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Greg Orman
Greg Orman (independent) ran for election for Governor of Kansas. He lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
He ran on a joint ticket with lieutenant gubernatorial candidate John Doll (Kansas).
Orman was a 2014 non-affiliated candidate who sought election to the U.S. Senate from Kansas.[1] Orman previously ran as a Democratic candidate against Pat Roberts in January 2008 before withdrawing in February 2008.[2]
Biography
Orman graduated from Princeton University in 1991 with an economics degree. He then worked for the McKinsey & Company consulting firm until 1994, when he left to run Environmental Lighting Concepts (ELC). He later sold most of the company to Kansas City Power & Light and managed KCP&L's energy services operation. Orman founded Denali Partners, LLC, in 2004 and has worked with it since.[3]
Elections
2018
General election
General election for Governor of Kansas
Laura Kelly defeated Kris Kobach, Greg Orman, Jeff Caldwell, and Rick Kloos in the general election for Governor of Kansas on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Laura Kelly (D) | 48.0 | 506,727 |
 | Kris Kobach (R) | 43.0 | 453,645 | |
 | Greg Orman (Independent) | 6.5 | 68,590 | |
 | Jeff Caldwell (L) | 1.9 | 20,020 | |
 | Rick Kloos (Independent) | 0.6 | 6,584 | |
| Total votes: 1,055,566 | |||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Andrea Costley (Independent)
- Aaron Coleman (Independent)
- JoeLarry Hunter (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Kansas
Laura Kelly defeated Carl Brewer, Joshua Svaty, Arden Andersen, and Jack Bergeson in the Democratic primary for Governor of Kansas on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Laura Kelly | 51.4 | 80,377 |
 | Carl Brewer | 20.2 | 31,493 | |
 | Joshua Svaty | 17.5 | 27,292 | |
 | Arden Andersen | 8.4 | 13,161 | |
| Jack Bergeson | 2.5 | 3,950 | ||
| Total votes: 156,273 | |||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Michael Tabman (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Kansas
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Kansas on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kris Kobach | 40.6 | 128,832 |
 | Jeff Colyer | 40.5 | 128,489 | |
 | Jim Barnett | 8.8 | 27,994 | |
 | Ken Selzer | 7.8 | 24,804 | |
 | Patrick Kucera | 1.0 | 3,212 | |
| Tyler Ruzich | 0.7 | 2,275 | ||
| Joseph Tutera Jr. | 0.5 | 1,559 | ||
| Total votes: 317,165 | |||
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2014
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Pat Roberts Incumbent |
53.1% | 460,350 | |
| Independent | Greg Orman | 42.5% | 368,372 | |
| Libertarian | Randall Batson | 4.3% | 37,469 | |
| Total Votes | 866,191 | |||
| Source: Kansas Secretary of State Official Results | ||||
Campaign themes
2018
Campaign website
Orman's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Making Government Work For The People Again Greg will leave behind the political animosity and partisan gridlock that has been holding us back for far too long. We need to focus on the right things—the things that will move the needle in making life better for all Kansans—and work on them in the right way to spur the innovation required to create better outcomes and lasting results. In order to do this, he will focus on fair elections with full transparency, a common sense approach to governing, and a culture of involvement, innovation, and problem-solving. Greg’s promise to the people of Kansas is that the Governor’s office will no longer be walled off from the public—it will no longer only be open to people who agree with the Governor, but will actively work to involve all Kansans. Greg will institute office hours and expand citizen advocates while ensuring equal representation of women on Governor-appointed boards. In fact, he will make all appointments merit-based with individuals of any political stripe who are committed to transparency and collaboration. In an effort to increase transparency in the legislative process, Greg will end the process of introducing bills anonymously—Kansans deserve to know who’s introducing legislation so that they can examine the motives behind a bill: Greg won’t sign any bill placed on his desk that doesn’t have an author attached. There will also be increased transparency in legislative committees and agency proceedings, all major votes in all committees will be recorded, and committee meetings will be available online, especially when public testimony is being offered. Additionally, Greg will propose legislation to prohibit lawmakers, appointed officials and senior staff members from registering as a lobbyist for three years after leaving office. Public service shouldn’t be a stepping stone to a high-paying career lobbying your former colleagues. This prohibition will apply fully to the senior level appointees in his administration. Greg will end the practice of lobbyists contributing to or bundling contributions to give to lawmakers. Lobbyists can provide helpful insight, but they shouldn’t be able to buy votes with campaign contributions. One of Orman’s signature issues is openness in government. He said he plans to make Kansas government “the most transparent, effective, and accountable government in the nation.” Voter Rights Our goal should be to encourage as many Kansans as possible to participate in our elections, which is the lifeblood of our democracy. But we also want to ensure the integrity of our election process so that only those eligible to vote do so. When Greg ran for the United States Senate in 2014, the response to the campaign was to try to modify the laws to make it more difficult for Independents to run and win. Instead of looking inward and saying, “how do we do more to earn the votes of Kansans," partisans were saying, “how do we rig the rules to avoid accountability." And they’re at it again in 2018! Greg supports same-day voter registration to encourage more eligible Kansas voters to go to the polls. Any candidate who believes in her or his message, qualifications, and intentions should want as many people voting as possible. The voter ID law that was used by the Kansas secretary of state to suppress votes was supported by the vast majority of our legislature, including other gubernatorial candidates; and both major parties have been using tactics for decades to try rig elections for their advantage so that they can avoid true accountability to voters. This is not acceptable–the right to vote is a pillar of American democracy. Any suppression cannot be tolerated. Economic Development It’s the government’s responsibility to create an environment that’s conducive to private sector growth. In order to do so, Kansas needs a proactive economic development strategy that leverages our state’s strengths–geographic location, wind and solar resources, leadership in agriculture–and addresses regional obstacles to growth, while ensuring that corporate, educational and state resources are fully aligned and creating opportunities for Kansas and its citizens. Developing the state’s workforce is vital to the success of our economy and protecting our quality of life—and we need to focus on all issues keeping parts of the population from being fully engaged in the economy. This will include initiatives such creating better pathways to technical education, including loan funds for certificate programs and support for public/private partnerships in technical education, as well as building a coordinated program to encourage military personnel who serve in Kansas to stay in Kansas. Finally, Greg will work hard make sure the nation sees the true Kansas—a leader, a state that is welcoming to all, and a place where our children are inspired to build their lives. Budget Greg believes that managing the budget responsibility goes far beyond the simplistic argument that has been focused on how much or how little to spend. The real challenge is balancing the budget in a way that doesn’t mortgage the future to pay for the present. We need to make smart decisions that make the government more efficient and effective. This means evaluating programs through the lens of outcomes and making sure we are measuring results—if something works, we should scale it, and if not, we should move to test something else. The core metric needs to be job creation and the quality of those jobs. Greg will focus on results for the people of Kansas, results that are sustainable in the context of a changing world where competitive benchmarks are rising daily. He will invest in and reshape our economic engines, creating high-quality jobs that allow our state the freedom to invest in critical resources that preserve our way of life. Taxes The plan led to significant increases in property taxes as the burden to provide services and resources shifted from Topeka to local governments. Many Kansans have told Greg that they are being priced out of their homes as a result of the Brownback tax plan. Farmers feel equally burdened with rising property taxes and lower incomes. The tax plan was patently unfair. That’s why Greg led and supported the efforts of Save Kansas Coalition—including initiatives like Mainstream Coalition, Reroute the Roadmap, and Women for Kansas—which was instrumental in reclaiming Kansas from further damage. As Governor, Greg would oppose efforts to rewrite the law pursued toward the end of last legislative session. (This law would redirect additional revenues as a result of federal income tax changes from the state to individuals, largely favoring the wealthiest.) Greg believes we should maintain a stable tax policy until we fully understand the financial impact of repealing the Brownback tax plan and have addressed the funding needs of a number of our agencies that have been starved for resources the past several years. Greg Orman on Brownback’s legacy: “He will be most remembered for his failed tax policy.” Renewable Energy We have abundant wind and solar resources. We are currently the fifth leading producer of wind energy in the country, but given our wind resources we could be second only to Texas if we fully leveraged those resources. Likewise, we have abundant sunshine in Western Kansas. Fully developing these resources, however, will require us to expand markets for renewable electricity. Currently, we have excess renewable power due to the intermittency of wind energy and its location