In August of last year, the GOP primaries here in Kansas was a battle between liberal Republicans -- who had essentially caucused with the few Senate Democrats to stop conservative legislation -- and conservatives.
Much of the media attention -- both nationally and here in the state -- wanted to frame the election as moderates versus conservatives. That was nonsense. If you receive an F from the NRA and support economic freedom 25% of the time, you are not a moderate. A moderate, it would seem to me, would receive a C and an economic freedom score closer to 50%.
When the results came in on August 7th, it was a clear resounding victory for conservatism.
In 2012, the average state senator received a -3.5 economic freedom score from the Kansas Policy Institute. Twelve Republicans had a negative score, with one pulling in the lowest score of the entire senate, minus 30.
Only two of those twelve would return, some losing their races and others retiring to avoid a likely defeat.
In 2013, only four Republicans registered a negative score. The average senator's score was 9.7. (2013 scores haven't been officially finalized, and if they change considerably once they are, I will make a note here.)
The result was that Kansas' income tax is now on a "glide path to zero" and spending controls were put in place. Besides the economy, other needed reforms made possible by the influx of conservatives included a pro-2nd Amendment bill that is among the best in the country and a strong pro-life bill.
After years of a growing government, holding back job creation, Kansas is now firmly headed in the right direction.
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