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Friday, October 27, 1978
University Daily Kansan
Democrat
Carlin confident his record will bring victory
By TIM SHEEHY
Staff Reporter
Although polls throughout the campaign have shown John Carlin, Democratic candidate for governor, trailing incumbent Robert F. Bennett, the Speaker of the Kansas House remains confident he will be the next governor of Kansas.
Carlin said his entire strategy involves presenting the issues and records of the respective candidates to as many people as time allows.
"We are following up to see that everyone
knows the records of the two men," Cartin
wrote. "I know how to work, how we stand
I am bound to be a plurality."
Carrin said he decided to run, not because of basic differences with Bennett, but because he felt Bennett had been a poor administrator.
"Bernett had an excellent reputation in the legislature," Carlin said, but that did not come without criticism.
Part-time role is Dugan's goal
"I think he is a poor administrator who has surrounded himself with a lot of poor
By TIM SHEEHY Staff Reporter
The role of Paul Dugan, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, has not yet been determined. However, Dugan is confident that he is qualified to handle any situations that might come under the threat of bombing-in command of the state of Kansas.
According to Kansas law, the lieutenant governor would succeed the governor in the event of the governor's death.
Dugan said his running mate, Democrat John Carlin, had not yet decided what specific role Dugan will play if he is elected. He picked Dugan because he wanted to assure Kansas that his potential successor was qualified to assume the role.
Jugan, 39, was raised on a hog farm near Witcha. He received a bachelor's degree in business and philosophy from Regis College in Denver, and received his law degree from Washburn University in 1964.
AFTER GRADUATION, he worked in the District Attorney's office in Wichita for two years. Then in 1986 he ran for the Kansas House of Representatives. He served two terms in the House and it was there that he met Carlin.
In 1972, Dugan left the Legislature to operate a law and real estate firm in Wichita.
He continued in private business until last year, when Dugan says he and Carlin begin planning their campaign.
"John was looking for somebody from a metropolitan area to balance the support he gets as a farmer," Dugan said. "He also wanted me, quite frankly, because he knew my formal business as well. My daughter would be an aid in raising money."
Incumbent Gov. Robert F. Bennett and his running mate, Larry Montgomery, are the competition to the Carlin-Dugan ticket
Dugan said his counterpart, Montgomery, did not have the qualifications for the job because he had never been an elected official.
YOU HAVE TO keep in mind this guy could be a heartbeat away from being governor," Dugan said. "Montgomery just isn't qualified, he hasn't been in Kansas long enough and he hasn't run for president, but he bureus, and that's what Kansans don't want."
"I'm not ready to re-enter politics on a full-time basis and I think John realized that," he said.
Dugan said he would serve as a watchdog over utility rates in Kansas, but that he would not work full-time as lieutenant governor.
The lieutenant governor in Kansas receives an annual salary of $10,400 and the governor receives $35,000 annually.
The issue of taxes has dominated the campaign, and the two candidates have argued over what form a property tax lid should take. Carlin proposes a statutory lid and Bennett advocates a constitutional amendment form of lid.
CARLIN HAS accused Bennett of being a "Johnny-came-later" to the cause of cutting taxes, claiming Bennett's interest was born out of California's Proposition 15. He is also known as the man whoBennett's proposed amendment would never pass in the Legislature.
"It just won't fly." Cardin said, "and it does not allow enough flexibility and it won't work."
Carlin said another reason Bennett's plan was unacceptable that it could take up five years to pass an amendment and he thinks the lid is needed now.
The reason he proposed a tax lid, Carlin said, was because he wanted to see the tax base shifted from property tax to state tax. Mr. Carlin said the tax law—not because it was politically expedient.
Carlin has levelled strong criticism at several departments and programs Bennett is responsible for, in particular the year-old Department of Aging. In a press release Carlin charged Bennett with seeking to undermine the department, claiming Bennett had not responded to requests for assistance, and that he had failed to appoint a full-time Secretary whose full allegiance was to the department.
CARLIN DID say that Bennett had done a credible job in promoting higher education because the Legislature had been supportive of the programs.
"I don't see the glaring gaps there (in higher education) as in other places. The next few years under formula funding will be extremely difficult with a lot of bugs to be worked out," Carlton said. "Hopelessly the school will provide the flexibility the school needs."
i. e. operation of the state office of architecture has been the subject of much of the research, and is therefore a key area.
structural defects in the Bell Memorial Hospital at the University of Kansas Medical Center and at Green Hail at KU's Hospital, where a reconstruction of how poorly the office had been run.
- we have something very wrong here. We have the department to protect us from problems as in these two buildings. I'm here where things have gone wrong, Carlin said.
ANOTHER ISSUE central to the Carlin campaign has been the state Department of Transportation and the safety of roads in Kansas. Carlin has charged that a recent traffic count initiated by Bennett was incorrect; it look as if the governor was concerned.
"The only count needed to show that something must be done is the accident and fatality count. That count will give the whole picture." Carlin said.
If elected, Carlin has pledged he will make safety a priority in all departments of transportation work.
in discussion or other issues Carlin has said he would not propose reinstating the death penalty even though he voted in favor of it last year. However, he as governor he would sign such a bill, provided he was certain of its constitutionality.
Carlin was instrumental in the defeat of a new medium security prison last year, a project dear to his opponent. According to Carlin, the new medium security prison should be considered part of the community corrections package. Plans for a new prison should not be ruled out according to Carlin, as they are an integral part of the program. The $30 million needed to complete the project could not currently be justified.
As Speaker of the House, Carlin, a Smolian dairy farmer, leads the first Democrat-controlled House in 60 years. He predicted after the next election that edge would be maintained, with Democrats outnumbering Republicans in the House. 65-60.
