Party didn’t fulfill plan to nominate candidates for president, vice president
By: Tim Carpenter
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Demise of the No Labels Kansas political party was inevitable after it neglected to fulfill the organization’s central objective when formed in January 2024 to nominate candidates for U.S. president and vice president.
The failure of No Labels Kansas to field candidates for any type of statewide office or to win at least 1% of the total votes cast for that office in a general election meant the organization would eventually lose its standing in Kansas among the state’s five political parties. Instead of leaving Kansans to speculate when that might occur in 2026, No Labels Kansas secretary and treasurer Shane Mathis requested May 15 the termination of state recognition of the political party.
“Because No Labels Kansas declined to nominate candidates for those offices in 2024 and has no intention of doing so in the future, its central organizational purpose no longer exists,” Mathis said.
Secretary of State Scott Schwab complied Monday with the request and notified county election clerks and commissioners of state law requiring voter registration records be amended so 5,955 people registered with No Labels Kansas would be reclassified as unaffiliated.
In Kansas, the Republican Party dominates with 897,000 registered voters compared with the 575,000 unaffiliated and 495,000 Democratic Party registrants.
While founders of No Labels Kansas didn’t make a dent in Kansas elections, the existence of its organizational shell led a pair of longtime Republican operatives to attempt a hijacking of No Labels Kansas so it might be transformed into an organization with a broader mission that included nomination of candidates for state offices.
Before the June 1 filing deadline for candidates in 2024, Kris Van Meteren claimed control of No Labels Kansas by filing paperwork to incorporate the organization as a business entity.
Van Meteren, who owned the political consulting group Singularis, said he had called a No Labels Kansas convention and elected himself chairman. He nominated his wife, Republican state Senate candidate Echo Van Meteren, to also be a No Labels Kansas nominee in her Senate contest. Kris Van Meteren then attached a No Labels Kansas nomination to incumbent Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence. The move was a foray into cross-party nomination of candidates.
The No Labels Kansas nominations of Echo Van Meteren and Francisco were invalidated by Schwab’s office. In addition, the national No Labels organization claimed that Kris Van Meteren had “fraudulently misrepresented himself” as chair of the state affiliate of No Labels.
At that time, Kris Van Meteren accused the Kansas secretary of state of engaging in an “obvious political stunt, executed on behalf of both Democratic and Republican fever swampers.”
David Miller, a former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party and an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1998, announced in April that he had been chosen to serve as chairman of the No Labels Kansas Party. He pledged to transform that organization into a viable alternative for voters frustrated by Republican candidates aligned with “big business” and Democratic candidates addicted to “big government.”
“We expect the establishment to attempt to quash any competition, but are prepared to fight to build a strong, viable alternative,” Miller said.
On May 8, the Kansas secretary of state’s office sent Miller a letter addressing Miller’s claim to possess authority to act on behalf of the official No Labels Kansas party. The letter signed by Clay Barker, general counsel to the secretary of state, was a formal notice that the state didn’t recognize Miller as leader of the original No Labels Kansas.
Barker’s letter said Miller’s claim to standing as the party’s leader was apparently based on the corporate registration in Kansas of No Labels Kansas Party, No Labels Kansas and No Labels Party of Kansas. All three of those entities had been incorporated by Kris Van Meteren in 2024.
“None of these corporations has applied for or been granted recognized political party status by the secretary of state,” Barker’s letter said. “Corporate registration with the Kansas secretary of state, by whatever name, does not confer, substitute for or imply recognition as a political party under Kansas law.”
Barker advised Miller that impersonating a political party officer or falsely claiming authority to act on behalf of a recognized political party could be a criminal violation under state law. Barker informed Miller the No Labels Party’s governing rules, when the party was formed in 2024, said it couldn’t nominate candidates for statewide office and could lose its recognized political status in Kansas by making that type of filing.
In a two-page reply Monday, Miller argued on behalf of the “No Labels Kansas Party” that Schwab’s office was waging a “war on thousands of No Labels Kansas voters disillusioned with the offerings of the state’s two major parties.”
Miller, who didn’t respond Tuesday to a request for an interview, indicated that he wouldn’t be intimidated by assertions criminal charges might be brought against people claiming leadership roles of No Labels Kansas.
“It is simply outrageous that Mr. Schwab is threatening to create criminals out of his perceived political opponents, citing an obscure statute which is unconstitutional on its face,” Miller said. “We hope to avoid a politically messy court fight that may end up significantly costing taxpayers, but that’s a battle we’re prepared to fight.”
Miller urged Attorney General Kris Kobach, a Republican, to intervene in the controversy and “advise all parties involved of the laws and constitutional principles in play.”