Rep. Carl Maughan is stepping aside for personal reasons. The race to replace him is crowded.
by Blaise Mesa
Incumbent state Rep. Carl Maughan suspended his reelection campaign after a DUI arrest. That drew three challengers — Steve Huebert, Jesse McCurry and Darren Pugh — into the Republican primary for District 90. The winner of the primary takes on Tracy Edingfield in the general election this November.
The primary election is Aug. 6. You can find your polling place here.
The candidates were asked the same questions about their priorities for office and how they would vote on certain issues.
Here are their answers:
Who are the candidates in Kansas House District 90?
Steve Huebert
Steve Huebert served in the House from 2001 to 2022 and chaired the House Education Committee. He stepped down in 2022 but is running again now that Maughan has suspended his campaign. Huebert is retired.
He is endorsed by Kansans for Life, the Wichita and Kansas chambers of commerce and the National Rifle Association.
“I am excited about working hard and showing people that I still have the desire to do a good job and listen to the concerns of my constituents,” Huebert told the Ark Valley News.
Huebert didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. His answers are based on past news coverage and his legislative history.
Jesse McCurry
Jesse McCurry calls himself a “small business agricultural guy.” He and his wife both went to Kansas State University. The father of four said the agricultural background runs in his family.
McCurry is endorsed by the Wichita Chamber of Commerce. He wasn’t officially endorsed by the NRA, but the group gave him the highest rating possible for someone without a legislative voting record.
“It is time for a new generation of conservative leadership,” his website says.
Carl Maughan
Carl Maughan is the incumbent. He filed for reelection but suspended his campaign after he was arrested for allegedly driving drunk and possessing a weapon while intoxicated.
Maughan’s law license was also suspended for one year after the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that he had a conflict of interest in a murder case he worked on.
Darren Pugh
Darren Pugh didn’t respond to multiple emails and phone calls for comment. The Beacon also didn’t find any election website.
Question 1: If elected, which of these politicians would you most closely resemble?
Options include: Joe Biden, Sharice Davids, Bob Dole, Nancy Kassebaum, Laura Kelly, Roger Marshall, Jerry Moran, Donald Trump or someone else.
Huebert: Huebert didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
McCurry: Bob Dole, Nancy Kassebaum, Pat Roberts and Ronald Reagan. I liked that they are connected to their constituency, and they get things done. … Those are pretty serious public servants that (got) some things done.
Pugh: Pugh didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
Question 2: If you could pass any bill, what would it be and why?
Huebert: Huebert introduced many bills in his decades-long career. In his final years of office, he introduced legislation to require students pass a civics test to graduate high school. This bill died after it was vetoed by the governor.
“Just like math students need to learn the basic principles of multiplication in order to study physics and engineering,” Huebert told the Kansas Reflector. “All citizens need to understand the basic principles of how democracy works in order to participate for the rest of their lives. I’m passionate about it. We have a challenge before us.”
McCurry: I’m gonna go with a constitutional amendment around tax policy. I’m tempted to say abortion policy, but I’m gonna say tax policy spending.
We’re out of control and spending. It’s clear that (our spending is) out of control. We have to find a level. We are way out of balance. How to balance spending versus income that is reasonable to be survivable for multiple years.
Pugh: Pugh didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
Question 3: How would you have voted on the following items? You can vote yes, no or pass.
The Aug. 2, 2022, constitutional amendment on abortion
Huebert: Huebert voted in 2021 to put the constitutional amendment on the ballot. The original language for the amendment was that “there is no constitutional right to abortion, and reserving to the people the ability to regulate abortion through the elected members of the Legislature of the state of Kansas.”
McCurry: I don’t remember exactly how I voted on that. I am pro-life. My personal opinion is that there should not be any abortions. I don’t know how else to put it. I don’t want to have abortions. I think abortion is wrong and I want to have every opportunity to have people not have an abortion.
Pugh: Pugh didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
Flat tax on income
Voting yes would approve a single-rate on income tax set at 5.25%. A single rate on income didn’t pass this year.
Huebert: Huebert wasn’t in office during this vote and didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
McCurry: PASS. It’s probably not my thing. I get the sense of it, and I want to have tax cuts. I’m open to exploring, (and) I know that’s not a clear answer, but it may be in the context I would say yes.