relative to where we demand electricity. The net result of this has been higher energy costs as we continue to pay for renewable energy capacity that isn’t fully utilized. So, the key to optimizing the economic opportunities associated with these resources is to build more demand for it. To foster this increase in demand, Greg will evaluate creating an interconnect between Kansas and Mountain West to allow us to export renewable energy into Colorado; he will give our electric utilities the freedom to enter into renewable only electric tariffs with their customers; and he will evaluate the creation of massive electric semi recharging stations to reinforce our leadership in transportation and logistics and create demand for off-peak wind energy. With clean energy, Doll added that southwest Kansas would need to be ahead of the game and be innovative and open up markets. Transportation To leverage this geographical strength, Greg will look to add $80 million a year to our infrastructure spending over the next four years. His priorities will include the full expansion of I-69 to 4 lanes and, in southwest Kansas, Hwy 54, 400, and 81 expansion. The state should target funding to regions willing to enter into local regulatory compacts to streamline the permitting process. Kansas has seen the impacts of a state highway fund depleted to pay for the failed Brownback tax plan. Repairs to key infrastructure have been ignored, and new transportation projects that would drive economic expansion have been put on hold. Funding should be protected. Additionally, we should enter into local regulatory compacts to streamline the permitting and regulatory processes at the local level; and we will establish job functions within the Department of Commerce to specifically recruit internet and manufacturing companies that will clearly benefit from the geographic centrality of Kansas and the other advantages described above. Orman says to build Great Bend and the rest of Kansas, the state needs to focus on its major strength—distribution Industrial Hemp Industrial hemp uses half the water of wheat, producing significantly more profit per acre, and has thousands of uses including the production of paper, textiles, and construction materials. Senator John Doll has been a leading advocate for giving farmers the freedom to farm industrial hemp. As federal law evolves to allow for the commercial production of hemp, Kansas needs to be a leader in creating tools that allow us to quickly capitalize on this opportunity: production facilities for hemp-based products will be built to accommodate this anticipated change in federal law—Greg wants to ensure that many of those facilities get built in Kansas. Education Greg will work hard to ensure that local communities, boards and educators are able to focus on increased student performance and closing achievement gaps rather than on the constant fear of funding cuts or how to create an eleventh-hour budget. Greg will treat the education interests of Kansas families, children, and communities as a public good of the greatest value. Because we invest in public education, Kansas will be the place where future generations chose to live, work and raise their families. Greg will embrace innovation across the system, creating an outcome-based innovation model while establishing a culture that identifies best practices within and outside the state and shares them broadly with teachers who are, in turn, recognized for these innovations—he will focus on opportunities to improve outcomes and productivity through the use of technology. Preparing students for a career in Kansas will be our most critical task. Greg will work hard to give all children the necessary skill set for a competitive world—including career and technical education. Additionally, keeping education talent in Kansas is crucial—but the state is experiencing difficulty in recruiting teachers given low pay levels in Kansas where average teacher pay is $41k per year versus a national average of $58k. Greg will provide competitive salaries and benefits and ensure that KPERS has the resources to honor its current and future obligations. And Greg will support the state's outstanding teachers' colleges by working to reduce the shortage of STEM, special education and specialty discipline educators with student loan forgiveness programs to reward those teachers who choose to work in the schools of greatest need. Finally, Greg will ensure that our schools are safe by working with the Kansas Department of Education as the agency to serve as clearinghouse for safety, security best practices and resources; additionally, we will foster coordination between the education community, law enforcement and social services in identifying and abating risks. Orman said improving K-12 education requires innovative solutions, which he would rather focus on than considering any constitutional amendment Q&A: Independent candidate for Kansas governor Greg Orman discusses student issues, policy, Brownback School Finance Reform The Courts have often cautioned–and again as recently as June 25–against allowing local option budgets from getting too large to maintain equalization. From what we have observed, we