From our friends at Johnson County Educators on Sen. Masterson who we’ve been posting about quite a bit lately for his policy positions which we oppose.

One only has to examine the contributors listed on Sen. Masterson’s campaign finance reports for the 2016 election cycle (easily accessed at the Kansas Ethics Commission) to know whose bidding he’s doing, and it’s not the schoolchildren of Kansas. Some might consider this to be an ‘ad hominem’ attack, but we believe understanding the role of money in the political process is necessary to be an informed voter. Donors make contributions because they know it guarantees access and often influences policy-making.

A FEW of Sen. Masterson’s major funders:
ALEC (conference “scholarships”)
Koch Industries
Kansas Chamber of Commerce
Exxon Mobil
Krystal Corporation, Inc.
KS Realtors PAC
Hewlett-Packard
WalMart PAC

We found that 52% of Sen. Masterson’s donations came from outside the state of Kansas. We also found that 27% of his campaign contributions came from Topeka- area PACS, lobbyists, and entities such as Stafford Consulting LLC. That leaves the remaining 21% of his donations coming from Wichita-area corporations such as Koch, Cox Communications, & Hawker Beechcraft PAC. In fact, we only found one $100 contribution from a private individual in the filings, and that was from a well-connected Wichita businessman.

So ask yourself, who is Sen. Masterson representing?

You can look up your legislators’ campaign contributions here: http://www.kansas.gov/ethics/Campaign_Finance/View_Submitted_Forms_&_Reports.html