The following are excerpts from articles about the Supreme Court and the Nominating Commission from about 20 years ago showing both bodies have been majority Democrats.

Supreme Court

March 2005: Activist court?

In March 2005 Kansas had an electorate of 27% Democrats and 46% Republicans, yet a majority of the Supreme Court justices were Democrats?

At that time both Republican Chief Justice Kay McFarland and Republican Attorney General Phill Kline commented about a reversal of a court decision made three years earlier largely only due to a change in makeup of the court pushed by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in her first term.

Chief Justice McFarland:

“While fidelity to the doctrine of stare decisis is not an ‘inexorable command,’ we should be highly skeptical of reversing an earlier decision where nothing has changed except the composition of the court."

AG Phill Kline

“We need certainty in court decisions, and this reversal of a previous decision only three years earlier -- simply because the names and faces have changed on the court -- has caused serious concerns.”

“The KS Supreme Court’s willingness to ignore previously settled law and take an activist role foreshadowed the school finance case in which the justices have all but taken over the state’s school system.”

July 2005: Now 5 Democrats, 2 Republicans

A recent Meadowlark report commented on the political breakdown of the Kansas Supreme Court in March before the death of Justice Robert Gernon. How did this breakdown change with today’s addition to the court?

Governor Sebelius was given a list of three candidates from which to choose the new Supreme Court justice. The “contest” was likely between Democrat Martha Coffman (age 54) and Democrat Eric Rosen (age 52). The other candidate, Robert Fairchild (age 57), a political contributor to Dick Bond and Carla Stovall, was likely still “too Republican” for Democrat Governor Kathleen Sebelius. In the end, Sebelius chose Rosen, likely because he was about two years younger than Coffman (and thus her “touch” on the Supreme Court could last two years long -- due to mandatory retirement rules). Could there be another reason? Could this appointment be some sort of pay back?

The Kansas Governor elected in 2006 (Sebelius) will make the appointments to replace these two justices. Party politics is quite important in the appointment of judges, and Sebelius’ touch will be on Kansas Supreme Court for years to come.

The Court may become quite controversial next year as a huge court-ordered school funding increase is debated by the Kansas Legislature.

Democrat Eric Rosen is still on the Kansas Supreme Court at age 73, and must retire at age 75 (or finish a term once reaching that age). [A law passed in 2004 extended mandatory retirement age from 70 to 75.]

Supreme Court Nominating Commission

Dec. 2007

Jan. 2009

Sebelius received over $29,000 in campaign contributions from the members of the Supreme Court Nominating Commission, their spouses, or related businesses.

Related

Judicial selection in Kansas, Ballotpedia.

Sebelius appoints wife of “dean of Ellis County Democratic politics” to Supreme Court Nominating Commission. Kansas Meadowlark, July 3, 2006.

District Court Nominating Commission Works as Designed: 3 of 3 nominees are Democrats in a county with 21% Democrats, Kansas Meadowlark, May 12, 2008.

Gov. Sebelius appoints new District Court judge — one of her political contributors, Kansas Meadowlark, June 5, 2008.

Did $13,000 given to Gov. Sebelius play part in Supreme Court Nominating Commission appointment?, Kansas Meadowlark, June 28, 2008.

Whom will Sebelius appoint to Kansas Supreme Court? A judge or Obama/Sebelius donor?, Kansas Meadowlark, Dec. 9, 2008.

The chase begins using this data by many political activists to get mail ballots returned, or to get their people to the polls on election day.

This is the first election with the 50% price increase for the “advance voting public service request.” Statewide voter files and advance data service now cost $300 from the Secretary of State. County data is also available from county election offices.

The Advance voting files come in three flavors for those subscribing:

• The “Sent” file lists all voters being mailed ballots.

• The “Return” file lists voters returning ballots by mail. [In theory, a subset of the Sent.]

• The “In Person” file lists voters for ballots cast on-site at county advance sites.

These files from the Secretary of State are cumulative, showing new running totals every day.

Sent Ballots

Here’s a daily summary of the number of advance ballots sent, with a breakdown by party and gender.

The follow breakdowns reflect the sent ballot data from Friday (2026-07-17):

Gender breakdown

Almost 64% of the mail ballots were to females, which is an early edge of nearly 13,500 ballots for female voters.

Party breakdown

In the early mail ballots Democrats received about 47% vs. 41% for Republicans, with about 11% to Unaffiliated. That’s an early 2800 ballot lead for Democrats.

Age interval breakdown

The first day of mail ballots includes voters with a “Permanent Advance Voting Status,” so that includes a number of elderly.

The 85+ age group received more ballots than any other age interval.

Crosstabs

Gender by Age

Females for all age intervals received more ballots than males the first few days.

Male voters are a minority in Kansas. May 2026 voter registration data shows nearly 90,000 more female voters in Kansas than males.

This is curious since a look at US Census data says there are more males than females in all age intervals under 65 in Kansas.

Party by Age

Democrats have an edge in early mail ballots sent for all age intervals under 80. Only above 80 did more Republican voters have an edge.

Returned Ballots

On day one 19 counties reporting receiving ballots back the same day they were sent. By Friday 30 counties reported receiving ballots.

In Person Ballots

I’m not sure how the 105 counties handle in-person voting, but 29 counties reported on Thursday the start of in person voting.

Look for updates on the Advance Voting stats the next two Mondays.

We’ll look at more stats on Returned and In Person ballots in those reports.

Related

Kansas healthcare foundations spent almost $9 million from 2017 to 2024 on a project to build capacity in many phases of “integrated voter engagement (IVE),” which was a technique used to turn Colorado blue about 15 years ago.

Four election-related nonprofits involved in IVE accepted funding from a major abortion advocacy group in 2025.

Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation

A recent LifeNews article explained that between 2000 and 2018 the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (STBF), which billionaire Warren Buffett established and named after his late wife, donated $4 billion to pro-abortion groups.

Some of that money has been flowing to Kansas.

A March Watchdog Lab article revealed the STBF sent $2.2 million to abortion clinics in Kansas, as well as $101K to ACLU Kansas in 2024.

STBF filed their IRS 990 tax filing for 2025 on May 5th, which revealed more current grants to Kansas. [Most nonprofits will not file their 2025 IRS 990s until late this year.]

The diagram below shows these six grants totaling nearly $4 million sent to Kansas recipients in 2025:

In 2025, like in 2024, STBF gave $1.1 million to Kansas abortion clinics, Planned Parenthood Great Plains in Overland Park, and Trust Women Foundation in Wichita.

The other four recipients of STBF 2025 grants had all been part of the Kansas integrated voter engagement project from 2016 to 2024. In this group of four only ACLU Kansas Foundation received STBF grants in both 2024 and 2025.

Nonprofit election involvement

Information about the four election-related nonprofits will be described below: first IVE activities and other past projects, followed by current work.

ACLU Foundation of Kansas

During the 2017-2024 IVE project, ACLU was to “build long-term power among a diverse cross-section of Kansans.”

Conduct digital engagement, trainings, and in-person organizing to raise awareness of core civil rights and liberties issues and build long-term power among a diverse cross-section of Kansans.

In 2023 ACLU Kansas celebrated its “vote from jail” project in Johnson County.

ACLU Foundation of Kansas received almost 10 times as much in its 2025 STBF grant as compared to 2024.

The ACLU of Kansas is actively involved in election-related work, primarily through voting rights advocacy, litigation against perceived restrictive laws (lawfare), redistricting challenges, and nonpartisan Election Protection efforts.

ACLU Foundation of Kansas is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit while ACLU of Kansas is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit.

The ACLU Kansas nonprofits are a strong proponents of “abortion rights.”

ACLU Kansas opposes the 2026 Judicial Selection Amendment, and is taking a leadership role in that opposition with ACLU Executive Director, Micah Cubic, the chair of Kansas United for Impartial Courts.

Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice

Kansas Appleseed launched their IVE project in Southeast Kansas in 2017 (10 counties) and Southwest Kansas in 2019 (5 counties).

In 2018 and 2019, Kansas Appleseed received $25K grants from George Soros’ Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Kansas Appleseed actively works on civic engagement and voting rights as a core part of its mission to promote an inclusive Kansas.

Their efforts focus on two main areas:

• Opposing voter ID and election security measures (what critics call “voter suppression laws”)

• Boosting voter turnout through education and outreach

Kansas Appleseed opposes the 2026 Judicial Selection Amendment.

Loud Light

In 2019-2020 Loud Light and ACLU Kansas orchestrated having Gov. Laura Kelly mail 277,000 voter registration forms to recipients of public benefits.

Loud Light received $100,000 from Kansas Health Foundation’s IVE project in 2022 for “support for Loud Light’s mission to transform Kansas by building better democracy. This is done by building community power, issue advocacy, issue education, leadership development, coalition building, engaging in pro-democracy litigation, increasing voter registration and increasing voter turnout.”

Loud Light’s activities include:

• Voter registration drives targeting students and young people, especially with its civic engagement fellowships.

• Voter education on deadlines, ID rules, and how to vote.