are not certain all legislators fully understand property tax equity. Some appear not to know that a mill is not a mill in different locations across our state. One mill in the richest school district might buy a jumbo jet, while one mill in the poorest district might afford an annual subscription to Scientific American. While an exaggeration, it illustrates the issue that could again get the legislature crosswise with the Constitution if we do not work to maintain a fine balance. Greg will remain vigilant and respect the court’s caution. Tensions rising around school funding Local Control of Public Education Public Tax Credits for Private Education Kansas, as reflected in its Constitution, has always valued education as a necessary public good. The tax credits are a work-around to rob the public good for a few. This kind of logic could lead someone to ask for a property tax credit from the municipal park system to pay for a private club membership. A contribution to a private school scholarship fund is an act of charity and generosity; as such, donors should receive a charitable gift deduction. Healthcare Greg Orman believes that we must prioritize addressing care gaps in Kansas—there are roughly 240,000 Kansans who aren’t covered by health insurance. Regardless of the reason, coverage gaps lead to higher system wide costs as patients get care in the wrong place (the ER) for the wrong reason (chronic conditions) at the wrong time (too late). If we address these care gaps, we can improve the health of Kansans, improve our economy, and help people live fruitful, productive lives in Kansas. Greg will also give responsible Medicaid expansion the full support of the Governor’s office. Without Medicaid expansion, we send a terrible message to hard working Kansans who don’t make a lot of money: we tell them if they get sick, they should quit their job—that’s the wrong message. We need to be building pathways so that people can improve their lives and contribute more, not throw up obstacles. A $12 an hour job in Kansas without health insurance is much less desirable than a $12 an hour job in one of the 33 states that have expanded Medicaid. As Greg has traveled the state and spoken to the administrators at many of the regional hospitals, it has become clear that the state’s healthcare infrastructure in the state is on the brink of failing financially. Medicaid expansion would help shore up our healthcare infrastructure that so many Kansans rely on for care. We can expand Medicaid in a responsible way and ensure some level of patient participation in the costs as their incomes rise. This will also allow us move to a population health approach that keeps people healthy instead of simply taking care of them when they’re sick. The net result should be significantly expanded coverage with very little cost to the state of Kansas. Greg will veto any efforts to take away Medicare from Kansans. “I think we send a terrible message to those that are working but not making high incomes in Kansas, and that’s, ‘If you get sick, quit your job, because it may be the only way you can afford health care,’ ” Orman said. Women's Health We cannot abandon women. These are tough choices that are not made lightly. We need to help them through, either way. This is an issue where partisanship tends to mask the common ground that exists. All sides on this issue would like to see fewer abortions. The question is how do we get there. In order to reduce the number of abortions we need to look at the root causes. And the root causes are access to contraception, economic issues and education. In Colorado, young people who came into family planning clinics were given the option of long run contraception; as a result, they saw the abortion rate over five years decline by 35% among that group of people. Greg understands this is a big issue for a lot of people—and he understands that a lot of people who are pro-life come to that position out of a place of love and caring and faith—especially where state funding of non-abortion services at Planned Parenthood is concerned; but he also knows we are not going to reduce the number of abortions by making it more difficult for women to get contraceptives and health care services. All of Kansas Unfortunately, rural Kansas has struggled in recent years as the agricultural landscape has evolved and as an increasing number of Kansans have migrated to urban areas or out of state. This migration is threatening the financial stability of rural areas as it becomes increasingly difficult to sustain basic services as population levels drop. These problems will not be solved by merely defaulting to the typical political “fixes” of tax cuts and subsidies which are very blunt instruments. Rural Kansas needs—and deserves—greater focus in supporting it in building its economy. Luckily, rural Kansas has numerous assets that it can use to build its economy through growing current industries and creating new industries. Doing this will support rural Kansans with jobs and will help pay for the basic infrastructure needed to support their quality of life. In addition, we must also innovate to improve the delivery of basic services and housing for rural Kansans