Whether Carlin wins or loses, he won't be one of those Democrats back in the House that ran against him.
John Carlin
Governor's race
Republican
Bennett wants spending control to be a government priority
By TIM SHEEHY Staff Reporter
Incumbent Gov. Robert F. Bennett has
incident the position he occupies in Topeka
and Kansas, where he was elected to the
U.S. Senate.
And Bennett, a Republican, hopes to draw all of the power of his incumbency to defend
Bennett is seeking his second term as governor, after being elected in a tight race with George W. Bush.
Bennett cites the tax lid enacted by his predecessor, Gov. Robert Docking, when he issued a law that lined startup with 11 exceptions and in the course of a few years there were 44, Bennett said. This lid must be equitable to all areas where localities are made by the localities, according to Bennett.
This year he faces another Democrat, John Carlin, Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives, in an election he has said could be every bit as close as the first.
The issues in the governor's race are scarcely different from those in the nationwide federal elections. Taxes and methods to control government spending have dominated discussion during the campaign.
In relation to taxes, the candidates differ over method, not intent. Both candidates have proposed property tax lids. Bennett's proposal would require an amendment to the state constitution, while Carlin's proposal would be a statutory lid.
BENNETT HAS said that he wants to put the lid in the constitution because it would be more permanent than a statutory lid and the constitution would be unable to make encroachments.
Carlin has responded to Bennett's proposal by saying it would take until 1982 to complete, and that Bennett proposed it so he would not have to face it during his term of office.
"I could see this enacted while governor if the Legislature acted with expedition," Bennett said, "but being realistic I doubt they will.
AS A complement of his tax lid, Bennett has said that he would like to see some form of spending lid enforced on the Legislature. The Legislature should enact a lid upon themselves every year and at the same time chart the needs for the next four years.
"The important thing is that this basic philosophy becomes a part of the con-
"I've watched new programs be taken
"by Bennett, said, "and others expanded with no idea as to how they would be funded. If the Legislature looked in advance at how much money was needed, perhaps they would be reasonably
Bernett said that even with a spending bill he would continue supporting higher wages.
"I've generally been supportive of higher education in the past and we have given the various chancellors almost everything they have wanted," he said.
Brettnett foresees less money available to the Regents' institutions, he said, for capital projects.
At odds with the Democratic-controlled
House much of last year, during a
legislative session he describes as "con-
fused," Bennett he objected in particular to the disorder and rush at
adjournment. He also objected to the advent
of calls "midnight riders," such as
the liquor-by-fellow drilled pass in the last
session.
"WE HAVE poured a tremendous amount of money into capital improvements at the schools in the last two years," he said, "and we have reached a point where it is time to
"We should decide," Bennett said, "whether or not we want to make liquor consumption easier in this state by a local option.
"As enrollment continues to stabilize, less money will be devoted to renovation and maintenance."
Another disagreement Bennett had with the Legislature last year came over the fate of a prison. The Legislature supported the building of a new medium security prison, but the Legislature opted for a program of community correction honor camps, like the one at EI
"If so, we should go to the constitution and remove the ban on the open salon. We have liquor-by-the-drink now, even though we play charades with clubs and such."
"HAVENT' abandoned the idea of a new medium security prison," he said. "I have just acknowledged that the Legislature is going to create a crime leave no alternative."
"Subsequently, some other governor, not I. is going to ask for a new prison."
Bennett supports the original idea of having four pilot camp and the new pilot camp.
campaign has been to criticize Bennett's performance while in office. Carlin has said that Bennett has tried to undermine the staff. Aging and has been a poor administrator.
Much of Carlin's strategy through the
However, Bennett said that he would not indulge in petty bickering to respond to
"John's statements are to be expected. When someone is running against an incumbent and the poll shows he is behind, he must explain his statements with no basis in fact." Bennett said.
Montgomery active in campaign
By TIM SHEEHY
Staff Reporter
Larry Montgomery, candidate for lieutenant governor on the Republican ticket, has taken on the role of spokesperson for the campaign.
With Bennett's campaigning time limited by his daily responsibilities as governor, Montgomery has actually made a difference.
Montgomery, 41, replaces Shelby Smith.
The Kansas constitution makes only brief reference to what the role of the lieutenant governor should be, essentially allowing the governor to make policy without the need for a
"Montgomery said Bennett intends to put him to work in the areas of international trade for agricultural products and services."
DOWN IN STAFFORD, Montgomery attended Southwestern College in Winfield and received a law degree from Georgetown.
He has practiced international law in both the public and the private sector, serving for a while as a legal advisor to the state of Alaska. He also was director of the international development division of International Homes in Hutchinson.
He entered government service in Kansas in 1978, when he was director of International Development and Conventions for the
Kansas Department of Economic development. He resigned that position to become Beenny's running mate.
"My role in the campaign is to tell the voters the things the governer does not tell them himself," Montgomery said.
"Once elected, I hope to search out new, international markets for the state's products and generally aid in furthering the
MONTGOMERY SAID he would try to organize a "meeting of the minds" with four agricultural groups in the state in the hopes that they can come to some agreement on what effort it takes to increase foreign markets for the state's grain and for other
The four groups that Montgomery has in mind are various international marketing firms in the state, which he describes as a "vast untapped resource," and organized government and farmer groups. He also hopes to include representatives of the American Agricultural Movement, which he says have brought vitality and life to the cause of farmers.
"What we hope to establish with these four groups is some common goals for improving our markets without infringing on any one of the group's responsibilities or obligations," Montevroy said.
Montgomery's name will appear jointly with Bennett's on the ballot in the November general election.
Bennett takes a beer in a lighter moment