Upset in Kansas

Jenkins, Not Ryun, to Face Boyda in the Fall

In an upset, Lynne Jenkins, Treasurer of Kansas, has bested Tim Ryun in the 2nd District congressional Republican primary.  Not only was Ryun leading in the polls leading up to the primary election, but he is also the former congressman from that district who was squeezed out in 2006 by now-Congresswoman Nancy Boyda.  Ryun came very close to being able to try to reclaim his old seat, but Jenkins didn't give him the chance, beating him 51% - 49%.

And on to the main event . . . Jenkins appeared with her former rival, Ryun, to show Republican party unity and focus on unseating first-term Democrat Congresswoman Boyda.  For Boyda's part, she has taken a step away from fellow Democrats (and the more liberal Speaker Nancy Pelosi) by rejecting DCCC money. She says that she wants to run an independent campaign.  Kansas' 2nd District is sometimes Democratic, sometimes Republican . . . you just never know what those eastern Kansans will do.