Voice For Liberty

Tag: Raj Goyle

  • ‘Ron Estes’ letter causes a stir

    Yesterday the Wichita Eagle printed a letter from “Ron Estes” titled “Schodorf better.” As you might imagine, the letter promoted Jean Schodorf‘s candidacy for the Republican party nomination for United States Congress from the fourth district of Kansas.

    Ordinarily such a letter would not be controversial, except in this case there is a prominent local political figure also named Ron Estes, and he didn’t write the letter. I’m referring to Ron Estes the Sedgwick County Treasurer. He’s also running for the Republican Party nomination for Kansas State Treasurer.

    Compounding the confusion — and it’s really more than confusion at this point — is the fact that the Ron Estes who wrote the letter the Eagle published is almost certainly the same Ron Estes who is married to Ellen Estes, who is Schodorf’s campaign manager. There are no other registered voters in Sedgwick County with a name anything near “Ron Estes” other than these two.

    I think that the Eagle should have included a notice that the Ron Estes who is promoting Jean Schodorf isn’t the Ron Estes who is county treasurer. It would have avoided a lot of confusion.

    There’s also an issue of public policy related to the printing of this letter. Should the Wichita Eagle, when printing candidate endorsement letters, disclose formal connections between the letter writer and the candidate, such as the writer being the spouse of the campaign manager?

    In 2008 I was co-manager of Karl Peterjohn’s campaign for the Sedgwick County Commission. Shortly before the election I submitted a letter rebutting criticism of Peterjohn to the Eagle, and it was printed without noting the connection between he and I. I can’t remember if I disclosed the connection to the Eagle when I submitted the letter. But the Eagle — at least the newsroom — was aware of the connection.

    The “stir” referred to in the headline of this article comes from the fact that Ron Estes (the Sedgwick County Treasurer) is a conservative, and Jean Schodorf stands out in the field of fourth district congressional candidates in that she is not conservative, at least in the way the other candidates are.

    But that’s not all. In a 2010 issue of the Sedgwick County Democratic Party newsletter, under the heading “Thank you to our 2009 contributors!” are the names “Ron and Ellen Estes.” This is the same Ellen Estes who is managing the campaign of a Republican for the U.S. Congress.

    Even stranger, Ron Estes — husband of Ellen — is listed as having contributed $100 to Raj Goyle‘s congressional campaign last August.

    Not only is Goyle a Democrat, he’s the likely Democratic Party nominee for the same office Jean Schodorf is campaigning for. In fairness, this contribution is dated just about the time Schodorf announced she was thinking about running for Congress.

    Then, to add to the strangeness: Ellen Estes, the campaign manager for a Republican candidate for Congress, was registered to vote as a Democrat as of last August. She’s switched to Republican registration since then.

    Now I believe a little party-crossing is good once in a while. Last year I volunteered service to the campaign of James Barfield for Wichita City Council. He’s a Democrat, although he is fiscally conservative, and that’s why I supported and volunteered for him.

    But the Ron and Ellen Estes family’s close involvement with the Democratic Party, making contributions to both the party and candidates — Goyle and others — makes one wonder.

  • Some Kansas Democrats are reluctant to show their party affiliation

    Over the weekend the Wall Street Journal had an online piece (Kansas GOP Could Be Its Own Worst Enemy) that mentioned how Raj Goyle, candidate for United States Congress from the fourth district, doesn’t mention his party affiliation on his website or campaign materials.

    It’s not only Goyle that omits this information. A short while ago I received notice of a young man running for the Kansas House of Representatives for the 96th district. That district, currently represented by Republican Phil Hermanson, covers parts of south-central and southwest Wichita.

    This candidate — Brandon Whipple is his name: what party is he running in? I’ve looked pretty carefully at his campaign website, and just like Goyle’s, I don’t see any political party affiliation mentioned.

    Whipple apparently hasn’t yet filed for office, as the Sedgwick County election office doesn’t have him listed. So his party affiliation isn’t available there.

    But his Facebook page gives it away. He’s a Democrat.

    Why don’t Kansas Democrats like Goyle and Whipple prominently mention their party affiliation?

  • Raj Goyle is not moderate or conservative, even for a Democrat

    In its article 10 to watch in 2010, the Wichita Eagle included short profiles of the candidates in the race for the Kansas fourth district Congressional seat.

    For Democrat Raj Goyle, the article describes Goyle as a “blue dog Democrat.”

    That’s pretty funny. Maybe it’s the Eagle’s attempt at branching out into comedy.

    The term “blue dog Democrat” describes a moderate or conservative Democrat. This doesn’t describe Goyle. He may talk that way, but we need to look at his actions.