• Turnout mobilization and pledge-to-vote campaigns.

Loud Light opposes the 2026 Judicial Selection Amendment.

Voter Network

This article gives a background of The Voter Network and its “relational organizing” project, Voter-to-Voter:

IRS 990 tax filings by The Voter Network (and its creators) show growth in yearly revenues and expenditures.

On July 7 Micah Kubic, ACLU Executive Director, addressed a Zoom meeting hosted by The Voter Network for their “Voter-to-Voter” primary kickoff.

When elections don’t make sense, when close elections go the “wrong” way, the progressive nonprofit money spent to build The Voter Network and its “relational organizing” capacity is probably a big factor in any explanation, especially in Johnson County.

The right is lacking similar nonprofit organizations and funding to counter what the left is doing in Kansas elections.

Related

Kansas United for Impartial Courts is a consortium ACLU Kansas, Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, and other nonprofits

Here are the “top 10” lists for the last 30 days, and the last 90 days, based on ad dollars amounts.

Top 10 ads last 30 days

Five of the top ten ads in the last 30 days on Meta reflect the “yes” vs “no” battle over the Kansas constitutional amendment to appear on Kansas ballots on Aug. 4.

Top 10 ads last 90 days

Adam Hamilton for US Senate dominated Facebook/Instagram ads over the last ninety days.

Philip Sarnecki is the only gubernatorial candidate in this top 10 list.

I’m hoping to extend this digital ad reporting to include recent ads on Google/YouTube, X and Snapchat.

Related

Nonprofit: Kansas Future Fund

In late May the Sunflower State Journal reported a new nonprofit, Kansas Future Fund, was buying video ads in support of Vicki Schmidt for Kansas Governor.

Nonprofits need not disclose donors in their IRS 990 tax filings, but one donor to Kansas Future Fund was accidentally found in a Jan. 2026 campaign finance report filed by former Kansas State Senator Jeff Longbine.

Longbine left he Kansas Senate in Jan. 2025, but filed a report in Jan. 2026 since he had not closed his campaign account.

Longbine reported contributing $5000 in to the Kansas Future Fund on Aug. 12, 2025.

The planning started long ago.

The Kansas Future Fund was incorporated as a Kansas business by Raney Gilliland on June 12, 2025. Gilliland served in the Kansas Legislative Research Department for forty years before retirement in 2019. He had been the director from 2012 to 2019.

The IRS shows no information about this likely 501(c)(4) organization, which will be filing an IRS 990 likely late next year.

Connections among Schmidt, Longbine and Gov. Laura Kelly

An Oct. 18, 2012 press release from kansascommonsense.com showed Vicki Schmidt and Jeff Longbine were part of the same "common sense" group as Laura Kelly at that time ...

FORMER LEGISLATORS APPLAUD LEADERS FOR COMMON SENSE VALUES
October 18th, 2012

TOPEKA-Today, a group of former traditional Republican legislators applauded leaders from across the state for their common sense leadership and dedication to Kansas schools, families and values. The group also encouraged Kansans to exercise their right and vote.

"Kansans deserve leaders that are focused on finding solutions to the challenges that face our state and will serve as common sense, independent voices for our communities," said former Assistant Majority Leader and State Chair of the Republican Party Rep. Rochelle Chronister. "What Kansans don't need more of are rubberstamp politicians. Kansans need true leaders looking out for their constituents' needs, not the demands of special interest groups."

After careful consideration, the following leaders have proven themselves to be strong advocates for our children, schools and the elderly. They have worked hard to defend our schools, create jobs and protect our way of life. However, more importantly, these leaders have proven themselves to be willing to put the best interest of our state above partisan politics and do what's right for future generations of Kansas children.

The recognized leaders include:

Rep. Elaine Bowers, Republican, Concordia
Sen. Jay Emler, Republican, Lindsborg
Mr. Tom Hawk, Democrat, Manhattan
Sen. Tom Holland, Democrat, Baldwin City
Ms. Lisa Johnston, Democrat, Overland Park
Sen. Laura Kelly, Democrat, Topeka
Sen. Kelly Kultala, Democrat, Kansas City
Sen. Jeff Longbine, Republican, Emporia
Sen. Carolyn McGinn, Republican, Sedgwick
Ms. Juanita Roy, Democrat, Lenexa
Sen. Vicki Schmidt, Republican, Topeka
Rep. Kay Wolf, Republican, Prairie Village

Chronister went on to say, "it is easy to get discouraged by how negative the process has become over the years. However, the only way to change the tone is by making your voice heard and exercising your right to vote.

FEC Super PAC Supporting: Defend US PAC

Defend US PAC (a super PAC, independent expenditures only) first appeared in the Kanas City Market on Thursday.

On Friday The Sunflower State Journal gave details about ad buys by Defend US PAC: “New outside PAC spends nearly $1 million in governor’s race for Schmidt.”

Defend US PC has been around since 2017 and is based in Arlington, VA.

All of the PAC’s FEC filings are listed here, but currently the FEC site is not showing details from recent filings.

Opposing

FEC Super PAC: School Freedom Fund

While nonprofit Kansas Future Fund is supporting Vicki Schmidt for governor, a School Freedom Fund federal super PAC is opposing her in TV ads.

Sunflower State Journal was first to report these ads in June. The Hill reported the $2 million ad buy the next day. The press release by Club for Growth was the source of The Hill’s information.

It's a bit confusing, but the 501(c)(4) Club for Growth nonprofit can use the name School Freedom Fund for its advocacy, education and grassroots work, but then have a separate related super PAC organization with the same name.

Club for Growth files an IRS 990 as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, identifying School Freedom Fund as a related tax-exempt organization with a separate EIN. School Freedom Fund is controlled by the parent Club for Growth.

But the money for the School Freedom Fund ads comes from the super PAC, and not the nonprofit. This link shows all the FEC filings by the super PAC:

Note the "Mar Monthly" filing (F3XA) from April that shows the super PAC's most recent donor was $5 million from Jeff Yass. The June filing shows no donors.

An Inside Philanthropy article from March 2023 said Jeff Yass “as cofounder of the trading powerhouse Susquehanna International Group (SIG) … has amassed a mighty fortune that Forbes currently puts at $28.5 billion."

Grok AI says this: Jeff Yass is a billionaire co-founder and managing director of Susquehanna International Group (SIG), a major Philadelphia-area trading and market-making firm. He is a registered Libertarian with a strong libertarian-leaning philosophy, often aligned with free-market, low-tax, and school-choice causes.

Yass' libertarian leanings are consistent with Club for Growth, but it's unclear how that connects with the Kansas governor's race.

Grok says there are "No significant direct connections between Jeff Yass ... and Kansas or Kansas politics appear in public records."

Use the link above to monitor the PACs contributions and expenditures over time.

But specific expenditures related to the ads against Vicki Schmidt are not at all clear in the reports.

Pond Naramore from Lawrence is now Marshall’s primary challenger. See my May 26th posting on X about Naramore’s filing.

A check of voter registration records for the Maple Street address in Lawrence suggests candidate “Pond Naramore” is registered voter “Arch P. Naramore.” Arch must be using his middle name Pond in the candidate filing.

The Wayback Machine shows a Johnson County Election Office page from 2004 where Arch P. Naramore challenged incumbent US Senator Sam Brownback in a similar way.

The phone number from 22 years ago on the JoCo site matches the phone number for Arch P. Naramore in current voter registration records. So, Naramore’s middle name must be Pond.

Age information from the 2004 AP article is also consistent with current voter registration records.

The JoCo page also reveals Naramore was a member of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Brownback defeated Naramore in the Aug. 2024 primary with 286,839 votes (86.9%) to Naramore’s 42,880 votes (13%).

Comment on X about email address

Earlier today midwestartist on X posted questions about Naramore’s candidacy based on my previous posting.

When I initially looked at Naramore’s candidacy in May, I failed to notice what email address he gave the Kansas Secretary of State. The SoS office likely copied exactly what Naramore put on the application form.

Naramore’s email address is also online at the JoCo Election Office and other county clerk sites across the state.

What does the “rhinorepublicrat8647” part mean?

Coded message?

rhinorepublicat

When “RINO” means Republican in Name Only, what is Naramore suggesting when he has “rhino” as part of his email address?

8647

In May former FBI Director James Comey posted an Instagram a photo of seashells on a North Carolina beach arranged to spell out “86 47". Comey captioned it something like “Cool shell formation on my beach watch.”

The FBI contends that the message should be read as “86” (reportedly slang for “get rid of,” or as the FBI maintains, “kill), and “47” is allegedly a reference to Trump, the 47^th president. The Free Speech Center, May 1, 2026.

And one DC-based nonprofit contributed $14 million of the $23 million that shaped that gubernatorial race.

After “buying” the gubernatorial race in Kansas in 2022, Kansas Values Institute appears to have set it sights on making sure Kansans cannot vote on Supreme Court judges.

A recent video by the Kansas Fair Court Fund complains that billionaires would tear down fair courts and buy seats in the Supreme Court, yet KVI saw nothing wrong with “buying” the Kansas governor in 2022 with $23 million.

