Overland Park mayor's race

[proud2BlibKansan]

I stumbled across this website while looking for info on the mayoral election in Overland Park

http://www.efg2.com/Meadowlark/2005/02-14.htm

So this is supposed to be a non-partisan election. What is up with that? Should I vote for Sader because he is a Dem?

He came knocking on my door last week. I wasn't home but my 26 year old son talked to him. He asked him what party he belonged to and Sader told him it was a non-partisan election. My son said 'But you don't know my mom. Trust me - she will want to know what party you belong to.' (smart kid, eh?)

[signmike]

1. You ought to get a load of the gang of criminals

fighting each other for mayor of Los Angeles.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. I like LA

as a vacation spot. But I could never live there. That 24/7 rush hour traffic is insane.

Now you tell me there is a gang of criminals running for mayor.

I guess there is something to be said about midwestern values. :)

[atommom]

3. Well, I have the feeling that stealth Republican candidates have

been doing this in small local races for awhile already. So while it's supposed to be a non-partisan race, I'm planning to vote for the stealth Democrat. Dems have to get their start in politics somewhere!

[SheilaT]

4. Neil Sader is hardly a stealth Democrat.

Yeah, he's registered as a Democrat, and he's even a precinct committee chair, but let me tell you (actually I'm posting this for all the other local DUers who'll read it) my Neil Sader story.

As some of you here will know, I ran for office, for the Kansas State House last year. Neil Sader resides in my district. One thing I did very early on, was to contact all of my precinct committee chair people to let them know I was running, and to ask them to help me out in any way they can. Neil said sorry, he couldn't do that, he supported my opponent, incumbent Republican Jim Yonally. I said, no, you can't do that, you're a Democratic precinct committee chair, and as such you really need to support Democrats and only Democrats wherever one is running for office. He responded that he's really into the non-partisan thing (city council members are elected in a non-partisan race) and besides, Yonally was an old friend, so he still supported him.

We went around and around on this for some 45 minutes, and as far as Neil was concerned I'm just nobody he'd ever heard of, and who was I to waltz in and run for state representative my first time out, and he didn't feel that being a precinct committee chair person should have any effect on who he supported.

At least Neil never put a Yonally sign in his yard. I know, because I drove by his house every few days to make sure.

He also, I understand, supports Fiona Curtin in the race for his open seat, and Fiona is a registered Republican who does not seem very supportive of the public schools. I knew her when we were both moms at Oak Park elementary and did not think highly of her then.

The reason all kinds of people support Neil is because he's nominally a Democrat, and his mother Carol is the Grand Old Lady of Johnson County Kansas politics. I've never met her at anything I've gone to in the past two years. Neil himself has only come to Second Saturday breakfasts when he's decided he wants to ask for help with his campaign. He needs to be very grateful I have not yet stood up and told my story to a larger audience. I know that at last month's Second Saturday the current chair of the Johnson County Democratic Party was quite worried I would do so.

What I have found within the party is a decided lack of support for all of the candidates. Larry Gates, who is the State Chair (and re-elected to that position just yesterday) refused to put any of my campaign signs in front of his office. Something about staying above the fray. Toward the end of the campaign season, when various other candidates' signs were there, I placed a couple of mine alongside them, and inside of 15 minutes everything came down. Tells me exactly how much my candidacy was supported. And I did not come forward on my own to run, I was asked by the executive director of the party to run. So I honestly don't understand some of all of this.

I'm sure all of this is a little bit too much of "inside baseball" kind of talk, but I hope it clarifies things a little.

[atommom]

5. Thanks for the inside story! Geez, no wonder Kansas Dems have

so much difficulty. :eyes:

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Wow Sheila

That is just terrible. If you decide to run for office again, I think you can depend on some DUers to help you out. I know I would be willing. I have developed a lot of respect for you just from chatting with you here.

