State Sen. Barbara Bollier considering run for Senate in 2020. State Sen. Barbara Bollier of Mission Hills is considering a possible run for the U.S. Senate. The Johnson County lawmaker, who switched parties last year, met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, who is chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, last week to discuss the possibility of running for Senate as a Democrat. The open race for the Senate seat was created by the announced retirement of Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. “I met with Cortez-Masto and Chuck Schumer. And we’re still talking. I’m considering it,” Bollier told the Kansas City Star’s Bryan Lowry. “I love Kansas and I love my country. And that’s my bottom line.” Bollier was the first of three female Republican lawmakers to switch parties following the 2018 election. [Johnson County lawmaker who fled GOP meets with Schumer on 2020 U.S. Senate run — The Kansas City Star]
Rep. Sharice Davids to lead roundtable discussion on student loan debt. Rep. Sharice Davids will lead a roundtable discussion on the impact student loan debt is having on students, families and communities, today at 4 p.m. at Johnson County Community College. The event will be at the Regnier Center, 11190 Quivira Road, Overland Park. Panelists include:
- Andy Fogel, JCCC Financial Aid office
- Dr. Lori Spoozak, KU Med
- Donna Ginther, Ph. D., Professor of Economics
- Jaden Gragg, young professional
- Ann Brandau-Murguia, Kansas Board of Regents
Former Rep. Lynn Jenkins showing support for Mission Republican’s potential campaign for U.S House. Former Rep. Lynn Jenkins looks like she could be playing a supporting role in the campaign of Sara Hart Weir, a Mission Republican and potential 2020 GOP challenger to Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids. Jenkins, a Topeka Republican, hosted an event June 23 for Weir in Prairie Village as she gears up to launch a campaign in the Kansas 3rd Congressional District. Weir is poised to be the first candidate to work with Jenkins’ firm, LJ Strategies, in a federal election. The five-term congresswoman registered her new lobbying and consulting firm last year before she ended her final year in the U.S. House, a move that prompted criticism from watchdog groups. Jared Suhn, a Republican strategist advising Weir, said the firm will serve as Weir’s general campaign consultant if she runs for the seat. [Former Kansas congresswoman ready to guide possible GOP challenger to Sharice Davids — The Kansas City Star]
