Kansas legislative forum sparks debate over treatment of Black female candidates

Jeanna Repass, the first Black woman to run the Kansas Democratic Party, recounted an racist phone call she received during her campaign. As the 2024 election cycle gears up, Repass is warning against similar treatment for diverse candidates. (Kansas Reflector screen capture from Repass campaign photograph)

TOPEKA — As the first Black woman to run the Kansas Democratic Party, Jeanna Repass knows what it’s like to be told to step down for a white male politician. Her message: “It’s got to stop.”

The competition over Topeka’s District 19 Senate seat has reignited conversation about the treatment of women of color running for seats at the state and local level.

In Senate District 19, House Minority Leader Vic Miller is involved in a five-candidate race for an open seat. Cynthia Smith and Tyler Wible are running in the Republican primary, while ShaMecha King Simms and Patrick Schmidt are running against him in the Democratic side. The district stretches east from Topeka to Lawrence, including Tecumseh and Lecompton.

During a May 11 Democratic candidate primary forum, Miller said he expected a record number of Democratic women candidates on the ticket and that the legislature needed more women.

Then he addressed Simms.

“ShaMecha, that’s not an endorsement of you,” Miller said. “Your time’s another day, another place.”

Miller later said he meant his comment as a compliment. Others have called it part of a disturbing pattern in state politics.

“I’ve been in politics long enough to know that people take things out of context,” Miller said in a Kansas Reflector interview. “It would be silly for me to say that it was her time to beat me. I’m in the race, and I don’t know what’s in her future. But as far as the immediate future, I think I’m the best candidate, or I wouldn’t be running myself. …  I’m not in this race to lose or to endorse somebody running against me. That was the context. It was actually meant as a compliment, not as a slight.”

Repass put the incident another way:  “Everyone supports women running until a woman wants to run against them. Everyone supports candidates of color until candidates of color want to run against them.”

She added: “Those punches land. They’re meant to land, and they do. They land, and they hurt.”

Repass emphasized that as party chair, she is not endorsing or opposing any candidates in the race, but she felt the need to share her own perspective. During her run for the party seat, Repass’ competitor was Lynn Rogers, a former lieutenant governor and state treasurer.

After announcing her intent to run, Repass received a phone call from someone she didn’t want to identify but characterized as a “white male who has been formidable in Kansas politics.” Her phone was on speaker, so her son also heard everything.

She says that he told her: “ ‘You blacks. When you speak well, you can talk people into anything. … Jeanna, you can be a preacher. You can be anything you want, but you can’t be the chair. It’s Lynn’s turn. It’s his time.’”

When she watched the video of the May candidate forum, Repass remembered that call. She said she felt shocked and disturbed.

“It was very disappointing to me that I am leading a party where anyone is going to tell anyone else, in an open democratic process, that you should not be running for something,” Repass said. “There’s room for all of us to add our voices. But in particular, when it is white men telling black women when our time and when our place is to run, it is beyond disappointing. It is disturbing. And I will tell you I find it unacceptable and it’s got to stop.”

Miller’s statement was the catalyst for the “It’s Our Time Kansas! — A Celebration of Women of Color Candidates,” campaign event held by the Topeka chapter of The Links, Incorporated. The Links is an international nonprofit including more than 17,000 women of African descent committed to sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival for women of color.

The event supported Simms and fellow women of color state legislative candidates, including Stacey Knoell, Brooklynne Mosley and Jessica Porter. Knoell is running for the Senate District 23 seat. Mosley is running for the Kansas House of Representatives District 46 seat, and Porter is running for the Kansas House of Representatives District 50 seat.

Simms said the incident allowed for a larger conversation about values, unspoken biases and legislative mentalities.

“I think what we’re really up against now, we’re trying to birth a new way of relating to one another, and the old ways don’t work for that,” Simms said. “They’re stuck in a cycle that doesn’t allow for growth. It doesn’t allow for reflection, and without reflection and growth, we can’t move the ball forward. And that’s really just kind of where I stand on that. I want to see growth.”

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