated almost exclusively on the pandemic in his few campaign ads.
 His rivals, Watkins and LaTurner, have not bothered.</p><p>And, Beatty said, Taylor was a rarity for another reason.</p><p>“I’m the only candidate 
not speaking ill of other Republicans,” Taylor promised voters. “I’ve 
run a positive campaign, focused on what’s important to you — a plan to 
get us back to work and school, a plan to test, trace and isolate the 
virus, a pledge to give 50% of my paycheck to COVID-19 relief.”</p><p>Intensity of the campaign 
for U.S. Senate among Hamilton, Kobach and Marshall has drawn headlines 
and profound investment, but that GOP skirmish has left <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/07/28/democrats-see-opportunity-for-senate-seat-in-kansas-gop-primary-battle/">presumptive Democratic nominee Barbara Bollier</a>,
 a state senator from Johnson County, to work with a clean canvas. She 
can talk without interruption about bipartisanship and health care while
 calmly defining herself as a candidate.</p><p>“There’s a simple reason 
nothing gets done in Congress,” she said in a mid-July ad. “Everyone 
treats the other party like the enemy. I’m just not into the political 
fights that get us nowhere. I’m focused on the basics — your health care
 costs, your jobs.”</p><figure>
                        <iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GUckVRb79wY"></iframe>
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure><p><i>Tim Carpenter has reported on Kansas for 35 years. He covered the Capitol for 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal and previously worked for the Lawrence Journal-World and United Press International.&nbsp;</i></p>

Avalanche of Kansas ads in GOP primary races ignore restraint