GREAT BEND, Kan. - Democrats who complain about House Speaker Mike O'Neal's pattern of using his public office to benefit himself, his wife, his law firm, and the clients of his law firm should recruit a Democrat to run against him.
The voters of Reno County, 104th District, hired O'Neal. And the voters of the 104th District are the only one's who have the authority to fire him. But O'Neal never seems to have a Democratic opponent.
Libertarian Ben Ferguson seems to run against O'Neal every time, and his showings of 21.7% (2006) and 18.7% (2008) are proof that not all Reno Countians believe O'Neal is in Topeka due to altruism.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and any officeholder will tend toward misadventure if he or she has no competition.
Stated differently, O'Neal is accountable to no one, because Democrats can never find anyone to run against him.
Mike O'Neal was Chairman of the Reapportionment Committee that drew up the House Districts after the 2000 census. And he drew his own district, and made it as safe as possible. Basically, his district consists of the wealthy Republican areas of Hutchinson, plus Buhler -- long known as a bastion of middle class Republicanism.
There is plenty of time to find an opponent for Mr. O'Neal, and Democrats would be doing him a favor by holding him accountable. But for now, O'Neal knows that only Libertarians file against him, and no Libertarian has ever been elected to the House of Representatives.
This not only leaves O'Neal unaccountable, it gives him months of free time to cause havoc for other Democrats during election cycles. O'Neal seemed to spend all his free time in the 2008 cycle making life miserable for Rep. Mark Treaster (D-Pretty Prairie) in the 101st District, who lost narrowly to Joe Seiwart, a political novice who had the "money power" behind him thanks to O'Neal's help.
The Reno County Democratic Party is a strong organization that works hard to recruit candidates. But ultimately, no matter how much prodding potential candidates get, it is ultimately going to take a dreamer, a risk taker, an idealist, to take on O'Neal.
Is Mike O'Neal in Topeka to help the people of the 104th? Or is Mike O'Neal in Topeka to feather the nest of himself, his wife, his law firm, and the clients of that firm?
Let the voters of Hutchinson and Buhler decide this issue for themselves. Democrats can't complain much when they don't even put up a candidate against O'Neal.
Its not just O'neal Democrats cant field Candidates for the Governorship, Dennis Moore's congressional seat, and the candidates for the US senate and the 2nd Congressional district wont get any help from the Democratic party apparatus