Fresh from decisive win, Sebelius turns attention to second term

Buoyed by her decisive victory, Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius says her next four years will be a continuation of pushing key issues. But now she might fare better with the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Sebelius trounced her GOP challenger, Sen. Jim Barnett of Emporia, rolling up 58 percent of the vote in Tuesday's elections to make her the first woman to have two terms as the state's chief executive.

"I just look forward to continuing the great work that we've been able to do over the last four years," she told reporters Wednesday.

Key to future success will be how she and legislators work together. The House next year will be a little less conservative because of turnover, including Democrats picking up at least four seats. Republicans will have a 79-46 edge with new leaders, with moderate Republicans controlling the Senate.

"I think it may be slightly more moderate," said retiring House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka. "When you have new people come in, you don't know where they really stand until they have been there about a year and had a chance to cast a few votes."

One thing Sebelius wants to push is her health care agenda to ensure affordable coverage for all Kansans. In 2005, she had a proposal to reduce the number of people without health insurance and cover all children up to age 5, financed by increased tobacco taxes. But the idea didn't gain any traction among legislators.

She said she is eager to put health care "right back on the table in terms of cost cutting and pushing technology, but also putting some kind of payment scheme under more Kansans."

"There are ways we can use our resources more strategically and effectively and I am anxious to do that," she said.

As for increasing state revenues, Sebelius said she was "not looking at a tax increase." She also said even though the economy is improving, it's not an excuse to spend all the extra money rather than saving some.

During the campaign, Sebelius suggested making the State Board of Education an advisory group, with the real power going to a Cabinet-level education secretary, much the way it was prior to 1969.

That would require legislators to approve a change in the state constitution and send it to voters for ratification.

The governor said she doesn't have a specific plan in mind but wants to discuss the idea with legislators.

In general, Sebelius might fare a little better with the Legislature than in previous sessions because legislators now see she is popular among voters.

"She has some political capital to possibly push some things she didn't push too hard in her first four years," Beatty said. "If they want to oppose her, that opposition might be a little more unpopular for them than it was in her first term."

Sebelius won big because she spent big.

She raised a record $5.18 million starting in 2005, and spent almost $3.8 million in television and radio ads during the past three months. For his part, Barnett's main battle was getting his name known statewide, made harder by raising less than $1.19 million and spending $434,000 on radio and TV ads.

Sebelius conducted a generally upbeat campaign, focusing on her accomplishments and support for the troops. Her ads focused on a positive vision of Kansas.

Barnett didn't have a key issue that stuck with voters. He proposed creating a central purchasing point to buy health insurance. It raised questions about creating another bureaucracy, and Barnett didn't have the money to get his message out as fully as he needed to.

While Sebelius talked about good times, Barnett said times aren't that good and faulted her for "mismanagement of the Kansas economy."

Clearly, it was an uphill struggle for Barnett.

"If you have a popular governor, the challenger has to convince people they are wrong and people don't like to be told they are wrong," Beatty said.

Barnett didn't engage in rampant negative campaigning, and Sebelius' popularity may have contributed to that.

"Barnett didn't want to go the negative route because the probability of it working was very low and then he would have to live with it," Beatty said. "He didn't want to be the senator who ran a nasty campaign."

On the Net:

Sebelius campaign: http://www.ksgovernor.com

Barnett campaign: http://www.barnettforgovernor.com