that will be required to retain and attract workers to rural Kansas. Rural Kansas has the opportunity to participate in our changing economy and to prosper while also maintaining the quality of life and values that make it unique. For Kansas to succeed, rural Kansas must succeed He will also ensure that the digital and innovation infrastructure is in place to support new industries, enabling rural Kansas to become a hub for digitally based companies. The digital economy offers a unique opportunity for rural Kansas since it opens the door for work to be performed remotely. We need to ensure that we are fully equipped to take advantage of this opportunity and encourage new businesses in these areas. Additionally, he will leverage our natural advantages in wind and solar. Kansas has the opportunity to leverage its resources to lead in solar and wind. To achieve this, we need to focus on enabling our supply of solar and wind both from a generation and a transmission and distribution standpoint and explore opportunities to spur demand of this power. Finally, he will ensure that the social infrastructure is in place to support rural Kansas. If we cannot sustain and improve the quality of life in rural Kansas, then we will not have the workforce needed to capture the economic development opportunities that it has before it. We need to create solutions in a number of areas ranging from solving the rural housing gap to explore using new technologies to support the efficient delivery of basic services such as education and healthcare. By doing this, we can ensure that rural Kansas never has to forego opportunities for lack of talent to pursue them. Second Amendment Greg would work to strengthen our background check system. As the NRA has suggested, plugging the holes in our mental health and law enforcement reporting systems would be a good start. That would be in vain, however, if the same person could simply buy a weapon in a private transaction without a background check. As a gun owner, Greg passed a background check—it’s a simple process, takes a few minutes, and didn’t impede his second amendment rights. The people who are denied gun ownership because of a background check have generally either been judged to be mentally ill, convicted of a crime and sentenced to more than a year in prison, dishonorably discharged from the military, or subject to a domestic abuse restraining order. Greg believes that we need to re-institute training for individuals that want a concealed carry permit in Kansas. Firearm safety is an important issue to gun owners and non-gun owners alike. The idea that someone can a carry a concealed weapon without a minutes training in Kansas is a clear example of legislators putting politics ahead of public safety. Finally, Greg would consider raising the age for purchases of military-style semi-automatic rifles to 21 and require additional screening for such purchases; he would also work to stop the sale of bump stocks, high-capacity magazines and any other accessory that allows legal firearms to be easily converted into weapons of mass murder. Medical Cannabis This is a humanitarian issue. We shouldn't have people at their most vulnerable feeling like criminals. We shouldn't have people treating the effects of chemotherapy feeling like they're breaking the law. Medical cannabis has been proven effective in treating the symptoms from conditions such as cancer, epilepsy, and arthritis, as well as pain management. Greg will give providers authorized to prescribe Schedule II narcotics the freedom to prescribe marijuana as a tool to fight opioid dependence. Greg would also call for the passage of the Kansas Safe Access Act to allow Kansans to use legally prescribed medical marijuana. States that allow physicians to prescribe medical cannabis as part of pain-management protocols—and allow citizens to use it—see statistically lower rates of opioid use disorder.[4] |
” |
| —Orman for Kansas[5] | ||
2014
Orman's campaign website listed the following issues:[6]
| “ |
|
” |
| —Greg Orman's campaign website, http://www.ormanforsenate.com/issues | ||
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Orman and his wife, Sybil, live in Olathe.[3]
See also
| Kansas | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
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- Governor of Kansas
- Kansas gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018
- United States Senate elections, 2014
- United States Senate elections in Kansas, 2014
- United States Senate
External links
- Social media:
- Summary, biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Profile at Wikipedia
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
Footnotes
- ↑ Anchorage Daily News, "Kansas independent to run for US Senate," accessed June 3, 2014
- ↑ Miami Herald, "Kansas independent to run for US Senate," accessed June 5, 2014 (dead link)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Campaign website, "About Greg," accessed September 4, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Orman for Kansas, "Issues," accessed September 18, 2018
- ↑ Campaign website, "Issues," accessed August 6, 2014
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