It’s true - Kansas Democrats have done an interesting job of recruiting top notch, above reproach candidates for higher office.  We mean, look at Paul Morrison - he was quite a catch wasn’t he?  From the AP via KSHB-TV:

The party struggled in the 1990s. Now led by two-term Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and two Democrats in Congress, its efforts to build on their victories started with recruiting candidates to challenge Republican incumbents this fall.

Sebelius spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran said competition for legislative seats is “healthy” and makes candidates and voters do their homework leading up to the election.

Democrats have candidates in 36 of 40 Senate districts and in 96 of 125 House districts. Their only consistent problems in finding people to run were in rural areas, particularly in western Kansas. Corcoran sees momentum building.

“We are confident that will continue,” she said. “It is difficult, because the salary is not a huge part of public service.”

Republicans aren’t impressed, of course, because the state still leans toward the GOP.

“Having candidates means nothing,” said GOP Executive Director Christian Morgan. “It means they put somebody up with a pulse until they’ve proven something.”

Recent history demonstrates Morgan’s point.

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Wonder how this will impact the perceived double dipping that takes place next door in Jersey?  From Newsday.com:

State legislators and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo have agreed on a sweeping package of pension reforms that increase the penalties for pension fraud and close the loopholes that have allowed some retirees to collect six-figure salaries on top of six-figure public pensions.

“No more pension schemes, no more gaming the system,” said Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst), one of four state legislators who joined Cuomo in a hearing on public pension abuses in May.

The reforms, which follow a series of Newsday stories on pension abuses, are expected to be announced today. Although the legislation still has to come up for a vote within the next few days, insiders said they expected it to pass and called it one of the most important achievements of the session. Both Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno have been involved in months of negotiations, Cuomo said.

Several legislators said they were prompted to act, in part, because of an onslaught of letters, e-mails and phone calls from constituents furious about pension abuses.

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