Star’s Endorsement in GOP Kansas Senate District 9 Primary

Editor’s Note: Today we are endorsing the Republican primary for Kansas’ 9th Senate District. Read more here to find out which races the editorial board supports, and check out The Star’s Voter’s Guide.

Republicans in Johnson County in Kansas’ 9th Senate District face a choice in the August primary: an incumbent who staunchly represents far-right positions on divisive issues, or a challenger who promises a broader, more bipartisan approach.

Incumbent Rep. Beverly Gossage served four years in the state Senate and quickly rose to chair the important Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare. She has used her position to push legislation harmful to transgender people in Kansas and to block Medicaid expansion.

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Bryan Zesiger, her opponent, is a veteran – he flew helicopters for the army in Afghanistan – and a businessman, co-owner of winery Z&M Twisted Vines.

We support Zesiger.

Gossage has sometimes used her power in Topeka to bully. In February, for example, she called an “informational hearing” on anti-trans legislation on short notice, giving members of the LGBTQ community just two days to organize their testimony and make their voices heard. She also kept the list of conservative activists, who were mostly from out of state, secret from the public — and her own committee — until the last minute.

“It’s a deliberate attempt to make sure people are confused,” one LGBTQ activist told The Kansas Reflector at the time. At the very least, it was a lack of transparency and honesty.

Gossage is also a staunch opponent of Medicaid expansion, despite nearly 70 percent of Kansas residents supporting it in polls. Instead, she has pushed so-called “junk” insurance legislation that would leave working Kansas residents underemployed in times of need and emergency.

Her position on Medicaid, Zesiger told us in our investigation into the approval, “does not reflect the will of the people or the best interests of the people of Kansas.” (Gossage did not respond to the inquiry.)

We agree with Zesiger.

Zesiger agrees that he’s out of step with his fellow Republicans in Kansas. He says the 2020 presidential election was decided fairly. And he says his political hero is Arnold Schwarzenegger, the actor and former California governor who has fallen out of favor with the GOP for his fierce criticism of Donald Trump.

“Schwarzenegger’s ability to work for the common good while upholding conservative principles is something I deeply respect and want to emulate in my own political career,” Zesiger said.

He is a reluctant supporter of Kansas’s attempt to lure the Chiefs and Royals from Missouri. He says he supports special education funding, a longstanding challenge for Kansas schools. And he promises to work toward full funding for police, schools and health care.

Zesiger also speaks enthusiastically about the possibilities of bipartisanship. Polarized politicians, he said, tend to “prioritize party loyalty over representing the broader interests of the people.” He said his goal in Topeka would be to “foster a spirit of cooperation and focus on the shared goals that can unite us.”

Many politicians have embraced bipartisanship in theory, but wither in the face of political reality once they hold elected office. Will Zesiger be different? We don’t know. What is clear, however, is that Gossage has not achieved his goal. That’s why Zesiger is our pick.

Senate District 9 includes De Soto and parts of Gardner, Lenexa and Olathe.