Antiabortion District Attorney Phill Kline Will Run To Retain Johnson County, Kan., Position

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 12 Jun 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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Johnson County, Kan., District Attorney Phill Kline (R) announced Monday that he will run in the Republican primary to retain his post despite having said in September 2007 that he would not seek a full four-year term, the Kansas City Star reports. Kline served in the Kansas Legislature before serving as state attorney general from 2003 to 2007. After losing a bid for another term as attorney general in 2006 to Paul Morrison (D), Kline was tapped by Republican leaders in Johnson County to replace Morrison as the county's district attorney (Carroll, Kansas City Star, 6/9). As attorney general and district attorney, Kline has been "embroiled in a battle" against Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, the AP/WIBW reports (AP/WIBW, 6/9).

Kline during a news conference said that he has a passion for seeking justice, especially for the vulnerable, and that the rule of law must be honored and no person or group should be above it. Kline spokesperson Brian Burgess said Kline's re-election campaign would be about the district attorney's "legacy as a law enforcement official," adding, "I don't think people of this county are familiar with that, and we are going to make sure they are."

Kline will face former Johnson County prosecutor Steve Howe in the Aug. 5 Republican primary. Howe, who was one of seven assistant district attorneys fired when Kline took office in January 2007, said people are tired of politics in the district attorney's office. "With Phill Kline in the race, I think voters have a clear choice," Howe said, adding, "They can either choose a career politician or a professional prosecutor."

The winner of the Republican primary will face former Johnson County prosecutor Rick Guinn (D). "No matter who my opponent is this fall, my top priority will be to refocus this office on law enforcement issues and not political issues," Guinn said (Kansas City Star, 6/9).

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