The contest over who would serve in the party’s top administrative job offered a fresh illustration of GOP infighting despite calls by Brown and Helen Van Etten to seek unity if chosen to replace chairman Mike Kuckelman, an attorney who served four years as chairman. In advance of the party meeting, Kuckelman accused Brown of being insufficiently conservative on abortion and gun rights. During his nomination speech, Brown fired back by declaring himself “pro-life” and “pro-2A.”
Van Etten’s base in the 2nd and 4th congressional districts was pitted against dominance of Brown in the 3rd District in the Kansas City area. In a packed convention hall, it took a minimum of 90 votes from the 179 credentialed delegates to prevail. Hand counting of ballots settled the issue: Brown, 90; Van Etten, 88. One ballot was declared “spoiled,” because someone apparently voted for both nominees.
Brown, an Overland Park construction contractor, lost a reelection campaign for Johnson County Commission in 2020 and fell short in the Republican primary for Kansas secretary of state in 2022. He rebounded by surviving one of the closest races for party chairman in state history.
“As Republicans,” Brown said, “we are not the party of equity and entitlement. We are the party of excellence and hard work.”
He urged GOP delegates to get behind his candidacy and work to overhaul the organization to make Republicans more competitive, especially in the 3rd District. His quest is to end the career of Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davis, who is serving her third term representing the Kansas City area. He also wants to flip the governor’s office in 2026 after back-to-back victories by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly over Republicans Kris Kobach and Derek Schmidt.
“We simply cannot continue to keep doing the same things over and over and believe that somehow it’s going to turn out differently,” Brown said. “We’re going to get the governor’s seat back. We’re going to get CD3 back. We’re going to get control of this mess.”
Lynn Rogers, a former Democratic lieutenant governor and state treasurer, said election of Brown meant the Kansas GOP “made their bed and must lie down in the conspiracy-laden nightmare of their own making.”
Brown has called for RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to resign. In public appearances, Brown said there shouldn’t be room in the state’s Republican Party for RINOSs or what he described as “milquetoast, Republican-in-name-only, lousy Republicans.” He also has a record of promoting election conspiracy theories alleging President Donald Trump had reelection stolen from him in 2020 because of fraudulent activity.
After Brown took his position on the stage, GOP delegates debated but tabled a resolution calling for impeachment of President Joe Biden. The request centered on concern about Biden’s purported approval of social media companies censoring commentary by conservatives about COVID-19 and vaccines to counter the pandemic.
Brown, who was endorsed by former U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp, said the Kansas GOP would be a fundraising machine, become more unified and develop databases to help candidates win. He would expand the state party’s role in elections by reaching down to local school board races and city council campaigns. It was essential to expand the Republican supermajorities in the Kansas House and Kansas Senate, he said.
Brown was nominated for chairman by Calvin Hayden, the Johnson County sheriff. Hayden complained that he’d never received financial support from the state party in his campaigns for sheriff.
“That can’t happen,” Hayden said. “We need to help our people at the grassroots level. We need to fight. We need to make sure that we get people with conservative values.”