    For example, consider his voting record in the Kansas House of Representatives. The Kansas Taxpayer Network published ratings of Kansas legislators based on their votes on key issues. For the 2008 session (the last session with ratings), Goyle’s rating was 38%. Only 11 of 125 members had a lower score. This places Goyle at the liberal end of the spectrum in the Kansas House.

    Then, what about his work history? Goyle’s campaign website doesn’t mention this, but he worked for the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the political left’s favorite organizations.

    Goyle’s site also omits that he was Senior Policy Analyst for Domestic Policy at the Center for American Progress. This organization is one of the most prominent left-wing think tanks in America and advocates for more and larger government. It was initially funded by sub-prime mortgage pioneers Herbert and Marion Sandler, who were tagged by Time Magazine in 2009 as some of 25 people to blame for the financial crisis. Other CAP funders include convicted inside trader George Soros.

    To talk of Goyle as a moderate or conservative Democrat overlooks his actions. We may have to rely on news outlets other than the Wichita Eagle for this type of information.

  • Goyle holds campaign kick-off event in Old Town

    In front of a crowd of enthusiastic supporters at the Pumphouse in Old Town Wichita, Kansas House of Representatives member Raj Goyle held a kick-off event for his campaign for the United States Congress from the fourth district of Kansas.

    In his brief remarks, Goyle said that after receiving his education out-of-state, he — unlike many young people — came back to Kansas. He told how outside Kansas, out state’s perception is not what we know it should be. The perception is that we’re not forward-thinking or dynamic. So he decided to run for the Kansas House of Representatives in 2006, from a district that had never elected a Democrat.

    He mentioned his work and leadership in passing legislation limiting the ability of Fred Phelps and members of his church from disruptively protesting funerals of soldiers.

    He also mentioned his advocacy in passing a bill that allowed Kansas to accept $70 million in federal stimulus money to extend unemployment benefits.

    He mentioned that he has never missed a vote in the Kansas House He said he has never taken a free personal meal from a lobbyist, nor has he accepted a taxpayer-funded trip.

    Goyle said that the American dream is in jeopardy, and is slowly slipping away, and that he will work every day to make sure that dream is “as available to you as it was for me.”

    He told young people that they should not have to choose between a well-paying, high-quality job and leaving Wichita.

    Analysis

    As Goyle has no serious challenger in the primary, and as he is unlikely to draw a challenger with name recognition and the ability to raise money, it’s a bit of a puzzle as to why he’s hitting the campaign trail so soon, some 11 months before the primary. The real action in the fourth district Congressional race in is the crowded Republican primary field.

    Goyle’s talk was short on substantive discussion of issues, which is probably the strategy I’d follow if I had no serious primary opposition and was speaking to an audience of enthusiastic supporters.

    I attended the event with my colleague John Todd, and as far as we could tell, we were the only non-Democrats in attendance. My presence caused a few tweets on Twitter, one remarking “Oh dear lord!” at my presence. Most of the Democrats I talked to were cordial — including the candidate himself — except for one quite disagreeable union activist who assumed I was there to collect dirt on Goyle, assumed I supported President Obama’s heckler, and painted me as a racist simply because I belong to the same party as Lynn Jenkins, she of the “great white hope” remark.

  • Raj Goyle’s lecturing at Wichita State University sporadic

    Raj Goyle, a Democratic member of the Kansas House of Representatives, has recently announced that he is a candidate for the U.S. Congress seat for the fourth district of Kansas. That’s the seat being vacated by Todd Tiahrt.

    His website, in announcing his candidacy, states: “In addition to his legislative duties, Goyle serves as a lecturer at Wichita State University.”

    Past versions of his campaign website have him mentioning “… the same values that guide me every day in my career as a lecturer at Wichita State University, attorney, and active member of the Wichita community.” (emphasis added)

    While perhaps satisfying the technical description of a lecturer at Wichita State University, his career as that is spotty. According to records received from WSU, Goyle was a lecturer teaching a single class in the university’s honors program during the Fall 2006 semester. According to the same records, he hasn’t worked at WSU since. He’s scheduled to teach a class in the Fall 2009 semester, again a single class in the honors program.

    His work schedule for the semester he was employed by WSU was light. The Fall 2006 class, titled “Politics/Public Policy” met from 1:00 to 2:45 on Wednesdays. The class scheduled for Fall 2009 is titled “White House” and will meet from 1:00 to 3:00, again only on Wednesdays.

    Here’s another quote from Goyle’s campaign website: “In teaching at Wichita State I am helping to educate and shape our city’s youth while maintaining a deep commitment to public service and civic involvement.”

    The clear intent of these statements is to represent Goyle as someone actively and continuously employed by the university. Someone with a career, in Goyle’s own words. An examination of his record, however, leads to a different conclusion.