Larry Meeker steps down as chairman of the Kansas Democratic Party

Former Lake Quivira Mayor Larry Meeker won’t shepherd the Kansas Democratic Party to the right after all.

The Pitch has confirmed reports by the Wichita Eagle and liberal blog Daily Kos that Meeker has resigned, just ahead of Demofest, this weekend’s large party gathering in Wichita.

Party donors balked at comments Meeker made this week in The Pitch and the Eagle about possibly branding the party more conservatively. 

“About every Democrat meeting I’ve gone to, I’ve suggested that the median Democrat in Kansas would likely qualify for a moderate Republican in Massachusetts or California,” Meeker told The Pitch. “People scratch their heads for a moment and then in unison [say], ‘Yes, that’s true.'”

Not everyone agrees.

Meeker’s comments irked progressives who already view the Kansas Democratic Party as too conciliatory to Kansas Republicans, particularly on social issues.

Meeker’s resignation, only five months after his election as KDP chairman, is the latest turbulence for the party. Democrats sensed an opportunity in the 2014 election, when Gov. Sam Brownback’s popularity had seemingly flagged and Sen. Pat Roberts looking vulnerable in his bid for another six years in Washington, D.C. But Paul Davis, the former House minority leader from Lawrence, failed to overcome Brownback, and the party didn’t run anyone against Roberts, instead pinning its hopes on independent Greg Orman, who also lost. In all, it was a demoralizing election for the Kansas Democrats.

As the summer of 2015 winds down, Kansas Democrats are wrestling with how to come back.

“We’re looking to re-message how we speak about our party and our issues. At the end of election cycle, as you well know, we are Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Obamacare, Obama, anything bad they can figure out going on in Washington, and the Republicans brand us,” Meeker told the Eagle this week. “That’s not who we are. Kansas Democrats are very different from Massachusetts Democrats or California Democrats.”

Maybe, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they want to demonize Obamacare.

The state party struggles from an internal tug-of-war. On one hand, the party is viewed by some out-state Democrats as too devoted to the interests of traditional Democratic strongholds in Douglas, Wyandotte and Shawnee counties (along with portions of Sedgwick). On the other hand, the party is viewed by some progressives as too obsequious to Kansas Republicans.

Donors haven’t lavished money on the KDP’s coffers, which, as of the most recent reporting cycle, had just $37,000 in the bank. The turmoil over the party’s direction hasn’t helped — and now has proven to be untenable for Meeker.