There must be thousands of state and local elections going on in the US this year, and we have no doubt that a substantial percentage of the candidates are creationists. There’s no way we can track them all, but every now and then our news sweeps bring something to our attention.
Today we found two creationist office-seekers, and they’re already known to our regular readers. The first is — can you believe it? — Kathy Martin. You remember her from the Kansas evolution hearings back in 2005 when the Kansas State Board of Education, led by Kathy Martin and Connie Morris, actually decided to re-define the meaning of science in Kansas so that it would also include supernatural phenomena — thus allowing creationism to be taught in science class. The last time we posted about her was back in 2010: Kathy Martin of Kansas: Abstinence Queen.
Now she’s back, and looking for higher office. In the Clay Center Dispatch of Clay Center, Kansas we read Kathy Martin files to run for Kansas House seat. Here are some excerpts:
Former Kansas Board of Education member Kathy Martin, rural Clay Center, filed today for the Kansas House of Representatives 64th District seat being vacated by retiring state Rep. Vern Swanson. She will face Republican Beniah Wilson, a K-State student who has also filed for the position.
Wowie — it looks like a fierce primary battle!
Martin is the Clay County Republican chairperson and is on the Republican State Committee.
Awesome credentials — and she’s a hard-core creationist too. That’s important in Kansas. The rest of the article is boring. Well, except for this:
She and [her husband] Max are also active in the Cowboys for Christ Saddle Club in Clay Center and have been members of the Junction City Saddle Club in the past.
Kathy’s gonna be a tough campaigner. And now for the other creationist lady running for office. This one is in Ohio. We learned about it in the Dayton Daily News of Dayton, Ohio. The story is dated 31 March: Early voting for primary starts today. It’s about a bunch of primary races, and it says: “Early voting in-person and by mail starts today for the May 6 primary election.” Only one line is of interest. It says:
State Senate races: … In the 7th District, state Sen. Shannon Jones has a Republican challenge from former Springboro School Board member Kelly Kohls.
You remember Kelly Kohls. She’s the creationist nutritionist who was president of the School Board of Springboro (a suburb of Dayton, Ohio). She was also head of the local tea party organization.
The last time we posted about her was 8 months ago: Springboro School Board: Kelly Kohls Is Retiring. Along with that announcement, she hinted that she wanted “to make more education influence happen at the state level and perhaps at the national level.” We knew she’d be trying for higher office.
We’ve been looking for other stories about either of these two races, but we can’t find anything. If something turns up, we’ll let you know. It’s always fun to see familiar names in the news.
Copyright © 2014. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
The Sensuous Curmudgeon 
Goodie Goodie Gumdrops!! Loopy Krazy Kathy is the gift that keeps on giving! Clasping my hands and swooning, I humbly beg Our Curmudgeon to cover the Martin-Kohls race with great attention.
Can anyone doubt that Kansas, to counter this threat, is now in desperate need of a Cowboys for Curmudgeon Saddle Club?
Where do we apply?
If elected, Kathy Martin may actually turn out to be an improvement to the current collection of Kansas clowns. In the legislative session just ended, some of the education changes that Gov Brownback will sign into law include provisions to:
Exempt from public school teacher license requirements individuals with college degrees in science, technology, math, finance and accounting.
Repeal employment due process [i.e. tenure] procedures in place for 36,600 public school classroom teachers, librarians and counselors. Which means any teacher who objects to teaching creationism or leading prayers can be fired by their local school board.
Created a tax credit for companies donating to private school scholarship funds, while another provision allows local school districts to ask for votes to increase property tax to pay for public schools.
Increased base state aid per pupil by a full $14 in the upcoming school year.
But to their credit, the Republican Kansas Legislature did not pass a bill that would have would have “allowed parents to hit children hard enough to leave redness or bruising. It also would have allowed parents to give permission to others, including caregivers or teachers, to spank their children.” That bill was sponsored by a Democrat, possibly just as an exercise in futility.
Somewhat off topic, but similar:
In other states, creationists continue to run as well. In Oklahoma one of the most far-right bigots in any state legislature is unopposed in upcoming elections. Rep. Sally Kern (also known as Krazy Kern and Silly Sally) is unopposed for re-election. She authors or co-authors creationist bills every year. Her extreme anti-gay behavior and some racial comments earned her a reprimand in the House of Representatives. Fortunately, she is term limited in 2016. But, her spouse the Rev. Steve Kern, a Baptist minister, is a candidate for State Senator. Should he win, we will have another extremist evolution, climate change,, etc., denier to deal with. Her legislative page is here: http://www.okhouse.gov/District.aspx?District=84