u/Revenge_of_Larry — reddlx

Longtime federal prosecutor builds case to replace Roger Marshall in U.S. Senate

Jason Hart, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Kansas, believes his 21 years prosecuting child abusers to be “peculiarly relevant” experience in a moment when voters are clamoring for Congress to expose convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s collaborators.

He also wants to see the Senate use its oversight authority to investigate alleged corruption within the Trump administration, including whether a broker for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attempted to invest in major defense companies on the eve of the war in Iran. The Pentagon has dismissed that reporting by The Financial Times as “entirely false and fabricated.”

“Rather than simply pound on a table and grandstand, I’m going to ask questions that have an intended purpose, that are focused on elements of criminality,” said Hart, a University of Kansas law grad who served in the Shawnee County District Attorney’s office and the Kansas Attorney General’s office before becoming an assistant U.S. attorney in 2010.

Hart said that if Democrats regain control of the Senate in November, he envisions televised hearings exposing abuses and collecting evidence to be used in criminal prosecutions under an eventual Democratic administration.

“People want to talk about the economy, and I’m like, yes, affordability happens only if you have accountability,” said Hart, 51, who lives in Wichita and quit his job prosecuting child exploitation and cybercrime cases in March to pursue elected office.

He changed his voter registration from independent to Republican as he explored a primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Ron Estes. Then, he switched his registration to Democratic and waded into a formidable field of candidates vying to take on GOP Sen. Roger Marshall in his first reelection bid.

“I don’t want to give the Republicans my credentials on their side,” Hart said. “I made the joke in the (Kansas) Reflector article that my wife wouldn’t want to sleep with a Republican. Which is true. She did say that.

“I didn’t want to give the Republicans my credentials because I think they have abandoned law and order and I think they have abandoned their moral authority,” Hart added. “And they don’t deserve a candidate like me.”

Hart said he is pro-abortion rights and vehemently opposed to the Trump administration’s “cruel and incoherent” immigration policy. He described himself as a gun owner who supports “rational policies related to gun ownership.”

“If (voters) want to know my politics, they can think about what I’ve been prosecuting,” Hart said. “What I’ve been prosecuting is domestic violence crimes and child abuse, which I tend to think is a more left-leaning, pro-feminist type of prosecution.”

kansascity.com

u/Revenge_of_Larry — 11 days ago

▲ 363 r/kansas

Navy veteran turned Democratic lawmaker now wants Roger Marshall’s Senate seat

In Topeka, state Sen. Patrick Schmidt has cultivated a reputation for his eagerness to wade into debates and to freelance when he disagrees with his own party’s legislative strategy.

In February, he was one of two Democratic senators to support a GOP-led constitutional amendment proposal aimed at capping year-over-year property valuation increases at 3%.

Last year, he drew the ire of reproductive rights groups when he added an amendment to a Republican bill designed to cement child support payments for mothers based on pregnancy costs before birth. Schmidt amended the bill to expand eligibility for a child tax credit to include expecting parents.

Schmidt, a self-described ardent supporter of abortion rights, voted against the legislation in its final form. He justified his amendment as an attempt to either kill the child support bill or broaden a tax break for families struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living.

“I did not write that bill. I did not vote for that bill. I did not support that bill,” Schmidt said. “I tried to kill that bill. I was not successful in killing it, but I did get the child tax credit doubled the year a woman gives birth.”

Schmidt’s own parents were educators who taught a combined 91 years in Shawnee Mission schools.
“Two teachers’ salaries was enough to raise two kids and own their own home,” Schmidt said.

For many young people, that version of the American Dream is no longer realistic, he said, adding that solutions at the federal level will require bold, systemic change.

“We have a very regressive tax structure,” Schmidt said. “We make healthcare astronomically expensive and hard to find, and we have a corrupt system that enables all of this. And Roger Marshall is part of that corrupt system.”

kansascity.com

u/Revenge_of_Larry — 15 days ago

▲ 83 r/kansas

The Kansas Attorney General’s office so far hasn’t prosecuted anyone for violating a new law that polices transgender identity and public restroom usage in government buildings.

The law, which AG Kris Kobach is personally defending against a legal challenge in Douglas County, tasks his office with investigating alleged violations that occur on state property and resolving disputed claims of violations in schools and local government facilities.

