KANSAS CITY, mo — A Republican state senator serving a portion of northeast Johnson County, Kansas announced Wednesday she will switch parties in January.
In a news release, Sen. Barbara Bollier, first elected to the legislature in 2010, announced that when legislators return to Topeka next month, she’ll drop her Republican affiliation and switch to being a Democrat.
Bollier said the 2018 elections made clear to her that the Kansas Republican party is no longer accepting of moderate candidates.
“I’ve been a proud Kansas Republican for 43 years,” Bollier said. “I always embraced the common-sense policies of Governor Bill Graves, U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum and President Eisenhower. But during the last eight years, I’ve grown increasingly uncomfortable with Republican leaders’ hardline rhetoric, contempt for compromise, and obsession with putting political power before children and families.”
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, the Johnson County Republican Party said Bollier's move revealed her "true colors."
“The JCRP was not shocked by today’s news. After her recent endorsements of democrats in both the Primary and General elections, as well as a voting record more liberal than many democrats, we applaud her for her honesty,” said Chairman Dave Myres.
