Of the candidates seeking the Republican party nomination for United States Congress from the first district of Kansas, two have extensive voting records based on their service in the Kansas Senate. Both candidates — farmer and Kansas Senator Tim Huelskamp of Fowler and physician and Kansas Senator Jim Barnett of Emporia — promote themselves as conservatives.
The Kansas Taxpayers Network, and now the Kansas Chapter of Americans for Prosperity, produce legislative scorecards that track legislators’ votes and produce ratings. Legislators who vote for fiscally conservative positions will produce high scores on these tabulations. The accompanying chart shows these two senators’ ratings since they started service, in 1997 for Huelskamp and 2001 for Barnett.
Kansas Senate vote ratings for Jim Barnett and Tim HuelskampIn another legislative scorecard, the Kansas Economic Freedom Index for this year, Barnett scored 69%, tying for 13th place among the 40 senators. Huelskamp scored 87%, in a tie for second place. This is the first year for the Kansas Economic Freedom Index.
The other Republican candidates seeking this nomination are educator Sue Boldra of Hays, attorney and mediator Marck Cobb of Galva, Salina commercial real estate executive Tracey Mann, and Senator Brownback chief of staff Rob Wasinger of Cottonwood Falls.