Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer officially have started their campaign for a second term.
The two were joined Thursday at a kickoff event in Topeka by their campaign co-chairs, former Sen. Bob Dole and Mary Eisenhower, granddaughter of Dwight Eisenhower.
During the event, Brownback touted his economic policies and tax cuts he helped pass. He credits them with promoting job growth and helping to build a significant financial cushion in the state budget.
"It's a good time to be us, as we show the country a proven path out of decline and a way to be America again," Brownback says. "Kansas is a lighthouse in a nation that's lost its way."
Dole remembered meeting Brownback when the governor was a young member of Future Farmers of America.
"And I knew then that there was a leadership quality about Sam and that he was destined for greater things," Dole says.
The likely Democratic candidate in November, Paul Davis, has taken issue with the governor's fiscal policies, saying Kansas is pulling out of the economic downturn more slowly than some other states. Democrats also argue that the tax cuts could lead to state budget shortfalls in the coming years.
Brownback faces a challenger in the August Republican primary election, Wichita landscaping business owner Jennifer Winn.
