Brownback yielding seat on Judicary Committee

%{[ data-embed-type=”image” data-embed-id=”57150c3d89121ca96b95fc5b” data-embed-element=”aside” ]}%

Sam Brownback’s decision to run for governor will immediately cost Kansas some status in Washington. With Topeka beckoning in 2010, the two-term senator took one for the Republican team and yielded his seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The committee has 19 members. Democrats were entitled to an 11th seat after the November election increased their majority.

There had been speculation that Republican Sen. Tom Coburn was going to lose his seat on the committee. Coburn is an eccentric who once complained on the campaign trail about “rampant” lesbian activity occurring in school bathrooms. In 1997, he called NBC’s decision to air Schindler’s List “an all-time low” on account of the violence and nudity it portrayed. (Yeah, Spielberg, that scene in the second act where the chainsaw killer interrupted the orgy was totally gratuitous.)

Alas, Brownback is reportedly stepping aside, keeping Coburn’s agile mind where it is.