Some 2010 races already crowded

The races for national and top state offices in Kansas in 2010 already have heated up.

Here are the Kansas candidates who have declared in their respective races. Not all have yet officially registered to run with the Kansas secretary of state’s office.

U.S. Senate seat

Current Sen. Sam Brownback is running for governor of Kansas. The candidates for his Senate seat are:

• Jerry Moran, R — Has served in the U.S. House since 1996. Before election to Congress, Moran served eight years in the Kansas Senate, the last two as the majority leader.

He serves on the agriculture, transportation and veterans’ affairs committees.

Find out more about Moran at his Web site: www.moranforkansas.-com.

• Todd Tiahrt, R — Tiahrt has served in the U.S. House since 1994. Tiahrt has a master’s degree in business and, before entering into politics, worked at Boeing.

Tiahrt serves on the Appropriations Committee. He has worked for airport runway improvements in the region and for support of research grants for Wichita State University, his Web site says.

He also has worked for economic growth as chairman of the Economic Competitiveness Caucus.

Find out more on Tiahrt at his Web site: www.ToddTiahrt.com.

U.S. House

4th District

The current 4th District representative, Todd Tiahrt, is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Those vying for the House seat are:

• Jim Anderson, R — Anderson is a small-business owner in Wichita.

Before opening his business he had a 20-year career in aviation as a commercial airline captain. He has degrees in aeronautics and business.

On his Web site, Anderson said he believes in reducing the size of government, a less complicated tax system and a balanced budget amendment.

He does not support government bailout of business or federal government intervention in education, his Web site says.

Find out more on Anderson at his Web site: anderson4congress.com.

• Jim Barnett, R — Barnett is a medical doctor. He has served in the Kansas Senate since 2000.

When he announced his candidacy in June he said he will fight in Congress for fiscal responsibility, lower taxes, conservative values, comprehensive health-care reform and to make Kansas competitive again.

• Raj Goyle, D — Goyle is a native of Wichita. Goyle was elected to Kansas House in 2006. Goyle graduated from Duke University and then Harvard Law School where in addition to his legal studies, he founded a technology company with two classmates.

After law school, Goyle clerked for a federal judge and then became an advocate for better schools and improved voting rights for the disabled, his campaign Web site said.

Find out more on Goyle at his Web site: www.rajforkansas.com.

• Wink Hartman, R — Hartman is a Wichita businessman who recently opened Hartman Arena in Park City. Hartman says on his Web site he supports local control of education.

On health care, Hartman says he supports medical malpractice reform but not a Democratic supported public option.

He said he supports a simpler tax code and stabilizing government spending, including eliminating stimulus and bailouts.

Find out more on Hartman at his Web site: www.winkhartman.com.

• Mike Pompeo, R — Pompeo is a Wichita businessman.

He also was a captain in the U.S. Army after graduating first in his class from West Point. He has a law degree from Harvard Law School.

When he declared his candidacy in September, Pompeo described himself as a social and fiscal conservative.

He says on his Web site, the federal government should not be bailing out private companies.

Pompeo said he supported strong support of U.S. military troops.

Find out more on Pompeo at his Web site: www.PompeoForCongress.com.

• Jean Schodorf, R — Schodorf has been a Kansas senator since 2000. She is a speech and language pathologist.

She has a Ph.D. in communicative disorders from Wichita State University.

She is the assistant majority leader in the Senate.

Some of her issues of concern have included inner city revitalization, education, school funding, government spending and economic development.

Kansas governor

The current governor of Kansas, Mark Parkinson, took office earlier this year after then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius left to be Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Obama administration.

Parkinson has said he is not running for the seat in 2010.

Here are the gubernatorial candidates thus far:

• Sam Brownback, R — Brownback has served in Congress since 1994, when he was elected to the House.

He has served as a U.S. senator since 1996. He also served as the Kansas Secretary of Agriculture.

He has a law degree from The University of Kansas.

His Web site says he places a priority on the Kansas economy and creating jobs.

He has pushed for reopening beef markets in Asia and expanding aviation research and markets.

He supports promotion of new energy sources and a flat tax, his Web site says.

Find out more on Brownback at his Web site: brownback.senate.gov.

Kansas

attorney general

• Ralph DeZago, R — DeZago has served as assistant attorney general, a public defender and prosecutor.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1971 to 1975. He obtained his law degree at The University of Kansas.

Since 2007, DeZago has served as the city prosecutor of Junction City. He has served on the city commission and as major in his hometown of Herrington.

“Ralph DeZago has dedicated his career to making Kansas a better place to live. Ralph will continue his work as attorney general. The safety and well-being of Kansas citizens will be his No. 1 priority,” his Web site says.

Find out more on DeZago at his Web site: www.ralphdezago.com.

• Derek Schmidt, R — Schmidt has served as a state senator since 2001 and as Senate majority leader since 2005.

He earned a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

“As an advocate of the citizens of his rural Kansas district, Derek has been closely involved in promoting economic development and improving the state’s business climate; strengthening criminal laws, including those that combat methamphetamine ...” his Web site says.

Find out more on Schmidt at his Web site: www.derekschmidt.com.

Kansas secretary

of state

• J.R. Claeys, R — Claeys is a small business owner from Salina, but has had experience as a national advocate for small business and was president and CEO of the National Association of Government Contractors.

Claeys has a master’s degree in public administration from George Washington University.

He is a certified international elections observer and worked to end election fraud in El Salvador.

Find out more on Claeys at his Web site: www.jrclaeys.com.

• Kris Kobach, R — Kobach was the counsel to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft from 2001 to 2003. He has been a policy adviser to presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson, as well as a member of the Republican National Committee and a chairman of the Kansas Republican Party.

He has degrees from Harvard and Oxford, and a law degree from Yale.

Kobach said he will work to end voter fraud, improve voter access and improve civics education.

Find out more on Kobach at his Web site: www.kriskobach.org.

Commissioner

of insurance

• David J. Powell, R — Powell has more than 32 years of experience in the insurance business.

“A Kansas resident since 1975, Dave is fully aware of the insurance issues facing all of us, and he knows what changes are needed in the Insurance Commissioner’s Office,” his Web site says.

Find out more on Powell at his Web site: www.davidpowellforkansas.com.