The $23 million is a staggering amount for an election decided by about 22,000 votes.

The Sunflower State Journal was first to report last week the directors for Kansas Fair Court Fund included: Cathy Hersh, Joyce Allegrucci (former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius campaign manager and chief of staff), and Mike Fleming (former President of the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, and appointed by Gov. Kelly to serve on the Kansas Racing Commission) .

While researching nonprofit groups, the connection between KVI and Kansas Fair Courts Fund was found by accident from a statement made by Grok AI.

I was not seeing any connection between KFCF and other groups, because the evidence was hidden in the HTML on the Kansas Fair Courts Fund website.

There is nothing obvious at first on the “Donate to Kansas Fair Court Fund” page that suggests anything about where the money is going, but the first clue can be seen by clicking on the “X” icon at the bottom of the page.

Here’s the evidence Grok provided for the link between Kansas Fair Court Fund and Kansas Values Institute:

The link secure.qgiv.com/for/bq8tbb/ is directly hosted under the Kansas Values Institute’s donation system.

Direct Evidence from the Page Itself:

•The live donation page at https://secure.qgiv.com/for/bq8tbb/ is titled “Donate to the Kansas Fair Court Fund”.

•It explicitly displays “Kansas Values Institute” as the organization (usually in the footer, header, or receipt/branding section of Qgiv forms).

This is standard for Qgiv (a popular nonprofit donation platform): each campaign gets a unique code like /for/bq8tbb/, and the organization name is embedded on the form.

Additional Confirmation:

The page is part of KVI’s official fundraising infrastructure. Qgiv donation links for Kansas Values Institute projects consistently use this format.

Kansas Values Institute’s own site (kansasvaluesinstitute.org) promotes fair courts work and directs donations through their system.

This is the strongest possible proof short of backend access: the page itself brands the fund under Kansas Values Institute. You can visit the URL directly to see “Kansas Values Institute” listed on it.

A review of the HTML that makes up the donation page (in Google Chrome, right click on the form and select “View Page Source” ) shows Kansas Values Institute in the “header-text-container”, the “banner-header-content”, and the link to X.

So if Kansas Fair Courts Fund is not another project of Kansas Values Institute, why is their name on the donation page in three places?

Kansans for Fair Courts is a project name Kansas Values Institute has used since 2013.

KVI’s IRS 990s show it has raised nearly $43 million since 2011 and spent $42.5 million on Kansas elections as a “nonpartisan, nonprofit.” What will KVI spend in 2026? [The numbers for 2025 will not be released until Nov. 2026 at the earliest.]

Nonprofit and other dark money have been buying Kansas elections for years.

Voters need to wake up to what nonprofits are doing in elections, such as the nonprofits that make up Kansas United for Impartial Courts and their $8,000 and $12,000/month jobs to block the constitutional amendment.

Related

On Tuesday Channel 9’s Andy Alcock reported the protest at the Johnson County Election Office over changes to in-person advance voting locations starting with the Aug. 4 election.

Eight advance voting locations were removed and two were added.

But did anyone look at the map at what the changes were accomplishing?

Advance In-Person Voting: 12 locations

On election day itself, in-person voting is only at one's assigned precinct, which is usually quite close for most, often only a mile or two away.

Advance voting starts more than two weeks before election day. Any Johnson County voter can vote any any of the advance vote centers starting on July 18 through Aug. 3 for the Aug. 4 primary [Dates and times will be different in other Kansas counties.]

Starting this year all advance voting locations will keep exactly the same hours:

The 12 in-person advance sites give geographic balance that was not present before with more fairness county-wide, instead of only the central core near the highways.

JoCo Population Density

Should early in-person sites only be in the red areas with the highest population density in the county?

Mail-in drop boxes: 16 locations

The JoCo Election Office provides have mail-in balloting, and 16 drop box locations across the county. How is that not convenient? How many options do voters need?

According to the JoCo Election Office: Ballot drop boxes are open 24-hours a day at these locations starting 20-days prior to election day, and close at 7:00 p.m. on election day.

Comments

Why are we sacrificing convenience in elections over everything else?

If travel distance to a voting location is a problem, voters can go to their neighborhood voting locations on election day — the way voting was meant to be.

With ever increasing taxes in Johnson County, this is another example of why reducing taxes is extremely difficult.

Protest promoted by Boots on the Ground

A local Johnson County group, “Boots on the Ground Midwest,” which is affiliated with a national Indivisible group receiving George Soros’ nonprofit funding, promoted the protest.

Related

Update June 11: On Wed. the Secretary of State filed a 104-page response in the David Miller vs. Scott Schwab lawsuit over the No Labels Kansas party.

Update June 12: Sunflower State Journal: Judge denies request to allow No Labels candidates on ballot

On Friday Brad Cooper from the Sunflower State Journal revealed a lawsuit had been filed to block the Kansas Secretary of State from terminating the No Labels Kansas political party.

This lawsuit was in response to the Secretary of State announcing the termination of No Labels Kansas as a political party on May 18.

What is this case about?

On January 17, 2024 Kansas recognized "No Labels Kansas" as a new political party. The Hill wrote about No Labels considering a third-party presidential bid.

Even though No Labels Kansas collected over 30,000 signatures to become a new political party, few were joining. On April 17, 2024 I posted about No Label’s slow progress in attracting new members: “Membership in ‘No Labels’ party in Kansas skyrockets from 1 voter in Feb. to 16 voters in March.”

Information vacuum about No Labels Kansas

When No Labels Kansas became a new political party in Jan. 2024, it seemed to have no legal existence. There was no information on the Secretary of State’s site about it being some sort of business.

No Labels Kansas did not file a Statement of Organization with the Kansas Secretary of State that would list the party’s officers and contact information. There was no way to contact the party or its officers — if it had any!

No Labels Kansas had no website. The national No Labels website made no references to No Labels Kansas.

There was no information available about who paid for the collection of the 30,000+ signatures for No Labels Kansas to become a new political party, even though Attorney General Kris Kobach arrested a Florida man in Feb. 2024 for forging some of those signatures.

We need to change Kansas laws so this vacuum of information about a new political party does not exist.

Nature abhors a vacuum

No one owned the name “No Labels Kansas” legally until June 3, 2024 when conservative activist Kris Van Meteren registered corporations with these names apparently online in the early morning hours:

At the time these new No Labels Kansas corporations were registered, no information about Van Meteren’s party affiliation could be found in current voter files, but he is registered as a member of the No Labels Kansas party now.

Van Meteren’s 2024 No Labels Kansas Nominating Convention

Since he owned the name No Label Kansas, a few hours after registering the No Labels Kansas names with the Secretary of State on June 3, 2024, Van Meteren held a nominating convention (with himself) to put No Labels names on the Kansas ballot.

The Kansas Reflector obtained a video of that convention:

By June 11, 2024 the Kansas Secretary of State rejected Van Meteren’s No Label Kansas nominations, and those names did not appear on ballots.

No Labels Kansas Executive Meetings in 2026

An Application for Emergency Injunction filed Thursday in Shawnee County District Court by David Miller, Lawrence, No Labels Kansas chairman, is an attempt to block the Kansas Secretary of State from terminating No Labels Kansas as a political party. [See case SN-2026-CV-000510 in online court records.]

Exhibits in court documents include:

• A proposed Constitution and By Laws of No Labels Kansas voted on by members.

• A sample “personal plebiscite ballot” mailed to all No Labels Kansas registered voters from Nov. 5, 2025 to elect a No Labels Kansas State Executive Committee.

• Post office records show a Feb. 18, 2026 mailing sent to 6014 No Labels Kansas registered voters at a cost of $2,296.

• Minutes from No Labels Kansas State Executive Committee meeting on March 9.

  • Ratification of Constitution and By-Laws passed by 100% of returned ballots

  • Election of executive committee: John D. Altevogt (Edwardsville) with 81%, Victoria Schultz (Leawood) with 75%, and Kristian D. Van Meteren (Thayer) with 69%.

  • Van Meteren and Altevogt certified the results. Van Meteren agreed to serve as Secretary and Interim Chairman. Altevogt volunteered to serve as Treasurer.

  • No Labels Kansas website now online: www.nolabelskansas.com

• Minutes from No Labels Kansas State Executive Committee on April 27.

  • Kris Van Meteren submitted resignation.

  • David G. Miller was elected new chair.

Questions

• Who paid for the mailing? No Labels Kansas has never filed campaign finance reports with the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission.

• After the election of the new executive committee in March, why was no Statement of Organization filed with the Secretary of State and the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission?

Comments

• Conservative political strategist Kris Van Meteren served as the campaign manager for Republican David G. Miller during his unsuccessful gubernatorial run in 1998. Van Meteren is a former Executive Director of the Kansas Republican Party.

• The Sept. 11, 2004 Topeka Capital-Journal reported a political battle over corporation name registrations, which is not unlike the No Labels Kansas battle now, with John Altevogt involved in both.

