By SHERMAN SMITH
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — The Kansas Republican Party settled a lawsuit and apologized for a campaign mailer sent in 2020 that falsely accused a developer of corruption in an attempt to discredit a Shawnee Democrat running for state Senate.
Mike Brown, who took over as chairman of the Kansas GOP earlier this year, seized the opportunity to criticize his predecessor, Mike Kuckelman, in the latest public showing of discord within the party. Kuckelman responded by pointing to the party’s perilous financial position and Brown’s willingness to cave to “political bullying.”
For Lindsey Constance, the Democrat who lost to Republican Sen. Mike Thompson, the settlement was a reminder of the “sea of misinformation” surrounding their race.
Developer Kevin Tubbesing and his wife, Dawn, sued the Kansas GOP over the mailer in 2021 in Johnson County District Court. In a statement, Brown said Kuckelman made an error in judgment by authorizing the mailer, which led to an “unnecessarily long and expensive legal process.”
“I want to assure both the Tubbesings, as well as Republicans throughout Kansas, that we will never let a situation like this happen again while I am chairman,” Brown said. “This situation should never have reached this point, and we are happy this case has been resolved. Our party can now turn its full attention to ensuring the election of Republican leadership across this great state.”
In an email, Kevin Tubbesing said the parties agreed not to disclose the settlement amount.
“For going on three years now, all we have sought is an apology, and now reimbursement of legal expenses, for this unprovoked attack, and I’m glad that we now have it behind us,” Kevin Tubbesing said.
The 2020 campaign mailer attacked Constance, who had served on the Shawnee City Council, for voting in favor of a $3.1 million incentive package to support Kevin Tubbesing’s development of luxury apartments. Constance received a $250 donation from Dawn Tubbesing before and after voting on the project.
The mailer’s colorful language included the following lines:
- “Lindsey Constance gives expensive gifts to her special interest donors — and you pay for it.”
- “Lindsey Constance’s corruption is a love letter to crony corruption.”
In an interview for this story, Constance said it was “laughable” that a $250 donation could influence a vote.
“It is incredibly hard to go up against a person and a party saying things that are completely false,” Constance said. “And I don’t think I expected that level of disinformation when I got into it.”
She said one flyer didn’t make a difference in the race, but it wasn’t the only example of misinformation. Another flyer said she wanted to defund the police, even though she had the endorsement of a former police chief, and during a debate, Thompson falsely claimed the students at the public school where Constance works as an educator have an average GPA of 1.7.
Thompson defeated Constance by 1,604 votes in a race where more than 43,000 ballots were counted.
“Fighting back in a sea of misinformation is really difficult, especially if you’re committed to telling the truth. It’s just really hard,” Constance said. “I feel like nobody prepares you in life for debating those kinds of things.”
Kevin Tubbesing said the Kansas GOP coordinated with Thompson’s campaign to generate the mailer, which was delivered “to thousands of our neighbors in Shawnee.”
“We demanded an apology and a retraction but the party chairman at that time, Michael Kuckelman refused, despite numerous requests from other statewide party leaders,” Kevin Tubbesing said. “Having no other choice to defend our good intentions and honor, we sued.”
The Kansas GOP spokesman at the time, C.J. Grover, told the Kansas City Star the party would prevail against the “frivolous lawsuit.” Grover, who later became the spokesman for GOP gubernatorial nominee Derek Schmidt, said “everything in the mail piece was true, and the law protecting free political speech is on our side.”
Kuckelman, an attorney, said in a statement for this story that he was disappointed by Brown’s decision to settle the lawsuit.
“I was informed by party insiders close to Brown that the party could no longer afford to pay its attorneys to litigate the case,” Kuckelman said. “Apparently, fundraising by the Kansas Republican Party is at an all-time low.”
The long-term implications of surrendering free political speech are “quite serious” and will hurt the party, Kuckelman said.
“Political opponents now realize that under the Kansas Republican Party’s current chair, the party will not stand up to political bullying, even when constitutional rights are at risk,” Kuckelman said.
Kevin Tubbesing said Brown agreed to settle after he took over the party earlier this year, reviewed the case, and “saw the absurdity of Kuckelman’s position.”
“It is our hope that attention to this settlement can bring us all a few step(s) back from divisive politics, saturated by personal attacks, that has marked our political discourse recently,” the couple said in a statement. “Respecting differing views, while working fervently for policies that align to each of our ideals, strengthens the fabric of our society and our American democracy.”