VIDEO SCRIPT
In 1956, there was a scandal that reshaped how Kansas Supreme Court justices are selected. A backroom deal between at the time governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court became known as the triple play.
With Republicans kicked out of the governor's office in the 1956 election and Justice William Smith looking to retire, Justice Smith realized if they wanted to keep his seat on the court Republican, then they needed a plan.
So, they made one, the triple play. It goes like this.
On December 31st, 1956, Chief Justice William Smith retired from the Kansas Supreme Court. Then on January 3rd, 1957, 11 days before George Docking was to be sworn in, Governor Fred Hall resigned from office. This automatically made Lieutenant Governor John McCuish the governor for the next 11 days. Immediately, he appointed Governor Fred Hall to the Supreme Court. He only served for barely over a year before pivoting to running for governor again in 1958.
The backlash was immediate and intense. Kansans were furious, and many local journalists wrote about the scandalous backroom deal.
The legislature immediately went to work to prevent another scandal from the court. A constitutional amendment was proposed to ban political activity for Supreme Court justices and create a merit-based process to select them.
Three nominees would be selected by a commission made of four Kansans and four lawyers from each US congressional district. Then the governor would pick one of those nominees. And in the years following, those judges would face a retention vote, allowing Kansans to kick justices out if they see fit. It was approved in 1958, just a few years after the triple play, with 60% of Kansans voting in favor.
Now, 68 years later, the legislature has put another constitutional amendment on the ballot that would reverse all of that.
Constitutional Amendments in kansas
There's one way to shake things up here in Kansas, constitutional amendments. This year, Kansans will see two, one on the primary and one on the general ballot. One of the more recent and well-known constitutional amendments was the Value them Both amendment in 2022, which failed.
To get a constitutional amendment on the ballot, you need a 2/3 majority vote in both the Kansas House and Senate, which is higher than the number needed to pass an ordinary bill (pg. 86).
A constitutional amendment does not go to the Governor. So if it is approved with a two-thirds majority in both chambers, then it goes directly onto the ballot. The legislature also has the power to decide what ballot it will go on to. Then Kansans vote on those amendments.
In 2025, Senator Mike Thompson introduced the judicial selection amendment that would remove the ban on political activity for Supreme Court justices and create Supreme Court justice elections. That amendment successfully passed and will be on the August 4th primary ballot.
Can Kansans vote on judges?
Recently, in 2022, Kansas voted to retain several Supreme Court justices on the ballot. So, if Kansans vote on judges, why change the process?
Aug. 4th amendment SCR 1611 language
The judicial selection amendment doesn't just create elections for the court. It gets rid of the merit-based selection process, lifts the political ban for Supreme Court justices, and would also allow career politicians to run for those seats.
The language goes even further by listing which seats would be up for election and gives the state legislature the power to set the rules for the Supreme Court races if the amendment is adopted.
So, we know what's in the amendment and where it came from, but who is pushing this?
Although many Kansans may just now be hearing about the amendment and the current selection process, there's been a fight to get a constitutional amendment like this onto the ballot for decades. Special interest groups and Attorney General Kris Kobach have been lobbying the legislature to pass an amendment for the last 20 years.
Kobach and the hostile judges
Kobach has been very vocal about facing hostile judges as an attorney general.
Over his career as an attorney, Kobach has been vocal about facing “hostile” judges as an Attorney General. Over his career as an attorney, Kobach has been held in contempt of court, ordered by a judge to take remedial law classes, and most recently, was sanctioned for $1 by a judge.
Kobach has also been open about his plan to “slowly and quietly replace” judges with anti-abortion judges on the Kansas Supreme Court. After 20 years of testifying to change the process, Kobach was key in convincing a legislature to pass a judicial selection amendment onto the ballot.
Why?
The last time Kansans faced a major constitutional amendment was the 2022 Value them Both amendment. That same amendment was created by Kansans for Life as a response to the 2019 Hodes and Nauser decision from the Kansas Supreme Court that affirmed that women's healthcare is a private decision that legislators may not interfere with.
Kansans for Life is the top anti-abortion group in Kansas and has power here in the legislature. They are a Koch group and have spent the last 20 years working closely with legislators, Kobach and Koch’s lobbying arm, Americans for Prosperity to change the way Kansas Supreme Court justices are selected in Kansas.
20 years ago…
One of the earliest attempts I could find was in 2006. While a professor at the University of Missouri, Kris Kobach testified in favor of the constitutional amendment and even stated Supreme Court justices on the east coast were better than Kansas judges, some who still sit on the court today. (pg. 6)
From 2006 to 2013, Americans for Prosperity and Kobach specifically would make a few attempts to end merit-based selection for Supreme Court justices. In 2013, they finally made ground when they succeeded in changing the Court of Appeals selection (HB 2019).
2013
The court of appeals selection process is determined by statute, not constitutional amendments. So when Koch funded special interest groups wanted to change the process, they didn't have to worry about the two-thirds majority needed to pass a constitutional amendment or getting it approved by voters.
Instead, this was a regular bill that went through both chambers and was signed into law by Governor Sam Brownback. Changing the Court of Appeals selection process was the first major victory in the fight to end merit-based selection in Kansas.