After a decade of frustration, John Altevogt and several fellow conservative Republicans saw a way to get back at a group they’d battled regularly. They took the group’s name. …

The name now belongs to a corporation Altevogt helped form earlier this year, and he says the nonprofit group increases its legal risk every time it uses the name publicly, as it still does. He says his corporation is likely to sue. …

… Mainstream Coalition - now legally named the Moderate Alliance of Informed Neighbors Coalition Inc. …

Postscript

A curious postscript about David Miller’s lawsuit against the Kansas Secretary of State ...

“David G. Miller, Chairman of No Labels Kansas (NLKS), filed Thursday to run for Insurance Commissioner under the No Labels Kansas ticket.”

But the Secretary of State’s web site does not show this filing. Hence, the lawsuit filed on Thursday.

Related

Miller asks court to block dissolution of No Labels Party, Brad Cooper, Sunflower State Journal, May 29, 2026.

Kansas Recognized No Labels as political party, Caroline Vakil, The Hill, Jan. 18, 2024.

Florida man arrested for Kansas election fraud connected to ‘No Labels’ party, Matthew Self, KSNT TV, Feb. 19, 2024.

Election fraud case will not impact status of No Labels political party in Kansas, Matthew Self, KSNT TV, Feb. 20, 2024.

Did a Kansas GOP operative commit a crime by claiming to lead No Labels state party?, Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, June 11, 2024.

Kansas Coalition for Common Sense is an advocacy organization. Our team develops research-based messages to empower Kansas voters, advocates, and leaders in their fight to advance commonsense Kansas values.

But why is so much of their known funding not from Kansas?

“Common Sense” funded by two dark money sources in 2024

Communications expert Ashley All, Lawrence, formed the nonprofit, Kansas Coalition for Common Sense, in 2023 as a “communications advocacy hub that works to build communication capacity and expertise in partnership with progressive organizations…” according to their IRS 990 filing.

All, who lead efforts to defeat the “Value Them Both” constitutional amendment to the Kansas Constitution in 2022 as spokeswoman for the Kansans for Constitutional Freedom nonprofit, has been a communications expert for years in Kansas government, including work for Gov. Laura Kelly (D) and former Attorneys General Steve Six (D) and Paul Morrison (D).

The Kansas Coalition for Common Sense “c4” nonprofit raised about $300,000 in 2024 but a companion “c3” nonprofit, Kansas Common Sense Fund, raised nearly $680,000. What was the source of that million dollars?

Nonprofits are not required by law to disclose donors, but sometimes grants from other nonprofits can be discovered in government filings. Donations to nonprofits by individuals may never be known publicly.

The Health Forward Foundation disclosed in July 2025 a $50,000 grant to the Common Sense Fund, but no other donors were known until IRS 990s for 2024 were published in late 2025.

Two well-known Arabella Advisors managed funds made contributions: The New Venture Fund gave $90,000 to the “Common Sense Fund,” while the Sixteen Thirty Fund gave $20,000 to the “Common Sense Coalition.”

IRS 990 tax filings by the “Common Sense” nonprofits revealed a transfer between the two Kansas nonprofits, which appears to use “c3” tax-deductible money to pay salaries of shared employees and some expenses.

“Common Sense” funded by left-leaning PAC in 2025

A search for “Kansas” in recent daily FEC filings revealed the Movement Voter PAC gave $85,000 to All’s KCCS in late 2025.

Movement Voter PAC’s sister organization, Movement Voter Project, has received funding from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations in the past.

Gov. Kelly’s Middle of the Road PAC

The Kansas Coalition for Common Sense nonprofit had close connections to the Gov. Kelly’s Middle of the Road PAC, especially through joint payments to communications expert Lauren Fitzgerald.

Lauren Fitzgerald received not only $82,700 in payments from Middle of the Road PAC in 2024, but another $93,365 from the Kansas Coalition for Common Sense 501(c)(4) nonprofit as Secretary/Treasurer, likely with employee “cost sharing” with the 501(c)(3) Kansas Common Sense Fund according to 990 filings.

Michael Gaughan’s connections

Michael Gaughan’s research connection to Kansas Coalition for Common Sense shown above is curious for two reasons.

His firm, GPS Impact, where he is a principal, provides full-service to Democrats, progressive organizations, and elected officials, especially in challenging, red-leaning states like Kansas.

In IRS 990 filings by The Voter Network nonprofit, Gaughan was listed as the “board chair” in 2023 and a “principal” in 2024. In both years the 990s say Gaughan works about five hours a week for the “peer pressure with a purpose” nonprofit.

Gaughan’s connection to both GPS Impact and The Voter Network nonprofit should help the left immensely in get-out-the-vote efforts that only favor one party.

Prairie Pathways and progressive jobs

The two “Common Sense” nonprofits along with The Voter Network are three of the four founding members of Prairie Pathways, a Kansas “hub for nonprofit and advocacy careers” but only if you’re on their side politically.

Prairie Pathways was used by Kansas United for Impartial Courts to hire a $12,000/month campaign manger, and a $8,000/month communications director to oppose the constitutional amendment on the ballot in August.

Related

Expect related articles soon.

This article first looks at the Kansas inactive voter data statewide from a voter file obtained from the Secretary of State on May 4.

Then the variation in the inactive rates over time is explored both statewide and by county from voter file data and from online data in a dashboard provided by the Secretary of State.

Kansas inactive voters today

The Kansas voter file from May 4 has slightly more than 2 million voters, with 273,000 tagged with status “inactive” — about 13.6%.

The federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) calls voters “inactive” when the post office cannot deliver mail to them. The public should be outraged that “inactive” actually means “invalid address” voter. This is a problem throughout the country.

So, in Kansas today there are about 273,000 potential voters that have unverifiable mailing addresses but can vote without verification of their true current address.

The “inactive” tag starts the slow purge process. This current high number of inactive voters is “good” because voters must be tagged as “inactive,” and then miss two federal elections (which can take 2 to 4 years), before they can be purged.

A future article will consider how a new state law from 2022 may be helping lower the bloat of the Kansas voter file by marking voters “inactive” sooner.

Statewide and by county

The map below shows there is considerable variation in the number of inactive voters across our 105 counties, with many counties having considerably higher rates than the overall state inactive rate of 13.6%.

Two counties have current inactive rates over 30%: Seward (35.18%) and Ford (31.42%).

Three other counties exceed 25%: Finney (25.92%), Labette (25.39%) and Linn (25.04%).

Four counties have inactive rates that are very low, less than 1%: Wilson (0.14%), Hamilton (0.45%), Logan (0.64%), Stanton (0.88%), and Ellsworth (0.94%). Perhaps these counties are doing a great job with list maintenance? Or, are the very low numbers a sign of little or no list maintenance?

The study of a county’s inactive rate over time can give clues about its list maintenance activities.

Explore current inactive and other stats for all 105 counties in Kansas in this download:

Kansas County Voter Registration Stats 2026-05-04

42.2KB ∙ XLSX file

Download

Stats by Kansas county showing counts of voters, active, inactive, inactive percent. Age statistics including median, 25% and 75% age quantiles. Districts summary for county: Commissioner, Congress, KS Senate, KS House, State Board of Education, School District. Numbers of cities, zips, precincts in county. Voter counts by gender and party. 105 rows.

Download

By precinct

Voter inactive rates (and other stats) within precincts can vary considerable from the county norms. For example, 10 precincts in Kansas (with 50+ voters) have 45% or more inactive voters:

Precincts with high inactive rates often occur in places with transient populations, such as college campuses or military bases (Ft. Riley and Ft. Leavenworth).

For example, Lawrence 10 precinct in Douglas County, which is near the KU campus, has the largest percentage of inactive voters with 67.21%!

Three precincts not on the list above have the largest numbers of inactive voters:

• Labette County, precinct Parsons: 1911 inactive of 6254, 30.56%

• Butler County, precinct Andover W1: 1149 inactive of 6032, 19.05% inactive

• Sedgwick County, precinct 0601: 1048 inactive of 2732, 38.36% inactive

Explore current inactive and other stats for all 4066 precincts in Kansas derived from the voter file in this download:

Kansas Precinct Voter Registration Stats 2026-05-04

959KB ∙ XLSX file

Download

Stats by Kansas voting precinct (derived from voter file) showing counts of voters, active, inactive, inactive percent. Age statistics including median, 25% and 75% age quantiles. Districts summary for county: Commissioner, Congress, KS Senate, KS House, State Board of Education, School District. Numbers of cities, zips, precinct parts in county. Voter counts by gender and party. [Note: Kansas precinct names in the voter file often do not match exactly the names given in election results.] 4066 rows.

Download

Inactive voter change over time

Statewide inactive rates over time

Inactive voter rates were extracted from voter files from the last 20 years and shown in the plot below.

The inactive rate patterns for each two-year election cycle over the last 20 years are similar: usually lowest at the beginning of the cycle and usually highest at the end. The explanation for this pattern needs to be explored.

It’s unclear why there has been such a dramatic increase in inactive voters from Jan. to May 2026.

