Republicans lay down the law: Call us racist and we’ll crush you like a bug

Rep. Ford Carr, D-Wichita, walks through the House chamber on Feb. 25, 2025. [Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector]

Kansas Republicans sent an unmistakable message to Democratic Rep. Ford Carr this week: Mess with us, and we’ll destroy you.

The Wichita-based representative, who is Black, filed a complaint in February against Republican Rep. Nick Hoheisel, who is white. This week a disciplinary panel deadlocked along party lines when considering Carr’s complaint. But members had a new issue to consider: Republican Rep. Leah Howell of Derby lodged allegations against Carr.

Howell claimed that the Democrat showed “patterns of violent rhetoric, physical violence, intimidating behavior and derogatory language which is unbecoming of any Kansan, much less a member of the Kansas House.” House Majority Leader Chris Croft endorsed the complaint.

I’ll tell you what this looks like to me. It looks as though Kansas Republicans have decided to teach Carr a lesson. After not being able to shut him up on the floor, they are now determined to go after his reputation. I’m not saying the Carr is a perfect person. I don’t know him and can’t say. But I also know that in any workplace with 165 people, you’re going to see a variety of personalities and approaches.

You could put together quite interesting files on any number of Republican politicians when it comes to their behavior on the floor, in committees and with constituents. The fact that GOP members are doing this against Carr suggests they want vengeance, not justice.

You don’t have to listen to me about this. You can consider these word from former Hutchinson Democratic Rep. Jason Probst at his Substack blog:

“A few years ago, I was speaking on a bill in front of the entire House of Representatives, when I noticed a group of people from the Republican side of the aisle laughing vigorously.

“It’s not unusual for there to be chatter and conversation during floor debate, but this was more than usual. Enough to catch my attention and bother me.

“After the day’s session ended, I walked up to the House member at the center of the laughter. I told him I noticed it, and wondered if I had said something so funny that they couldn’t help themselves from cackling during a serious legislative debate.”

According to Probst, the members were laughing at the following racist joke: “What’s the most confusing holiday in Ferguson, Missouri?”

Answer: “Father’s Day.”

That’s the environment in which Carr works daily in Topeka. That’s the environment in which he has refused to tolerate the condescending admonitions of Republican leadership. He won’t play along. And now he faces the consequences of standing up for himself and his constituents. I don’t think highly of Kansas legislative leadership in the best of times. But this is far from the best of times, and they’re making a mockery of the House.

Or as Probst puts it: “It is amazing to consider how weak the powerful really are. They bristle at criticism. They actively legislate to silence any dissenting voice. They use the levers of the system they control to enforce compliance. They punish those who refuse to be controlled by the rules they’ve written or who chooses to disengage from the systems they’ve created.”

Progressive scuffle

At least House Republicans’ tussle with Carr follows familiar Republican vs. Democrat lines. More surprising was an uprising of progressive outrage against Sen. Patrick Schmidt, D-Topeka. Schmidt proposed an amendment to House Bill 2062, which provides “for child support orders for unborn children from the date of conception.” He asked senators to expand the child tax credit for all of the state’s pregnant parents.

Republicans ultimately backed his proposal. But Schmidt’s move didn’t sit well with other Democrats and progressive advocates.

“It is pretty disappointing to hear Senator Schmidt declare himself the most ‘pro-choice lawmaker’ while simultaneously adding the most anti-abortion language I’ve ever seen a democratic lawmaker intentionally amend into a bill,” said Melissa Stiehler, of Loud Light Civic Action.

Schmidt still voted against the legislation, calling it a “bad bill, with or without an amendment.”

I understand that the politics around reproductive freedoms arouse fierce responses. I understand that this bill can be seen as a “fetal personhood” law, laying the groundwork for future anti-abortion measures. But Democrats have only nine members in the 40-person Senate. Does attacking one of those nine make long-term political sense?

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