Kansas voters may have begun to atone for Kathleen Sebelius

In Kansas, local politics is often made confusing by the powerful presence of very liberal RINOs. They constitute a third party, and their half-century of influence has done some nasty work, most recently insuring the victory, twice, of Kathleen Sebelius. So-called “moderate” Republicans of the Kassebaum variety have made sure that the state’s governorship for the last 50 years has been in the hands of Democrats. No conservative Republican has ever been elected governor of Kansas, as nobody who has read Thomas Frank’s book knows. The state’s executive branch is now dominated by appointed Democrats.

That may all be coming to an end after last night’s primaries. After 14 years in D.C., Sam Brownback term-limited himself out of the Senate and, according to a local newspaper, onto the porch of the governor’s mansion. After the general election, he’ll almost certainly move inside — and one hopes spend some time undoing the damage Sebelius did to the state’s inept and ideological judiciary. His place will be taken by First District congressman Jerry Moran, who narrowly defeated his ideological doppelganger, Rep. Todd Tiahrt.

But for people who like their conservatism straight up — no glass, no ice — the best news may be the victory of state Sen. Tim Huelskamp, who beat five other candidates (including state Sen. Jim Barnett, Sebelius’s 2006 opponent) to take the GOP nomination for Moran’s seat. I profiled Huelskamp in my book Superior, Nebraska. It’s hard to find a better leader in that sprawling congressional district than the state senator from tiny Fowler. He has to defeat a liberal Democrat to do it, but if he gets to Washington, he’ll be a pretty inspiring guy to watch.