Curiously, both the lowest and highest percentages of inactive voters have occurred in the 2026 election cycle:

• The 47 voter files represented above show the highest number of inactive voters in Kansas in the last twenty years is in the current May 4, 2026 file: 273,413 inactive, 13.62%.

• The smallest number of inactive voters in a voter file was 94,170 (5.72%) in the May 17, 2006 file from twenty years ago, but the smallest percentage was in a file from Jan. 2, 2025 with 113,210 inactive voters (5.62%).

Inactive registration rates by county over time

Starting in 2021 Kansas law KSA 25-2361 requires the Secretary of State to publish online monthly statistics about registered voters, including the number of inactive voters.

This monthly inactive voter rate by county gives clues about voter file maintenance, or lack thereof, especially when studied over time.

This information is now free instead of relying on extracting data from an expensive voter file.

Unfortunately, a number of the monthly files mandated by the legislature are missing online since June 2021, but the 29 files that are available show patterns at the county level that would not otherwise be known.

The chart below shows the Kansas state inactive voter rate from both these 29 free online files (blue circles), and 19 voter files (blue triangles) in the last three election cycles:

The blue circles and triangles above show a surprising increase in the number of inactive voters statewide starting in Jan. 2026, which appears to still be increasing in May.

The grey lines connect similar inactive rate data for each of the 105 Kansas counties. There is considerable variation in inactive rates among the counties. [Note: a few outliers were above 25% and not shown above.]

At what point does this huge variation across the counties in the state become a violation of the US Constitution’s “equal protection clause” in the 14th Amendment, which mandates similar treatment of all citizens?

A future article will explore seven clusters of counties with different inactive rate patterns over time. Each cluster of counties shows a similar pattern, but there are pattern differences between clusters.

One of the clusters shows an inactive voter rate pattern very similar to the state overall numbers. But, another cluster shows an inactive voter rate pattern nearly constant, and changing little over time — likely an indication of little or no list maintenance.

Related

Why has DC-based “Protect Democracy” purchased 68 updates of the Kansas voter registration file since 2020 for its VoteShield project?

Ancient articles — little has changed

Kansas has almost 138,000 inactive voters, Earl Glynn, Kansas Watchdog, Oct. 25, 2010.

Eight representatives in the Kansas House currently have inactive voters registered at their home address … Four Kansas senators also have inactive voters listed at their home address.

Kansas May Have About 190,000 Phantom Voters: Could Voter Fraud in Kansas Be Relatively Easy?, Earl Glynn, Kansas Meadowlark, Jan. 13, 2008.

Federal law keeps many on the voting rolls in Kansas (and other states), but more could be done to keep a more accurate list, and more could be done to protect the integrity of Kansas elections.

The mid-April talk had two parts:

• Details of progressive dark money flowing to Kansas in 2024.

• Reflections about how past dark money has built progressive infrastructure to give the left advantages in Kansas elections using nonprofits, which is a head wind for the right to overcome in 2026.

The discussion below gives additional information about what was in the talk.

Dark Money to Kansas in 2024

The presentation gave details of two dark money sources, Arabella Advisors’ funds and Tides’ funds, giving about $2.8 million to progressive Kansas nonprofits in 2024,

There was much more that could have been discussed. Kansas progressive nonprofit organizations received over $9 million from dark money and other nonprofits in 2024 alone.

What “dark money” funds send this kind of money to nonprofits on the right in Kansas?

Arabella Advisors

There are seven nonprofits managed by the Arabella Advisors that are often considered sources of progressive “dark money,” since there is no way to know where the money originated.

In 2024 Kansas nonprofits received about $1.8 million from five of these Arabella funds.

Tides Advocacy and Tides Foundation

Tides Advocacy and Tides Foundation gave about $1 million to Kansas nonprofits in 2024.

The largest single grant to a Kansas nonprofit in 2024 was the $500,000 Tides Advocacy grant to the Alacrity Institute in Manhattan, which is run by a member of the United Kansas party board, Aaron Estabrook.

The Alacrity Institute’s web site shows research papers about “fusion voting” being promoted by United Kansas, as well as the topics of legalization of marijuana, and Medicaid expansion in Kansas.

The Tides Foundation with about a half-billion in assets sent these six grants to Kansas progressive nonprofits in 2024:

Nonprofit Head Winds in 2026

Nonprofit “capacity building” as part of the Kansas Health Foundation’s Integrated Voter Engagement project from 2017 to 2024 created nonprofit election infrastructure that is still a significant advantage to the left for elections in Kansas. There is no similar nonprofit infrastructure on the right.

Two nonprofits built as part of the IVE project continue to “shepherd” progressive voters to the polls are KSVotes.org and The Voter Network.

Blueprint Kansas doing business as KSVotes.org

Since 2017 Blueprint Kansas, under the name KSVotes.org, has been registering voters online as a “nonprofit in the middle” between voters and election offices.

What Kansas nonprofit on the right does anything like this?

KSVotes.org is almost on “automatic pilot” since only a few changes are needed each election cycle for their operation. In 2024 the “dark money” New Venture Fund was the source of 99.2% of their funding.

Dozens of progressive organizations put links on their web sites to register voters using KSVotes.org. Blueprint Kansas published stats on their web page they have registered nearly 129,000 Kansas voters since 2017, as well as facilitating advance ballot request processing for 171,000 voters.

A new state law enacted this year will prevent KSVotes.org from using any voter data they collect for any purpose other than voter registration or advanced ballot requests. In the past it was unclear in what other circumstances they were using the data since there were no legal restrictions.

The Voter Network

The Voter Network was birthed by the progressive Mainstream Education Foundation in 2019, but related work started as far back as 2016.

In 2024 The Voter Network nonprofit spent almost $724,000 for “relational organizing” to register voters and shepherd them to the polls, with a significant amount of that funding from Kansas health foundations and some “dark money” sources.

This month The Voter Network reports having 600 teams with 2300 ambassadors looking for low-propensity voters across Kansas.

What Kansas nonprofit on the right does anything like this?

Voter Participation Center / Center for Voter Information

Earlier this month the DC-based Voter Participation Center started its 2026 mailings by sending voter registration application forms to potential voters, who are not yet registered.

What nonprofit on the right does anything like this in Kansas?

In the 2022 gubernatorial election VPC and its sister organization, Center for Voter Information, sent 1.5 million mailers to Kansans including nearly 1.2 mailers for get-out-the-vote in November 2022.

Gov. Laura Kelly’s margin of victory was only about 22,000 votes.

Related

Electoral playing field tilted and public views distorted by huge progressive spending in Kansas and other states, Wichita Pachyderm Club, April 26, 2024.

Acknowledgment

Thanks to friend, Paul Soutar, for his photography, videography, and video editing.

The IRS updates a file with all the political organization filings every Sunday morning, and a large, complicated file can be downloaded with all the updates and searched.

An IRS 8871 form indicates whether an organization will file disclosure reports in a particular state, or if it is a “527 PAC” filing 8872 forms with the IRS.

I recently reviewed an IRS political organization disclosure file looking for new political organizations since 2024 saying they would file reports in Kansas, but with out-of-state addresses. Two organizations in this article were found on that IRS list. A third out-of-state PAC was found while researching one of those PACs.

There may be other Kansas PACs with out-of-state addresses, which will be explored in a future article about all Kansas PAC filings from Jan. 2026.

Kansas does not provide a single list of all PACs with their addresses.

Massachusetts

Take Back Kansas Action PAC stood out in the IRS list because of its Massachusetts address.

There were media reports about this organization from November last year.

The Sunflower State Journal’s Brad Cooper reported in November that Senate President Ty Masterson was working with a new “national campaign team with Trump ties” and a new organization, Take Back Kansas.

About the same time the Washington Examiner reported Trumpworld gets behind Ty Masterson in Kansas governor’s race:

“Several top operatives from Trump’s 2024 political orbit, including veterans of MAGA Inc., the primary super PAC that powered the president’s reelection campaign, are forming outside groups to support Masterson, according to sources familiar with the effort. The new entities are Take Back Kansas and Take Back Kansas Action, its affiliated political arm.”

Massachusetts-based Take Back Kansas Action filed an IRS 8871 form on Dec. 1, 2025, the same day the PAC’s Statement of Organization was filed in Kansas indicating the PAC’s purpose was to support Ty Masterson for Governor.

The IRS 8871, which was not filed in Kansas, gave some additional names for PAC officers, including Daniel Day, from Andover. The connections among these officers are not clear.

A Jan. 10, 2026 PAC campaign finance filing By Take Back Kansas Action PAC shows it received $50,000 from Virginia-based GOPAC Election Fund in 2025. GOPAC was the only contributor in that report.

GOPAC Election Fund is a hybrid FEC PAC affiliated with GOPAC (a 527 PAC), a long-standing Republican organization founded in 1978 focused on training and electing a “farm team” of GOP candidates at state and federal levels.

Koch Industries has provided financial support to GOPAC/GOPAC Election Fund as part of its wider pattern of backing Republican organizations.