My husband had an interesting theory. I was telling him about this tonight and I mentioned the fact that it was Sader's idea to have non partisan elections in OP. He said that since it's just not cool to be a Dem these days and since KS and OP are Republican strongholds, Sader is just not willing to tag himself as a Dem. He's taking advantage of the fact that most people won't even bother to check on his party affiliation before they go to the polls. But if the election was partisan, a lot of folks would vote for the Repub. Since you mentioned who Sader's mom is, it makes even more sense. (I am assuming she is a Dem?) Hubby said it also sounds like we have our own local version of Joe Lieberman. Which I thought was hilarious because my husband pays zero attention to politics - at least thta's what I thought. :) But he is a pretty smart guy.

But now I still have the dilemna of who to vote for. Is the mayoral election on the same day as the statewide vote on the marriage amendment? Maybe I will vote on that and abstain from the mayoral vote.

And speaking of the marriage amendment vote, anyone know if there are any yard signs available? I live on a busy street and I want a HUGE sign.

[SheilaT]

8. Carol Sader, Neil's mom

used to be in the Kansas State House. Sue Storm, the only Democrat in the legislature from Johnson County, currently holds that seat. She's something of a major donor to the party, but isn't particularly active these days so far as I can tell. I believe she was at the Washington-Jefferson Days banquet Friday night in Topeka, the one at which John Edwards spoke.

I think Carl Gerling will make a fine mayor of Overland Park.

The other problem I have with too many voters here in Kansas is the Democrats who persist in registering as Republicans so they can vote in the Republican primary. It's an essential reason why it's so hard to get Democrats, real Democrats, to bother to run for office. When they're only 20% of the registered voters, why bother?

I had a conversation with a man a month or so ago who somewhat proudly told me he's worked hard for David Adkins (Republican former state senator from here in OP) when he was running for the nomination for Attorney General here in Kansas. When Phill Kline won the primary, this man finally switched over to support Chris Biggs for that position. I pointed out that if he'd been working for Biggs all along, maybe Biggs would have won. This man finally got it.

If we're Democrats, we need to work for Democrats, real Democrats. We need, collectively, to show enough strength, especially in registration numbers, so that other Democrats will feel encouraged and empowered.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Good point

And I will admit I registered as a Republican for the primary last August. I was thinking that was the best way to avoid a rematch of Adam Taft vs Dennis Moore. I honestly thought Kobach was so bad that he would be easier to beat.

But I will register as a Dem from now on.

[progressive_jayhawk]

7. Self Deleted

Too Late to be responding to anything...didn't sound right!!!

[givemebackmycountry]

12. Mod in ks

Welcome to DU!

Just wanted to say HI and say post often and have fun!
Great group of people here!

[Puppies]

10. I am for Sader

I am most definitely voting for Neil Sader. Previous messages in this thread are simply uninformed. He is more than willing to identify himself as a registered Democrat, but he does go out of his way to explain that this is a nonpartisan election. It should be issue oriented and I agree with him on the issues and his vision for the city. Geez, he even worked for Carter in the White House.

Meanwhile, the Republicans are holding secret meetings among themselves bashing Sader. To vote for the opponent simply because you do not feel Sader is Democratic enough is ridiculous. The point here is to get Dems elected and Sader is trying to do just that, as is Governor Sebelius who publicly supports him.

In my neighborhood, the only place I see his opponent's signs are next to the "Vote Yes" signs for the amendment!

If you have questions, check out www.sader.com

A vote for Sader is a vote for OP in my mind!

[SheilaT]

11. Please vote for whomever you wish,

but don't mistake Neil Sader for a real Democrat. He absolutely point blank refused to help a fellow Democrat, which is hardly supportive of his political party. More than one person who actually knows him has said if it weren't for his mom, he'd probably be a Republican.

The Overland Park Mayor's office is non-partisan, it's clear to me, as someone who is active at the grass-roots level, that Sader only works the "I'm a Democrat" angle when he thinks it will help him. The ONLY times he has ever come to Second Saturday meetings in the two years I've been attending has been to ask for our support.

When he comes out and endorses other Democrats, then I'll change my tune.

[givemebackmycountry]

13. Puppies (and who doesn't like puppies?)

Welcome to DU!

Just wanted to say HI and say post often and have fun!
Great group of people here!