The Star filed an open records request seeking copies of every complaint investigated by the AG’s office since the legislation became law over Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto in late February.

“At this time, the Office of the Attorney General does not possess any records responsive to your request,” the official response noted.

One staff member in Kobach’s office said that wasn’t what he was expecting to find.

“It kind of surprised us, let me tell you,” said Matt Bingesser, the office’s records custodian, in a phone call on Monday. “(We checked) on Friday and we were just like, ‘Is this right? Are we sure?’ Yeah, I guess we’ve got nothing.”

u/Revenge_of_Larry — 16 days ago

▲ 259 r/Lawrence

A prominent Lawrence restaurant owner known for his generosity and ready smile has been detained by federal immigration authorities, sparking anger and an outpouring of support from the community.

Victor Roman, the owner of Los Guapos Latin Food on West Sixth Street, is being detained in Kansas City and facing imminent deportation to Guatemala, according to a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $11,000 in just over four days.

“The suddenness and severity of this situation have left the family and our community reeling, unsure of what the future holds for Los Guapos and the people who depend on it,” the fundraiser’s description reads.

“We are coming together to raise funds that will go directly toward supporting Victor during his time in Guatemala — while he awaits his return to the U.S. — so he can be reunited with all the people who love him so,” it continues.

Roman opened Los Guapos in September 2024 with his partner, Lourdes Perez Rojo. Perez Rojo, who also owns Lulu’s Latin Food in Lawrence, confirmed to The Star that Roman was detained by ICE in late April.

Perez Rojo said she is only receiving sporadic updates about Roman’s immigration case as she works to keep the restaurants open and care for her own children and Roman’s two young boys from a previous relationship.

u/Revenge_of_Larry — 18 days ago

▲ 92 r/ksbigfirst+1 crossposts

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has broken with President Donald Trump over a mega-merger between two television station conglomerates that could combine forces to reach approximately 80% of U.S. households, according to estimates cited in federal court documents.

The Republican attorney general on Thursday announced that he had signed onto a bipartisan multi-state challenge in California attempting to block the merger between Nexstar and Tegna because he believes the deal violates federal antitrust law.

“This merger would increase prices of television services for Kansas consumers,” Kobach said in a press release. “The resulting lack of competition will drive up prices.

“We also are concerned about the reduction in the diversity of viewpoints,” he added. “These aren’t Republican or Democratic issues. They are American issues.”

Kobach joined the challenge two weeks after U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley issued a preliminary injunction halting Nexstar’s $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna during the ongoing court case.

The merger has already been approved by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice. In February, Trump took to social media to express enthusiasm for the deal, which required the FCC to waive a rule adopted by Congress in 2004 that bars any one television company from owning local stations that reach more than 39% of U.S. households.

“We need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks,” Trump posted on Feb. 7. “Letting Good Deals get done like Nexstar - Tegna will help knock out the Fake News because there will be more competition, and at a higher and more sophisticated level.”

u/Revenge_of_Larry — 21 days ago

▲ 91 r/kansas

Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson isn’t planning to return or donate the $8,000 that his campaign for governor received last December from a Kansas City-based company on the forefront of the booming 7-OH industry.

Masterson, who is widely considered to be one of the leading candidates in a deep Republican primary field, was gifted the maximum corporate donation under Kansas law from Shaman Botanicals on Dec. 31, Secretary of State records show.

That company is a subsidiary of CBD American Shaman, the nationwide retail empire run by Vince Sanders, who claims credit for developing 7-OH, a potent gas station opioid that researchers consider to be more addictive than the kratom leaves it is derived from.

Another GOP candidate, Johnson County entrepreneur Philip Sarnecki, also received support from a major kratom wholesaler and his wife, both of whom made $4,000 in-kind contributions for “catering & venue rental” in December, according to campaign finance records.

Sarnecki has so far refused to provide information about the nature of his relationship with the couple or which campaign events they were involved with.

The Sarnecki and Masterson campaigns both provided statements to The Star condemning 7-OH and kratom as dangerous and praising lawmakers for taking action to criminalize the substances.

u/Revenge_of_Larry — 22 days ago