Open Secrets shows GOPAC (but not the GOPAC Election Fund) received $100,000 from Koch Industries in the 2024 election cycle.

Alabama

In IRS 8871 filing from Aug. 29, 2025: “Prairie Patriot PAC is organized and primarily operated for the purpose of accepting contributions and making expenditures to influence the election of candidates to state office in Kansas.”

While this form was filed with the IRS, the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission PAC page does not show an entry for Prairie Patriot PAC.

But the Kansas Secretary of State’s campaign finance viewer page shows an amended filing by Prairie Patriot PAC on Sept 3, 2025 with new name Kansas Comeback PAC, which is listed as a PAC on the KPDC PAC page.

In Statement of Organization for Kansas Comeback PAC on Sept 3, 2025: “Kansas Comeback PAC is a political committee organized to ensure principled, conservative leadership for Kansas by accepting contributions and making independent expenditures relative to one or more candidates for statewide office.”

In its Jan 2026 Campaign Finance Receipts and Expenditures Report, Kansas Comeback PAC reported raising nearly $274K.

The Kansas Comeback PAC report shows fifteen contributions from six states:

• Texas (6, $117,500)

• Kansas (3, $110,104)

• California (2, $17,500)

• Missouri (2, $16,769)

• Florida (1, $7,000)

• Georgia (1, $5,000),

So, $163,769 was from out-of-state, and only $110,104 was from Kansas.

The largest contributor to Kansas Comeback was $100,000 from “Cutler” at PO Box 7588, Overland Park with no occupation given.

Georgia

A different filing with the KPDC shows this Overland Park PO Box 7588 is the address of Robert Cutler, a CEO of Marketing, who was the only donor to a Georgia-based Kansas PAC in a Jan. 2025, Stand for Change PAC (renamed to Stand for Justice PAC).

Related

Masterson assembles national campaign team with Trump ties, Brad Cooper, Sunflower State Journal, Nov. 11, 2025.

Trumpworld gets behind Ty Masterson in Kansas governor’s race, Samantha-Jo Roth, Washington Examiner, Nov. 11, 2025.

These nonprofits sent about 161,000 voter registration forms, 216,000 advance ballot applications, and nearly 1.2 million get-out-the-vote pieces to Kansans in the weeks before the 2022 election.

VPC/CVI revealed their 2022 numbers online using “red boxes,” which may have been a way of openly sharing what the were doing with campaigns and parties.

VPC/CVI mailing numbers for 2024 are not known and were not found online.

“New American Majority” targeted

The VPC and CVI websites indicate their focus is the “New American Majority,” which consists of “young people, people of color and unmarried women.”

These groups are among the strongest Democratic-leaning segments of US registered voters according to Pew Research.

In a March 12 email to both Kansas and Johnson County election officials, VPC president, Lionel Dripps, gave a breakdown with numbers for their planned mailing to 100 of the 105 Kansas counties.

Dripps gave an overview of their targeting.

Our voter registration mailing will be targeted to reach unregistered young people, voters who have recently moved and have not re-registered or updated their voter registration records (according to the latest available information), and others who are unregistered in the voting eligible population.

In this first wave there were no mailings planned for Comanche, Greeley, Haskell, McPherson, Meade or Morton counties.

Four of the counties not receiving any mailings have fewer than 10% Democratic registered voters.

Top counties

Over 90% of the 16,497 mailers will be delivered to 21 counties.

Larger counties receive more mailings, but to better understand the numbers of VPC pieces mailed to a county, let’s explore correlations between several factors, including sex and political party using data from a voter registration file.

Correlation analysis

A “correlation coefficient” is a score that tells how much two things are connected or “move together.” It’s a number between -1 and +1, that could be called a “friendship” score: +1 for perfect buddies, 0 for total strangers, and -1 for opposite of buddies.

Correlations can be computed between the 105 numbers of VPC mailed pieces and the 105 numbers of female percentage by county, or the 105 numbers for the percentage membership in a particular political party. These correlation coefficients are shown in the graphic above.

Perfect correlation. A correlation of 1.00 is a perfect match, so the VPC Pieces Mailed values have a perfect correlation with itself.

Positive correlation. A positive correlation suggests that when one value goes up, the other also goes up. The correlation value of +0.57 between VPC Pieces Mailed and the Democratic percentage values suggests a higher number of VPC pieces were sent when the Democratic percentages in a county were higher.

No relationship. A correlation of 0.0 suggests no relationship, which is roughly true with the 0.13 correlation between VPC Pieces Mailed and the percentage of United Kansas voters in each county. The membership in UK across many counties is small and looks almost random.

Negative correlation. A negative correlation suggests that when one value goes up, the other goes down. The correlations between VPC Pieces Mailed and Republican percentage values is negative (-0.48), and between VPC Pieces Mailed and male percentage is negative (-0.35).

So, VPC mailing counts tended to be lower for counties that were more Republican, and higher for counties that were more Democratic by percentage.

To a lesser degree, VPC mailing counts tended to be higher to counties with a higher percent of females, and lower to counties that were a higher percentage male.

Nonpartisan?

The correlation analysis suggests VPC Pieces Mailed to “young people, people of color and unmarried women” would be consistent with ignoring males and ignoring Republicans.

A “nonpartisan” nonprofit can yield very nonpartisan results, which Parker Thayer addressed in his article: How Charities Secretly Help Win Elections, Capital Research Center, Aug. 15, 2023.

Using sophisticated voter databases and Democrat-aligned microtargeting firms, charities like the Voter Participation Center have targeted “nonpartisan” voter registration drives toward demographics and localities where people vote strongly for Democrats. As liberal reporter Sasha Issenberg wrote of the Voter Participation Center in his widely praised 2012 book, Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns, “Even though the group was officially nonpartisan, for tax purposes, there was no secret that the goal of all its efforts was to generate new votes for Democrats.”

Data

Explore the data yourself by downloading the Excel file below.

VPC Mailer Stats for March 2026 in Kansas

27.5KB ∙ XLSX file

Download

Kansas voter data from the Secretary of State on Jan. 9, 2026 was used to create the gender/party counts and percentages by county.

Download

Related

Supervisor of Elections alerts Leon County residents to unofficial voter registration letters, WCTV, Tallahassee, FL. March 26, 2026.

Article gives details of “redboxing” apparently used by VPC/CVI to announce publicly how many mailers they sent, and when, in the 2022 election. No “red boxes” were found in 2024.

Mayday Health is the name of Mayday Medicines Inc according to their tax filing with the IRS.

After Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022, Mayday promoted “how to get abortions even where they’re banned.”

Mayday’s current IRS 990 filing indicates they expanded from promoting abortion access to include “gender affirming” care, which is why they are now putting up billboards in Kansas.

DC-based Hopewell Fund, one of the Arabella Advisor’s funds (now Sunflower Services), gave $2.35 million to Mayday Health according to Hopewell’s tax filings in 2022-2023.

Other known large donors to Mayday include Global Impact [$300K] and the Packard Foundation [$300K].

According to a Linked-In page, Mayday Health founder and executive director, Liv Raisner, served in communications positions for several presidential campaigns:

• Kamala Harris for President, 2024, head of paid digital video

• Biden-Harris Transition Team, 2020-2021, traveling digital director

• Biden for President, 2019-2020, traveling digital director

• Hillary for America, 2015-2016, communications fellow and assistant to communications director

• Vice President Joe Biden, 2013, speechwriting department

Raisner is traveling around Kansas now collecting testimonials for publication on social media.

Mayday Health pays Raisner a salary of $174K as executive director.

In 2024 the Hopewell Fund gave $860K to abortion providers in Wichita.

The Kansas Reflector’s parent organization, States Newsroom, was “incubated” by the same Hopewell Fund before they became an independent organization.

Related

What possible justification is there for the 50% increase in price? The cost to copy the data to a CD, or put the data online on Dropbox, is nowhere near the current price of $200. So, why is the price now $300?

I still object to the price increase in 2006 from $100 to $200!! The voter data already exists as part of the state election system, and is maintained by the state and county election offices. The actual cost to make a copy has always been minimal.

Why must the price be so high?

In December 2025 the Secretary of State’s office announced proposed permanent administrative regulations about prices of a number of fees, including the price for purchasing the statewide voter file, or advance voting data.

The same announcement gave a schedule for several hearings across the state for public feedback.

Sham hearing? The final public hearing about the matter was held in Topeka at the Docking State Office Building on Feb. 10, which was two days before the official publication was in the Kansas Register on Feb. 12.

This is very curious since the Kansas Register submission deadline for publication is the Thursday prior to the publication date, which would have been Feb. 5. So, the submission deadline was five days before the final hearing about the matter?

Public opinion did not matter?

The “CVR” Voter Registration Data Request form was modified on March 2 to reflect the increased price.

My objections

I was the only person to attend and speak at the final hearing in Topeka on Feb. 10.

My objections included:

• Three of the four states surrounding Kansas charge much less than the current price of $200 before being hiked to $300: Ballotpedia shows Colorado charges $50, Missouri charges $35, and there is no fee in Oklahoma for their voter files. Why do we want to “compete” with Nebraska that charges $500 along with a number of restrictions?

