Rep. Nick Hoheisel, R-Wichita, appears during a March 24, 2025, session of the House (Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector)
April 10, 2025
Being a Republican in Kansas means never having to say you’re sorry.
Not really. Sure, you might have to mumble a half-hearted apology or lose an election here or there. But don’t worry! You won’t face any sanctions with teeth or be out of office for long. Kansas Republicans embrace affirmative action for middle-aged, mediocre white men who believe the right things.
Take Rep. Nick Nick Hoheisel, R-Wichita. Back in February, he found himself in a bit of a jam after confronting with Rep. Ford Carr, D-Wichita, on the House floor. Hoheisel, who is white, confronted Carr, who is Black, over Carr’s rhetoric. According to witnesses, the Republican used profanity. Carr later filed a formal complaint.
In our original coverage of events, Hoheisel appeared to deny that anything untoward had occurred.
“I’m not going to dignify any of those false and outlandish allegations with a response,” Hoheisel wrote editor Sherman Smith in a text message.
Yet Hoheisel eventually apologized to the House, while still claiming the allegation were “significantly overstated.”
A special committee made up of three Republicans and three Democrats looked into the complaint and deadlocked. Republican leaders lowered the boom on Carr, however, and subjected him to a multi-day ordeal before that same committee. His main sin appears to have been calling the GOP racist. The panel will potentially send a letter to the full House admonishing Carr.
Hoheisel escaped any discipline whatsoever.
That’s just for Democrats or saps.
Conservatives don’t pay a price for cursing at their opponents, losing high-profile races or an array of other bad behavior. Not in Kansas, they don’t.
State Sen. Virgil Peck once joked about shooting immigrants from helicopters. Then a representative, he issued a brief apology and kept serving. Eventually, he lost a primary for state Senate. But he worked his way into the chamber eventually, spreading nonsense about chivalrous manhood along the way.
Just this session, he criticized journalists’ “inaccurate” stories to justify raising the rent of press offices at the Statehouse.
Rep. Pat Proctor has left a trail of bellicosity and startling rhetoric about Kansas elections. Yet he’s now running to administer those same elections as secretary of state. A previous contender for that office, Mike Brown, failed in his 2022 bid to unseat elections chief Scott Schwab. Yet Brown simply pivoted to run for state GOP chairman the very next year — and won.
Senate President Ty Masterson went through bankruptcy and somehow found a six-figure job at Wichita State University to complement his legislative work. Nice work if you can get it, right? He’s likely to launch a gubernatorial bid soon.
The one and only Kris Kobach lost consecutive statewide elections to Gov. Laura Kelly in 2018 and Sen. Roger Marshall in 2020. He finally managed to claw his way back to relevancy through a successful bid for attorney general. Who knows where he might land next, but he clearly wasn’t daunted by Kansas voters’ repeated rejections. They don’t know what a good deal they have in voting for another subpar white man.
As I said, white male Republicans of a conservative bent can rest assured in their continued relevance, no matter controversies or losses.
The one person who appears to have paid a price for his shortcomings is House Majority Leader Gene Suellentrop, who was jailed on a drunk driving charge and ousted from his post in 2021. He stayed around the Statehouse through early 2023, though. Statehouse leaders didn’t want to look like they were too tough on the poor fellow, I suppose.
This year, we’ve heard repeatedly from those in Washington, D.C., that efforts to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion have gone too far.
We’ve heard repeated suggestions that prominent and accomplished Black people, women and LGBTQ+ community members don’t have what it takes. Marshall even suggested that DEI policies contributed to the crash of a passenger plane from Wichita.
Yet those in Topeka have shown us throughout recent years that the real threat doesn’t come from Black people, women or LGBTQ+ folks.
It comes from doughy white men who won’t take a hint to leave the rest of us alone.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.
Being a Republican in Kansas means never having to say you’re sorry.
Not really. Sure, you might have to mumble a half-hearted apology or lose an election here or there. But don’t worry! You won’t face any sanctions with teeth or be out of office for long. Kansas Republicans embrace affirmative action for middle-aged, mediocre white men who believe the right things.
Take Rep. Nick Nick Hoheisel, R-Wichita. Back in February, he found himself in a bit of a jam after confronting with Rep. Ford Carr, D-Wichita, on the House floor. Hoheisel, who is white, confronted Carr, who is Black, over Carr’s rhetoric. According to witnesses, the Republican used profanity. Carr later filed a formal complaint.
In our original coverage of events, Hoheisel appeared to deny that anything untoward had occurred.
“I’m not going to dignify any of those false and outlandish allegations with a response,” Hoheisel wrote editor Sherman Smith in a text message.
Yet Hoheisel eventually apologized to the House, while still claiming the allegation were “significantly overstated.”
A special committee made up of three Republicans and three Democrats looked into the complaint and deadlocked. Republican leaders lowered the boom on Carr, however, and subjected him to a multi-day ordeal before that same committee. His main sin appears to have been calling the GOP racist. The panel will potentially send a letter to the full House admonishing Carr.
Hoheisel escaped any discipline whatsoever.
That’s just for Democrats or saps.
Conservatives don’t pay a price for cursing at their opponents, losing high-profile races or an array of other bad behavior. Not in Kansas, they don’t.
State Sen. Virgil Peck once joked about shooting immigrants from helicopters. Then a representative, he issued a brief apology and kept serving. Eventually, he lost a primary for state Senate. But he worked his way into the chamber eventually, spreading nonsense about chivalrous manhood along the way.
Just this session, he criticized journalists’ “inaccurate” stories to justify raising the rent of press offices at the Statehouse.
Rep. Pat Proctor has left a trail of bellicosity and startling rhetoric about Kansas elections. Yet he’s now running to administer those same elections as secretary of state. A previous contender for that office, Mike Brown, failed in his 2022 bid to unseat elections chief Scott Schwab. Yet Brown simply pivoted to run for state GOP chairman the very next year — and won.
Senate President Ty Masterson went through bankruptcy and somehow found a six-figure job at Wichita State University to complement his legislative work. Nice work if you can get it, right? He’s likely to launch a gubernatorial bid soon.
The one and only Kris Kobach lost consecutive statewide elections to Gov. Laura Kelly in 2018 and Sen. Roger Marshall in 2020. He finally managed to claw his way back to relevancy through a successful bid for attorney general. Who knows where he might land next, but he clearly wasn’t daunted by Kansas voters’ repeated rejections. They don’t know what a good deal they have in voting for another subpar white man.
As I said, white male Republicans of a conservative bent can rest assured in their continued relevance, no matter controversies or losses.
The one person who appears to have paid a price for his shortcomings is House Majority Leader Gene Suellentrop, who was jailed on a drunk driving charge and ousted from his post in 2021. He stayed around the Statehouse through early 2023, though. Statehouse leaders didn’t want to look like they were too tough on the poor fellow, I suppose.
This year, we’ve heard repeatedly from those in Washington, D.C., that efforts to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion have gone too far.
We’ve heard repeated suggestions that prominent and accomplished Black people, women and LGBTQ+ community members don’t have what it takes. Marshall even suggested that DEI policies contributed to the crash of a passenger plane from Wichita.
Yet those in Topeka have shown us throughout recent years that the real threat doesn’t come from Black people, women or LGBTQ+ folks.
It comes from doughy white men who won’t take a hint to leave the rest of us alone.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.
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