Steineger said he brings "to the table four areas" he believes makes him uniquely qualified for the seat:

His many years of legislative experience, and the time spent debating election laws. Being a small business owner has given him public service skills. "I am a Democrat, but very independent," which was highlighted most recently when he was the only Democratic senator to vote against the recent one cent sales tax increase. And he is following what he labeled the "Moore - Sebelius formula" claiming that being elected several times by both parties is helpful. "Being a moderate, and not hard-core right like Kris Kobach."

Secretary of State Chris Biggs was appointed to replace retiring Thornburgh in March by Governor Mark Parkinson from "15 or 16 candidates."
Chris Biggs

Originally from Manhattan, KS, Biggs graduated from Kansas State University, and then went on to graduate Law School at The University of Kansas in 1983. Biggs was given his first case the second day on the job, requiring him to appear in front of the state Supreme Court. As defense attorney his first case was a first-degree murder trial. As a trial attorney and public defender for six years, "I have baptism by fire," he said.

"People use to ask me, Chris, how can you defend these people? I had a very simple answer; if the constitution doesn't work for everybody it doesn't work for anybody."

Biggs was elected, and served 14 years as Geary County Prosecutor. The crime rate was very high per capita of 30,000 residents. Leaving his position to become Kansas Securities Commissioner, he had filed over 24,000 criminal cases while prosecutor in Geary. "If you are in a small county and you do your job right, there is an opportunity to upset just about everybody in town," he said.

"I wasn't going to let politics enter into the decision. I didn't care who you were, where you were from, or what your background was; I was going to enforce and follow the law. If you play politics in a position like that, use or abuse your power, people are going to figure that out and their not going to trust you for a good reason."

Biggs served as legislative chair for the Kansas District Attorney's Association, and drafted the legislation that placed a time limit on how long inmates can take to file challenges to appeals under Habeas Corpus. He also drafted the bill to update immunity legislation, and tried the first case of reckless homicide when "a Rottweiler attacked and killed a little boy. The dogs had been trained for violence and not properly contained," Biggs said.

After being elected as Prosecutor of the Year, Biggs was asked to run for Attorney General against Phil Kline. "After getting into the race very late, being outspent three to one, I lost by less than a percentage point. So if anyone knows the value of a vote, it's me."

As Securities Commissioner, Biggs was charged with regulating the securities industry, stockbrokers, and investment advisors.

Biggs was responsible for Kansas getting fund settlements from industry firms for "cheating the public." His latest case before being appointed Secretary of State was successfully prosecuting Thomas Etheridge for investment fraud and misrepresenting his background while obtaining $800,000 in investments to build a theme park in Wichita.

Biggs believes having an open-door policy with a user-friendly atmosphere are important as secretary of state.

"One of the most critically important skills is the ability to listen," he said.

"Kris Kobach's major issue has been immigration. It's an important issue that has nothing to do with the secretary of state office. He is trying to make it have something to with the office with the claim that we have illegal immigrants who are voting and somehow throwing our elections one way or the other. There have been no facts presented to support that claim," he said.

Biggs explained that he was the only state attorney to prosecute a voter fraud case when a man originally from Puerto Rico registered and voted. "He served our country honorably in Desert Storm, was a respected business owner, father and husband in the process of the naturalization to become a United State's citizen. His claim was since he fought for the country he thought he could vote. I went ahead and prosecuted him because I had to enforce the law," he said. The case was reduced to a misdemeanor.

"Biggs explained, "We do have a problem in this state. It's not voter fraud it's voter apathy. In order for voter fraud to occur the way Kobach claims, you would need to find illegal immigrants, which apparently the Federal Government has a hard time doing. You would have to get them together in one place, and you would have to convince them to vote a particular way. You would have to get them to register, and I understand these are people who wouldn't want to have any contact with the government. And you would have to get them there in sufficient numbers if you want to affect the outcome of an election. Folks, the Democrats and Republicans can't even get their own registered people to the polls. You think they are going to go to the trouble to get illegal immigrants who are hard to find anyway when it's much more efficient to get your own voters to the polls? I think it's a silly notion," Biggs said. "So when I say our problem is not voter fraud it's voter apathy, I mean that."

Biggs added, "Kansans are fair people and overall I think our election system is working very well. Ron Thornburgh did a good job."

Issues of paper trails and how counties in Kansas use both paper and electronic systems were discussed. Biggs said he is requesting 1.5 million from the federal "flow-through" money, which is not funded by the state or taxpayers; rather it is specifically saved for elections and added to the election office budget for counties to use in their elections. While Biggs believes that a paper trail is best, and more cost efficient, "I also like the fact that we have diversity in this state because it is very difficult to manipulate the system if it is decentralized. Diversity does provide some protection, "I still like the idea of having a paper trail, and the trend is to go toward those just for cost reasons; so I think we are going to see more of that."

Biggs said he has always prided himself in being very frugal. "My attitude is to save state money whenever possible." He even turned down state money when purchasing a desk for his office and picked up a used desk with drawers for $160. Biggs also said that Thornburgh had begun a new computer system in the office for the purpose of saving money on staff, when asked about the offices budget. Biggs is continuing to set-up and operate the system and has no plans to hire more staff.

According to Thornburgh "we haven't had voter fraud problems. By setting up an ID system, that will require us to pay for those IDs and a system is required that we do not have. We have to decide on how much voter fraud we have and if it's practical. I live in a rural area and many people drive up to 40 miles to vote, they get to the polls, don't have their IDs and they get angry and may never vote again. This format could disenfranchise seniors who don't drive to the polls or have a license," he said.

Biggs did say he would be on a fact-finding mission and hopes to get a report that will tell what is "really out there that we can present to legislators to decide what they want to do with issues of an ID. I think Kobach is going to try to make this office some referendum on illegal immigrants and voter fraud when it is the politics of fear by convincing people there is a problem to fix. What I'm telling you, is immigration is an issue but it has nothing to do with this office."

Biggs is the only candidate in this race who has managed a statewide office.

"I'm the person who has spent my whole life enforcing, interpreting, and carrying out the law. In my many years of service I am also proud of the fact that I have not had even one ethical complaint, which is almost unheard of in the legal profession. We don't want anybody in the secretary of state office that is going to politicize that office. Kobach has actually been a state party chair. I think it is better to have someone that has not been so involved in the political arena as party chair overseeing our elections. As a prosecutor, I have remained blind to what someone's station in life is, what their politics are, and that qualifies me well for secretary of state," he said.