• The increase in the state voter file will likely have a rippling effect in many counties that will now increase their local fees.

• The increased fee can be viewed as an impediment to availability of data and an impediment to ability to analyze the data. Shouldn’t we favor more transparency, not less?

I asked about possible alternatives, but those fell on deaf ears:

• Is there a possibility of providing quarterly voter files for free for analysis, and only charging the increased fees to those requiring timely, updated data? Or specialized data requests?

• Is there a possibility of providing copies of the daily advance voting files for free after the election for study?

• Is it possible for the Secretary of State to obtain the actual list of participants in any election from all counties and making that list available to the public? A citizen can obtain such a list in one county, but it’s nearly impossible to get statewide data from all 105 counties.

We need more legislators to push for improvements in “digital transparency” in all state offices, including improvements in the transparency of elections.

Related

Availability of state voter files in all 50 states, Ballotpedia.

Most of these problems first appeared last July in the first voter file released after redistricting

July 9: Updated with redacted LAC Public Access File document. (Name I redacted to not dox this individual.)

The Voter Network was launched as a separate nonprofit by the Mainstream Education Foundation (now Mainstream Civic Engagement) in Jan. 2023, but it had been an internal “Be a Voter” initiative as far back as 2016.

I try to characterize how “nonpartisan” a nonprofit is by the political party affiliation and political donations of employees based on public records. I have been looking for an explanation as to why one employee of The Voter Network was not a registered voter, when their business is to register voters and they push get-out-the-vote activities.

Following the example of Sara Gonzales in Texas, on Monday I knocked on the door of the business at 6750 Antioch Rd, Suite 305G in Merriam, KS.

This was the street address of The Voter Network Foundation in their Sept. 21, 2023 IRS “determination letter” saying they had become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit effective Jan. 9, 2023. The same address has been used by progressive nonprofit, The Mainstream Coalition, for several years, which had launched The Voter Network.

The building directory was a bit confusing, since it only listed a firm, Support Kansas City, with room number 305.

A representative of Support Kansas City responded to all my questions, but it was clear they only prepare IRS 990s and other paperwork for nonprofits. So, neither The Voter Network nor Mainstream Coalition use that business address as an office.

The Voter Network’s recent IRS 990 only gives an Overland Park post office as another business address. But the 990 did give a telephone number, and I found an email address online.

On Tuesday I sent an email to Lindsay Ford asking to view materials for the H-1B visa her nonprofit sponsored in 2024. On Wednesday, I attempted to phone Ms. Ford with the same questions.

According to the US Department of Labor, there are certain documents an employer must allow the public to view about an H-1B employee. My questions to Ms. Ford focused on two documents:

• The Labor Condition Application (LCA) form,

• Documentation that notice requirements were satisfied. [An employer must provide notice of the LCA filing to protect U.S. workers and ensure transparency.]

A final question I’ve tried to ask Ms. Ford: “Could you comment on why a local citizen was not available for this position?”

Ms. Ford replied to the email late on Thursday. She said the “staff all work remotely” so there is no office to visit. She gave me a Topeka address where I “can view the records in our public access file.” I’ll eventually make that visit.

There were no other responses to questions.

The Voter Network’s H-1B sponsorship

Last week I could not verify The Voter Network’s H-1B visa using an online authoritative source. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ “H-1B Employer Datahub” was not working for several days last week and early this week.

However, the H-1B Employer Datahub was found to be working on Wednesday, and I was able to verify preliminary information.

The H-1B Employer Datahub shows The Voter Network was granted an H-1B visa in federal fiscal year 2024. The LCA form would provide additional information but that is not available without cooperation from Ms. Ford.

A non-government online website, h1bdata.info, says The Voter Network’s H-1B application was submitted on June 20, 2024 for a start date of July 30, 2024.

The job title was “Volunteer and Special Projects Coordinator” for a position in Lawrence with a base salary of $52,187.

Why should a non-citizen be given an H-1B visa to work on election-related matters for a nonprofit in Kansas?

Kansas H-1B visas

Fiscal Year 2026

The USCIS H-1B Employer Datahub can be used to explore other H-1B visas granted by Kansas employers (or any employer in the country).

The H-1B data for Kansas for federal fiscal year 2026 (but only Oct. 1, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2025) can be viewed online at this time.

Fiscal Years 2024-2026

Some early comments about H-1B employers:

• The number of school districts employing H-1B visa holders was surprising.

• Johnson County, Water District No. 1 of Johnson County, and Sedgwick County each have one H-1B employee.

Panasonic Energy Corporation

The USCIS H-1B Employer Datahub shows the Panasonic Energy Corp. battery plant in DeSoto/Olathe is staffing up, and already lists six of the positions did not go to US citizens.

A third-party site, h1bgrader.com, lists eleven H-1Bs going to non-US citizens at the Panasonic plant.

Kansas Data

H-1B Visas, Kansas Employers, FY 2024, 2025, 2026 (partial)

711KB ∙ XLSX file

Download

H-1B Visas sponsored by Kansas Employers in Fiscal Years 2024, 2025, 2026 (partial) [817 rows]

Download

Put anything you find interesting about the H-1B visa employer list in the comments.

What jobs were given to H-1B visa holders that could have been given to US citizens?

Related

The Voter Network reported receiving $654K in contribution and grants in 2024 in its IRS 990 filing. Grants of $454,000 to The Voter Network have been identified from other nonprofits in their 990 filings.

Campaign against constitutional amendment

On Monday Kansas United for Impartial Courts started reviewing applications for three positions to oppose a constitutional amendment to allow the direct election of Supreme Court Judges in Kansas. View the online job postings.

The constitutional amendment referendum will be on the ballot in August.

Apparently a $12,000 per month position posted in January for the Campaign Manager has already been filled.

The online ad for the Campaign Manager listed members of the KUIC statewide coalition:

• ACLU of Kansas,

• Kansas Values Institute,

• Kansas NEA,

• Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes,

• “members of the Kansas legal community.”

Two of the positions under consideration will pay $8000/month, while a third pays $6500/month. The field director is to hire three field organizers.

Business Filing

Last year Kansas United for Impartial Courts incorporated with board members who are executive directors of the most progressive nonprofits in Kansas:

• Evan Gates from Kansas Values Institute,

• Micah Kubic from ACLU Kansas, and

• Emily Wales from Planned Parenthood Great Plains.

Controversy in not new

The selection of Supreme Court judges has been controversial for more than 20 years.

Kansas is alone in its process

Kansas has a unique selection process where attorneys through the state bar association dominate the selection process.

Why should attorneys have so much power to control the courts?

ACLU leads opposition

ACLU put $200,000 in the kitty

Comments by ACLU’s Kubic

Micah Kubic, ACLU Executive Director, addressed a League of Women Voters audience at the capitol on Kansas Day, January 29, about judicial selection.

Kubic expressed concern about partisan politics being part of the proposed judicial selection change, but did not explain why so many now feel the current selection system is so partisan and biased.

In the video Kubic suggested the focus of the referendum should be on progressive “hot button” issues such as abortion, school funding, LGBT issues, and voting rights fights, instead of improvement in the process of selecting supreme court judges.

Kubic said the strategy is to “make it clear what the stakes are, and that this is a rerun of the abortion amendment in 2022.” Kubic said “we will have the infrastructure and mechanisms to do what as we did in 2022.”

Meanwhile, conservatives might want to get started on their campaign to pass the amendment.

Related

Fundraising for campaign opposing judicial amendment approaches $2 million, Brad Cooper, Sunflower State Journal, March 4, 2026.

ACLU Kansas received $350,000 in funding from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and $101,037 from the Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation in 2024.

The Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation gave huge amounts to Kansas abortion providers, including $2.55 million to Planned Parenthood Great Plains.

Judicial amendment campaign shapes up; outside group books nearly $1 million in ads, Brad Cooper, Sunflower State Journal, Feb. 23, 2026.

Updated Political Profile of Members of the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission: Still 6 Democrats, 2 Republicans, 1 Republican for Moore, Kansas Meadowlark, Dec. 16, 2007, via The WayBack Machine

The “collective” seems to be overwhelming freedom-loving individuals.

For more than a decade, Kansas has been flooded with progressive nonprofit money in elections. Sure there is also money on the Right, but the Left is truly winning elections using nonprofit money compared to the Right.

The purpose of this article was to identify grants flowing into Kansas during the 2024 election year for groups likely working on elections as “nonpartisan” nonprofits.

The names of nonprofits giving out money, and the names of the nonprofit recipients will likely be involved in elections and voter activates this year. Keeping the names straight for these nearly three dozen groups can be challenging.

Much of the information below will be background information for future articles.

Nonprofits file tax returns with the IRS called “990s” each year. These tax returns are sometimes the only source of limited information about how a nonprofit was involved in an election.

Limitations

• Any financial reporting for nonprofits involved in elections is often delayed by a year or more to make sure few are interested in such “old” election news. So does that affect your concern?

