By: Benjamin Hodge (Diary)  |  February 22nd at 10:20 PM  | 

PART 4 OF 4 about poll in Gardner, Kansas.  You can read part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here. In August 2011, I polled Kansas’ second-largest city of Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City, MO.  We learned, in part: 67% of voters wanted to balance the city budget through cuts in spending, and only 23% wanted higher taxes. Asked a different | Read More »

By: Benjamin Hodge (Diary)  |  December 14th at 07:01 PM  | 

US Senator Pat Roberts, who chose to join Sam Brownback in cheerleading in 2009 for Kathleen Sebelius to run our national healthcare, is currently running for re-election. I think Roberts is very vulnerable to a primary challenger, especially if it’s one of two men:  First District Congressman Tim Huelskamp or Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Recently, the PAC I chair performed a poll the Kansas City | Read More »

By: Benjamin Hodge (Diary)  |  December 14th at 07:00 PM  | 

Charles Krauthammer: But there is another factor at play: having a job in the first place. In right-to-work states, the average wage is about 10 percent lower. But in right-to-work states, unemployment also is about 10 percent lower. Higher wages or lower unemployment? It is a wrenching choice. Although, you would think that liberals would be more inclined to spread the wealth — i.e., the | Read More »

By: Benjamin Hodge (Diary)  |  December 11th at 02:19 AM  | 

Congratulations to Commissioner-elect John Toplikar.  Out-raised 15 to 1 and out-endorsed, Toplikar beat the incumbent 67% to 33%. The political action committee I chair in Kansas got involved in one race this cycle: the 6th district county commission race in Johnson County, Kansas.  The race involved two functional incumbents, both Republican:  a conservative former Commissioner John Toplikar, and liberal Commissioner Calvin Hayden, who beat Toplikar by | Read More »

By: Benjamin Hodge (Diary)  |  November 1st at 10:18 PM  | 

 The Topeka Capital-Journal joined Democratic Senate leader Anthony Hensley in: Promoting tax and spend policies that damage businesses Insulting a major business after it leaves town Stating clearly that they expect businesses to ask their approval and permission before making decisions Proposing anti-business “solutions” — picking winners and losers by taking money from most businesses, and giving “incentives” to a small number of businesses Sending | Read More »

By: Benjamin Hodge (Diary)  |  October 17th at 09:53 PM  | 

Above is the audio for a phone call about John Toplikar, the Republican choice and fiscal conservative choice for Johnson County Commission. It’s in southwest Johnson County, a suburb of Greater Kansas City. The district has about 50,000 voters, which is larger than a state senate district in Kansas. The call was paid for by Kansans for State & Local Reform, which I chair. Audio: | Read More »

By: Benjamin Hodge (Diary)  |  October 12th at 09:20 PM  | 

Brief update:  At the end of the article, I’m going to pre-emptively write a rebuttal to unfair and misleading attacks about John Toplikar, the kind that appeared at the original location to the video below (at mrcTV.org), and which were written by anonymous commenters who won’t go on the record.   Above is the audio for a phone call about John Toplikar, the Republican choice | Read More »

By: Benjamin Hodge (Diary)  |  August 22nd at 06:15 AM  | 

To read more details from our extensive poll of likely 2012 voters in Overland Park, KS, go to StateandLocalEducation.org.  Below is a portion. ——————————– Part 3 of results Telephone survey among likely 2012 voters in Overland Park, KS.  Conducted Tuesday, August 9, and Wednesday, August 10, by the State and Local Educational Foundation of Kansas.  Margin of error +/- 5.4%.  Party breakdown:  51% Republican, 29% Unaffiliated, 20% and | Read More »

By: Benjamin Hodge (Diary)  |  May 24th at 09:04 AM  | 

Both Patricia Lightner and Kevin Yoder have now officially filed for the Republican primary on Tuesday, August 3. I have not seen any polls lately — the only publicly-released poll has been this one in February from former candidate Nick Jordan — but I’m confident that both Lightner and Yoder are daily, consistently building up supporting in the form of voters, volunteers, and donors.  If new candidates | Read More »

By: Benjamin Hodge (Diary)  |  April 24th at 05:53 PM  | 

I appreciate the invitation to speak from Jeff Caldwell, the 3rd District coordinator for the Kansas Libertarian Party.  This month at the Blue Valley Library at 151st St. and Antioch, Amanda Grosserode and I spoke at the Libertarian Party’s monthly meeting.  Here is a 10-minute edited version of my speech, in which I address the libertarian roots of conservatism (and Republicanism), the non-libertarian actions of | Read More »