Pugh: Pugh didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
Banning transgender women from women’s sports
Voting yes would mean athletes have to compete based on their gender assigned at birth. The bill was vetoed but overridden in 2023.
Huebert: Huebert didn’t vote on this specific bill, but he did vote for two other bills banning transgender women from women’s sports teams.
McCurry: YES. In my opinion, men are men and women are women when they’re born.
Pugh: Pugh didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
Banning gender-affirming care for trans youth
Voting yes means children under 18 can’t get puberty blockers, hormone treatment, and in rare cases, gender-reassignment surgery. The bill narrowly failed this year and is expected to come up again in 2025.
Huebert: Huebert was not in office during this vote and didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
McCurry: PASS. I would like to consult with my personal doctor. I don’t know. I want to explore them more.
Pugh: Pugh didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
Chiefs and Royals stadium-financing bill
This bill didn’t spend any taxpayer money to attract the teams, but it did set aside future sales tax dollars from future stadium districts to pay off bonds. This law passed by a comfortable margin, and voting yes opens the door to the Chiefs and Royals in Kansas.
Huebert: Huebert was not in office during this vote and didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
McCurry: YES. Part of me wants to say no, but when I think about it, that’s a pretty powerful tool for economic development for the state. I’d love to have something in south-central Kansas or western Kansas that would fit into that same rubric because it does seem to be the case that (this development is) usually in northeast Kansas (or the) Kansas City area.
Pugh: Pugh didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
APEX (Attracting Powerful Economic Expansion)
The bill had billions in tax incentives to bring a Panasonic battery plant to De Soto, Kansas. As it was being passed, lawmakers were not told which company would be coming, but were told the bill is necessary to attract large businesses. Voting yes approved a massive tax incentive plan for companies.
Huebert: NO. Huebert voted against this bill during the session.
McCurry: PASS: I don’t know. I think I would rely on two things: Where’s the administration leadership at on it from a commerce standpoint and also, where’s the Republican leadership at? I’m not trying to weasel out of the answer, I’m just trying to say I don’t have enough information now.
Pugh: Pugh didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
Congressional redistricting
Kansas redrew its congressional maps with new census data. Voting yes approved the Republican maps. Those maps were controversial as Democrats say they were gerrymandered to dilute blue votes.
Huebert: YES. Huebert voted for this bill during the session and said Republicans shouldn’t apologize for trying to strengthen their political advantage.
“There’s nothing new under the sun,” he said in a KCUR article. “What we’re doing has been done before and will be done again.”
McCurry: YES. I guess I would have voted for it. But I’d have a lot of questions and I’d want to be a participant in how we decide how that goes. I understand where the lines are at, but I want to be an active participant and leader in deciding that question.
Pugh: Pugh didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
Mail ballot grace period
Currently, any mail ballot in Kansas can arrive three days after Election Day and still be counted if it was postmarked on or before Election Day. Voting yes would eliminate that grace period.
Huebert: Huebert was not in office during this vote and didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
McCurry: YES. I do think that ballots should come in on Election Day. I think there does have to be a final point, and I’ve changed my mind on this. It seems to me to be more simple and more clear to have things due on a certain date.
Pugh: Pugh didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
Looser child care regulations
The bill would expand allowed child-to-staff ratios and allow teenagers to work at these facilities. Voting yes approves the loosened restrictions. Learn more about this bill here.
Huebert: Huebert was not in office during this vote and didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
McCurry: PASS. I would put myself as undecided or not quite sure. I just don’t quite understand it.
Pugh: Pugh didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
The Parents’ Bill of Rights
This bill lets parents pull their kids out of classes if they are being taught objectionable material. Republicans say it is up to parents to determine what their children should be learning. Democrats say this bill addresses a problem that doesn’t exist.
Huebert: Huebert wasn’t in office as this bill was debated, but he did support similar proposals. Huebert said the bill was necessary because of “real things going on in this country that need to be dealt with.”
He was frustrated that the governor vetoed the 2022 version of this bill.
“I appreciate she’s got some high-paid consultants,” he told the Kansas Reflector. “She needs to get some new ones.”
McCurry: YES. If you’re saying (this bill lets parents be more involved, I would) say yes, you want more input. There should always be more parental involvement in the school system. And there is not enough involvement as far as I can tell in the school system.
Pugh: Pugh didn’t respond to The Beacon’s questionnaire.
This article was republished here with the permission of: The Beacon