• Many of the returns cited here were only released in Nov. 2025. There are likely other nonprofits sending money for elections/voter activities that were missed in this analysis and may be found in the future.

• There can be some double counting in the summaries, which is impossible to remove using only existing public records.

• Some of the grant recipients may not be directly involved in election/voter related activities, but received funding from nonprofits or “dark money” sources known to be very involved in elections.

Funders

Five groups of funding organizations were identified for this analysis. Four of the groups were “families” of nonprofits.

One group is an unusual combination of a Kansas PAC, Middle of the Road PAC, with the largest Kansas nonprofit involved in elections for that last decade, Kansas Values Institute.

Here’s a summary of the money flows to Kansas progressive nonprofits in 2024 from the mostly national nonprofit sources:

Only a short summary is given in each section below. Click on the link to see details.

Arabella Advisors

Arabella-managed funds gave 20 grants totaling $1.8 million to 15 Kansas nonprofits

Tides

Two Tides nonprofits gave 8 grants totaling $1 million to Kansas nonprofits

Middle of the Road / Kansas Values Institute

Transfer of nearly $1 million from Middle of the Road PAC to two Kansas nonprofits in 2024 was unusual

Kansas health foundations

Health foundations spent nearly $900K in 2024 on 17 grants related to their past IVE project

Other philanthropies

“Other” nonprofit sources gave 13 grants that totaled $4.2 million to 11 Kansas nonprofits

Grant Recipients

Here’s a list of all the progressive groups receiving funding, shown from largest to smallest amounts received.

Comments

• Many of the grant recipients worked on Kansas Health Foundation’s “Integrated Voter Engagement” project from 2017-2024, or are working with other nonprofits that have in the past.

• There is about $3.5 million in the total related to abortion advocacy or abortion services: Planned Parenthood Great Plains, Trust Women, Trust Women Foundation, Aria Medical.

• It’s unclear whether The Land Institute or Exchange Point Institute are involved in Kansas elections/voter activities. Their receipt of “dark money” is curious.

• Tailwind Partners and the JoCo Democratic Party were not grant recipients, but did receive funds from the Arabella-advised Sixteen Thirty Fund. Tailwind Partners was involved in some sort of fundraising activity. The JoCo Dem Party benefited from some sort of lobbying expenditure.

Right-leaning, conservative nonprofits?

If you are a progressive and think this article is unfair, please make specific suggestions in the comments identifying national nonprofits sending funding like shown above most years to conservative groups in Kansas, working directly or indirectly on elections and voter activities, that you think should be investigated.

Related

Kansas in the Crosshairs: Fake “Western” Way Back PAC Pours Money into 2025 Races. Thousands in 2025 Kansas Campaign Contributions -- But Still No Kansas Donors -- Mark A Year of Growth and Prosperity for the Left’s Way Back PAC. Prairie Wren, Jan 31, 2026.

Turning Those Red States Blue … the Arabella Way. The Left’s Western States Strategy … Hiding in Plain Sight, Prairie Wren, Jan. 16, 2026.

Earlier articles focused on:

• Arabella-managed funds gave 20 grants totaling $1.8 million to 15 Kansas nonprofits

• Two Tides nonprofits gave 8 grants totaling $1 million to Kansas nonprofits

• Transfer of nearly $1 million from Middle of the Road PAC to two Kansas nonprofits in 2024 was unusual

• Health foundations spent nearly $900K in 2024 on 17 grants related to their past IVE project

This article looks at large grants from four specific out-of-state nonprofits to progressive Kansas organizations.

Out-of-State Nonprofits

Four progressive out-of-state nonprofits giving to Kansas nonprofits included:

• Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation

• Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors

• Silicon Valley Community Foundation

• US Energy Foundation

Grants from two “other” nonprofits were included in the analysis of Middle of the Road / Kansas Values Institute and will not be discussed here:

• $150K from NEA Advocacy to Kansas Values Institute

• $185K from Local Jobs & Economic Development Fund to Kansans for Affordable Future

• $85K from Local Jobs & Economic Development Fund to Amberwave PAC

Combined these “other” nonprofit sources gave 13 grants that totaled $4.2 million to 11 Kansas progressive organizations in 2024.

Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation

Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation’s core mission is family planning, contraception, and abortion access. It has distributed billions in grants—estimated at over $4 to $8 billion total since the early 2000s, with a large share to abortion causes.

All grants from the Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation in 2024 can be seen in its 990 filing:

• The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation 2024 IRS 990

The Susan Thompson Buffer Foundation gave grants to three Kansas organizations in 2024:

• $101K to ACLU Kansas, which works on voting rights protection and advocacy, as well as using lawfare to advance progressive causes and concerns through lawsuits.

• $2.55 million to Planned Parenthood Great Plains. PPGP is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing abortions across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes (PPGPV) is the affiliated 501(c)(4) political/advocacy arm. PPGP/PPGPV’s Kansas involvement is heavily focused on ballot defense of abortion, candidate endorsements/PAC support for pro-abortion office seekers, direct legislative testimony/lobbying, and voter tools/mobilization.

• $102K to Trust Women Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on abortions and “gender care,” which can result in terrible body mutilation.

The stated purpose for all grants was given as “General Operating Support” or “Program Support.”

United States Energy Foundation

U.S. Energy Foundation is public charity headquartered in San Francisco, which was founded in 1991. Its focus is on “securing a clean and equitable energy future to tackle the climate crisis” through grants for education, analysis, and public engagement on clean energy policies, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and related economic/equity issues.

All grants from the US Energy Foundation in 2024 can be seen in its 990 filing:

• US Energy Foundation 2024 IRS 990

Grants to Kansas in 2024 include:

• $175K to Climate + Energy Project, Hutchinson. CEP promotes voter engagement aimed at increasing turnout among Kansans concerned about climate and energy issues. CEP was part of the Kansas Health Foundation’s Integrated Voter Engagement project and participates with The Voter Network’s Kansas Climate CORE Voter-to-Voter Team.

• $25K to Kansas Latino Community Network, Mission. KLCN’s role in Kansas politics is primarily nonpartisan civic empowerment and advocacy. It emphasizes voter registration, education, and turnout.

• $25K to Kansas Interfaith Action, Lawrence. KIFA positions its work as faith-based and nonpartisan. Influence Watch characterizes it as left-of-center. In recent 2023 and 2024 elections KIFA hired part-time “mobilizers” and team captains to to contact at least 50 people in their personal networks—often infrequent voters—about upcoming elections, help with registration/absentee ballots, and encourage participation. KIFA received a total of $75K from nonprofit sources in 2024.

• $230K to Kansas Common Sense Fund, Topeka. KCSF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational arm of the 501(c)(4) advocacy organization, Kansas Coalition for Common Sense. KCSF focuses on developing research-based messaging to empower Kansans, advocates, nonprofit groups, community leaders, and policymakers in promoting “common sense Kansas values,” which most in Kansas label as “progressive.”

• $40K to Kansans for Affordable Future, Topeka. Kansans for an Affordable Future is most active in local elections and issues tied to energy policy, utility rates, and county commissions—especially in areas like Douglas, Sedgwick, and Wyandotte counties.
  

The Climate + Energy Project embraced Kansas Health Foundation’s “Integrated Voter Engagement Project” starting in 2017 and received significant funding from 2017 to 2024.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2002 that serves as a global philanthropic advisory, management, and fiscal sponsorship organization. RPA’s role in US politics and elections is limited to facilitating and advising on donor-supported philanthropy aimed at strengthening democracy, civic participation, and related systems. This includes nonpartisan or progressive-leaning efforts on voting access, election integrity/protection, reducing polarization, and long-term civic infrastructure.

All grants nationwide from the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors in 2024 can be seen in its 990 filing:

• Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors 2024 IRS 990

The Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors made a $350,000 grant to ACLU Kansas in 2024.

ACLU Kansas received $561K from known nonprofits in 2024.

Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s role in politics and elections is limited to charitable grantmaking and program administration, often donor-directed. SVCF funds “movement- and power-building” initiatives, community action grants, and organizations focused on voter engagement, policy advocacy, holding elected officials accountable, and increasing participation in underrepresented groups. The controversial $328 million in “Zuckerbucks” from Mark Zuckerberg to Center for Tech and Civic Life impacting the 2020 election was through SVCF.

All grants from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in 2024 can be seen in its 990 filing:

• Silicon Valley Community Foundation 2024 IRS 990

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation gave a grant of $103,350 to Loud Light in Topeka.

From all nonprofit sources in 2024 Loud Light received nearly $452K in funding. Its 501(c)(4) Loud Light Civic Action received $50K.

Loud Light’s primary involvement in politics and elections centers on expanding voter access, increasing turnout (particularly among young and marginalized voters), monitoring legislation, and challenging laws it views as barriers to voting.

Related

$2.8 million was for “abortion services” in Wichita

Climate + Energy Project and Kansas Interfaith Action received several grants for Kansas Health Foundation’s “Integrated Voter Engagement” project.

“Dark Money” details for “Vote No” on Value Them Both Constitutional Amendment