The campaign is hitting the home stretch.  It is interesting to see the reactions of people when I knock on their doors and ask for their support and votes.  I am very pleased by the responses I am receiving.  Today I completed campaigning in another precinct in west Wichita.

 

I'm also delighted to get requests for yard signs, flyers, and folks asking how they can support this campaign to restore fiscal responsibility to the county courthouse.  We'll have a strong financial report that will become public Monday.

 

In the last week this campaign has substantially intensified as my opponent has begun a broadbased response in advertising, signs, and a much more visible campaign.  He can afford to do so with a huge amount of cash that he had accumulated in the past few years.

 

An important fact that is quite different from the last time the incumbent in my contest had to run in a primary related to early voting.  Early voting has been underway with absentee ballots that were sent out about 10 days ago.  Advanced voting at a dozen different locations has also begun.  We no longer have election day, but election weeks.

 

Campaigns in Kansas must adjust to that new reality.  When campaigns start their broadcast advertising a week after the absentee ballots have been sent out, they are starting to reach a lot of voters who have already voted.  A key in broadcast ads is repetition and this takes a while for viewers to see or hear the ads and for this information to sink in.  

 

I am delighted to report that our early voter contact efforts met our campaign plan.  Everyone who has helped with this campaign deserves credit for this substantial accomplishment.  We can all rest on our laurels for 30 seconds before going back to work.

 

That's why the campaign work that is completed well before the middle of July is so critical for a contested primary election that will be finished on August 5.  It is also important to have support show up early instead of at the last minute.