WATCH: The Post’s forum for 3 Kansas Senate seats in Johnson County

Candidates vying for three Kansas Senate districts covering portions of Johnson County participated in a public forum hosted by the Johnson County Post Tuesday night, offering their views on a wide range of topics, from abortion to taxes to education funding.

The Post is hosting more than a dozen separate forums for Kansas Statehouse districts in Johnson County ahead of the Nov. 5 general election.

Tuesday’s forum was hosted Lenexa City Center Library in Lenexa.

The three districts covered in this forum were:

• Senate District 6, which is mostly in Wyandotte County but covers a square of northern Johnson County that includes portions of Merriam, Mission and Overland Park,
• Senate District 8, which covers a portion of central Overland Park
• and Senate District 11, which covers portions of southern Leawood and Overland Park, along the state line.

Who is running?

Senate District 6

• College student Tabitha Burt, a Republican (Did not participate)
• Incumbent Democratic Sen. Pet Pettey

Senate District 8

• Incumbent Democratic Sen. Cindy Holscher
• IT and data science professional Beneé Hudson, a Republican (Did not participate due to a prior family obligation)

Senate District 11

• Attorney and Democrat Karen Thurlow
• Incumbent Republican Sen. Kellie Warren

How to watch the Post’s forum

The Post livestreamed Tuesday’s event on our Facebook page, and a recording of the forum is embedded below.

Following the embedded video are the questions each candidate answered during the forum.

Timestamps are included in bold at the end of each question to help you navigate through the forum video if you’d like to jump around.

Questions and timestamps

1. Opening statements [3:26]
2. Biggest priorities for your district: We are holding forums for dozens of statehouse districts this fall. What do you see as the biggest priority or need from residents in your district? [9:04]

   

3. Taxes: Are there any other tax cuts or tax relief policies you’d like to see the legislature pursue next year? In particular, is there anything the state can or should do regarding local property taxes? [17:24]
4. Education funding: Gov. Laura Kelly has boasted of six consecutive years of K-12 education in Kansas being “fully funded.” A funding bill passed this year also boosts funding for special education. The funding situation appears to be remedied enough that the Kansas Supreme Court is no longer overseeing the funding process. The current funding formula lasts through 2027. Going into 2025, what do you see as the biggest priorities or remaining challenges for K-12 school funding and how would you want to address that if elected? [23:26]

   

5. Abortion: Where do you stand on this issue that has strong feelings on both sides, expressed by our readers. Do you support any new restrictions on abortion or laws in any way governing the procedure? Why or why not? [29:30]
6. Guns (from the audience): In 2021, the legislature overrode the governor’s veto of a bill that now allows 18-year-olds to carry concealed weapons onto college campuses. Do you or don’t you agree with allowing 18-year-olds to carry concealed weapons at college? And more broadly, your philosophy and approach to gun issues? [38:43]

   

7. Immigration (from the audience): Should undocumented immigrants be allowed to get in-state tuition and Kansas colleges and universities? [44:24]
8. Crime and public safety (from the audience): Should cities reallocate funding from law enforcement for mental health and other programs that might get to the root causes of crime? [48:05]

   

9. Endorsements (from the audience): Are there any groups that have endorsed you as a candidate? [52:52]