Haskins: Kansas Republican Leaders Coordinated Plan to Bypass Voters on U.S. Senate Seat
- Kirk Haskins
- Jun 18
- 2 min read
Updated: 10 hours ago
Rep. Kirk Haskins is raising the alarm over a Kansas law that could allow Republican leaders to sidestep a statewide U.S. Senate election — and he says it was no accident.
Senate Bill 105, passed by the Kansas Legislature in 2025, contains language that would grant any Senate appointee a two-year period before having to face voters. The bill was originally framed as a way to prevent Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly from appointing a Democrat to replace Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, but a key clause was quietly added after the bill's introduction.
Kirk, who served on the House Elections Committee and its conference committee when SB 105 was considered, told Kansas Reflector the move was deliberate. "This was a coordinated effort not only amongst House and Senate leadership but it was driven from demands from the federal level and Roger Marshall's office specifically," Haskins said.
Kirk connected SB 105 to a broader pattern of voting restrictions coming out of the Kansas Statehouse. "They again changed the rules to try to control who stays in power, and they took away the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots," Haskins said. "They wanted signatures on mail-in ballots. They try to redistrict. I mean, this whole thing is corrupt and coordinated."
Legal experts agree the law as described would not survive a constitutional challenge. Former U.S. Attorney for Kansas Barry Grissom told Kansas Reflector that any attempt to use SB 105 to delay or cancel the Senate election would be unconstitutional under Article I, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution.
Kirk summed up the pattern plainly. "Nowhere did they actually promote the importance of individuals going out and practicing their right to vote. It was all restrict. It was all fear. That's it. It's like, how do we maintain their power?"
Source:
Kansas Reflector, Clay Wirestone
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