KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers portions of Johnson County, including Overland Park, Shawnee and Mission. If you have a story idea to share, send Alyssa an email to alyssa.jackson@kshb.com.
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There's been a lot of focus surrounding who will be at the top of the presidential ticket with President Biden announcing he will not be the 2024 Democratic nominee.
However, this is not the first time Democrats will have an open convention. In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not accept the party's nomination.
As history repeats itself 56 years later, Kansas Democrats emphasize messaging that they are a united front.
Johnson County Democrats already planned for the weekend to be focused on what’s down the ballot while many people are talking about the top of the ticket.
They were holding their annual "Flip Johnson County Blue" fundraiser on Sunday, where they anticipated raising $15,000 to $20,000 for local candidates.
"When we voted two years ago to take our reproductive health back and the Kansas Legislature has still not listened ...in fact, in the last year, put up 30 reproductive challenges to restrict my choice. I need to get my local politicians in. Where we’re going to focus is Johnson County," said Cassie Woolworth, president of the Johnson County Democratic Women South.
Woolworth said it's not lost on her, nor the gazebo full of Democrats at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park in Lenexa on Sunday afternoon, that this is an election that only comes around once in a lifetime.
"The waters are unchartered for all of us right now. This is unprecedented. It’s not unprecedented to have contested conventions. That’s what conventions used to be. We used to get there and make a decision, but where we are right now is still unchartered," said Jeanna Repass, chair of the Kansas Democratic Party.
While waiting for the delegates to decide who the pick will be, they want voters to know it's the local races that matter.
"Locally, these are my county commissioners, these are my school board members, these are my representatives," Woolworth said.
The presidential race, according to Repass, could be tight with a difference of a few hundred thousand votes like the last couple of elections.
While some are saying the Democratic Party is not on the same page, Kathleen Sebelius, former Kansas governor and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Obama administration, said they aren't in "disarray."
"Most Americans don’t get up every morning thinking of how close the election is," Sebelius said. "They think of their kids, they think of their rent, they think of their job, they think about their parents. My view is that a lot of people start to tune in to election season around Labor Day."
Sebelius said President Biden's decision to "pass the baton" could be what voters needed to see.
"There are lots of voters looking at two elderly incumbents at the top of both the Republican and Democratic tickets who weren’t wildly enthusiastic," she said.
President Biden's decision on Sunday released the delegates. The president is not allowed to transfer his delegates to someone else, so it's up to delegates to choose who they will cast their vote for.
According to the chair of the Kansas Democratic Party, it is still yet to be determined how they will execute that process, but it could be an in-person or virtual roll call.
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