2015
“We pass pro-life legislation and we get sued. The next frontier is the courts.”
It's true. In 2015, Kansans for Life lobbied for a bill that banned a common abortion procedure here in Kansas (SB 95). That law was challenged in court and created the Hodes and Nauser v. Schmidt case. As Kansans for Life were working to pass this bill, they were also working on passing an amendment to change the merit-based selection process again (HCR 5004).
They also released their report, “The Untold Story Behind the Unchecked Power of the Kansas Supreme Court”, where they blamed liberal Republicans for the failed attempts at placing their constitutional amendments on the ballot (pg. 3)
2019 (everything changes)
In 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled to protect women's private healthcare decisions (Hodes). That ruling changed reproductive rights and the conversation surrounding it here in Kansas.
Kansans for Life were not happy and they got to work immediately.
Kansas legislative sessions are held annually starting on the second Monday of January and usually they go until the springtime ending around April or May. After that, usually special committees will meet in the meantime.
In October 2019, the Special Committee on Judiciary met to consider options following the Hodes and Nauser ruling. Kansans for Life were there to testify in support of a constitutional amendment, an amendment Kansans would soon become very familiar with.
2020
The year after the Hodes and Nauser ruling, Kansans for Life began to push their Value them Both amendment (SCR 1613).
In 2020, they received the two-thirds majority needed in the Senate, but failed in the House.
Republicans who did not vote with Kansans for Life wouldn't be around for their next attempt.
2021
After working to kick out any Republican opponent of the Value them Both amendment, Kansans for Life were successful in passing the amendment in the legislature in the 2021 session (HCR 5003)
2022
In the 2022 legislative session, Americans for Prosperity and members of the Value them Both coalition again lobbied to change the Supreme Court judicial selection process in Kansas. It failed. (SCR 1621 SCR 1622)
The 2022 legislative session ended and Kansans headed into a major midterm year. In August 2022, Kansans shocked the nation when they overwhelmingly voted against the Value them Both amendment right after the federal Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade.
2023
After winning the attorney general election, Kobach asked the Supreme Court to revisit its Hodes decision. They have yet to agree to revisit the decision.
2025
During the 2025 legislative session, Attorney General Kris Kobach testified for the August 4th constitutional amendment in this room. Kobach and Americans for Prosperity would successfully lobby the legislature on a constitutional amendment.
But this time, Kansans for Life and members of the Value them Both coalition were nowhere to be found. As if they hadn't just won the 2/3 majority on an amendment they worked to put on the ballot for the last 20 years.
2026
In the 2026 legislative session, the same legislator who introduced the successful judicial amendment, Senator Mike Thompson, introduced another constitutional amendment that would once again put reproductive rights and healthcare on the ballot (SCR 1623)
Currently, Koch founded and funded lobbying arm Americans for Prosperity are campaigning to convince Kansas voters to vote in favor of the amendment.
Their website alleges that the amendment has nothing to do with a single policy issue and also states that Kansans do not vote on Supreme Court justices.
It also tells Kansans to not be concerned about billionaire money in the elections because the legislature will set campaign finance rules and limits.
Which reminds me that while working to pass this in the legislature, they were also working to completely remove campaign contribution limits to state parties (S Sub for HB 2054 as introduced). And we actually covered that during our weekly recap legislative series when it was all going down. Ultimately, they compromised by just raising the limits (S Sub for HB2054 enrolled). But here in the legislature, nothing ever really dies.
Billionaires… and trillionaires…
By striking down the political activity ban and getting rid of the merit-based process for the Kansas Supreme Court, the judicial branch would become driven by state party politics and billionaire funders.
Wisconsin became a hot topic in judicial selection processes after billionaire Elon Musk used millions of dollars to influence the election.
Why?
Although Musk does not live in Wisconsin, he spent millions of dollars attempting to influence their judicial election.
Kansas billionaire Charles Koch is also known for political spending. He spent over half a billion dollars on the 2024 cycle alone. That included funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to Americans for Prosperity.
Koch groups are extremely prominent in the Kansas legislature. Americans for Prosperity sponsors legislative tours for leadership, Senate President Ty Masterson is paid by Koch through their GOCreate lab at Wichita State, Koch Industries is also a member and funder of the American Legislative Exchange Council, which passes model legislation around the country. Senate President Ty Mastersons was national chair of the Koch funded American Legislative Exchange Council and currently sits on their board of directors.
The Koch operation has a long history of attempting to influence judges and was known to throw fully paid seminars for judges hosted at the University of Kansas.
The August 2026 amendment could give billionaires the opportunity to directly influence Kansas's top court.
What now? Kansans decide.
After 20 years, Kris Kobach, Kansans for Life, and Americans for Prosperity all succeeded in placing an amendment on the ballot to change the merit-based selection process for Kansas Supreme Court justices, and lift the political ban.
On August 4th, Kansans will vote on this amendment that would politicize their Supreme Court. But the ballot does not stop there. Kansans will also vote for a new governor this year, vote on Attorney General, vote on a new Secretary of State, and much more.
If you do not already follow us on social media, then head on over to Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, whatever you use, and follow us as we keep you updated on what goes on in this 2026 election cycle. And until next time, stay tuned, stay engaged, and thank you so much, Kansas.