Why As A Kansas Democrat, I Registered As A Republican

Aimee Patton wrote in Crooks and Liars: Why As A Kansas Democrat, I Registered As A Republican

Kansas holds Republican primaries in August. In the last general election in Kansas, 8 of the 40 seats in the Senate didn’t have a Democratic challenger. In the House, in 33 out of the 125 races Republicans ran unopposed. That means the election for those 33 seats was decided in the primaries in August.

After looking at the statistics, I did what I never thought I would be able to do. Hell froze over, and I registered as a Republican. I’ll admit, I had to take a deep breath as I clicked the mouse over the R box on the registration form. The thud I heard was my grandmother rolling over in her grave. Nobody in my family is a Republican. Sorry Grandma. Extreme times call for extreme measures. I was officially the first Republican in my family.

My strategy in Kansas is like many other voters – vote moderate over the extremist, then when it comes down to a moderate vs. a Democrat vote for the best candidate."