In its recent presidential caucuses, Kansas chose Sen. Ted Cruz for the Republicans and Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Dems. In the wake of the caucuses, the Lawrence Journal-World gathered some interesting lessons on the political nature of the Sunflower State.
First, Kansas caucus-goers are not very moderate.
The state’s previous two GOP primary picks were the far-right Rick Santorum in 2012 and Mike Huckabee in 2008. And this year voters chose the single most conservative Republican in the field. Likewise, on the left, voters selected the more liberal of the two candidates.
Another lesson: east and west are very different. Voters turned out in droves for Sanders in the eastern part of the state. And in the west, Republican caucus-goers outnumbered Democratic voters by more than four to one.
Another lesson: In Kansas, endorsements don't matter as much as grassroots organizing.