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Mark Samsel (Kansas)
Mark Samsel (Republican Party) was a member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing District 5. He assumed office in 2019. He left office on January 9, 2023.
Samsel (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Kansas House of Representatives to represent District 5. He lost in the Republican primary on August 2, 2022.
Biography
Mark Samsel was born in Wellsville, Kansas. He graduated from Wellsville High School. Samsel earned a degree in political science, public administration, and business administration from Missouri Valley College and earned a law degree from the University of Kansas Law School in 2010. Samsel's career experience includes working as an attorney with Lathrop & Gage. He volunteered with the Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2021-2022
Samsel was assigned to the following committees:
- Special Claims Against the State Committee
- House Education Committee
- Energy, Utilities, and Telecommunications Committee
- Financial Institutions and Rural Development Committee (decommissioned)
- House Judiciary Committee
2019-2020
Samsel was assigned to the following committees:
- Special Claims Against the State Committee
- House Judiciary Committee
- House Education Committee
- Energy, Utilities, and Telecommunications Committee
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2022
See also: Kansas House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Kansas House of Representatives District 5
Carrie Barth won election in the general election for Kansas House of Representatives District 5 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Carrie Barth (R) | 100.0 | 7,085 |
| Total votes: 7,085 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 5
Carrie Barth defeated incumbent Mark Samsel in the Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 5 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Carrie Barth | 63.5 | 2,810 |
 | Mark Samsel | 36.5 | 1,618 | |
| Total votes: 4,428 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2020
See also: Kansas House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Kansas House of Representatives District 5
Incumbent Mark Samsel defeated Roger Sims in the general election for Kansas House of Representatives District 5 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Samsel (R) | 77.3 | 8,061 |
 | Roger Sims (D) | 22.7 | 2,362 | |
| Total votes: 10,423 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 5
Roger Sims advanced from the Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 5 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Roger Sims | 100.0 | 870 |
| Total votes: 870 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 5
Incumbent Mark Samsel defeated Mark Powls in the Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 5 on August 4, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Samsel | 60.2 | 2,181 |
 | Mark Powls | 39.8 | 1,442 | |
| Total votes: 3,623 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
See also: Kansas House of Representatives elections, 2018
General election
General election for Kansas House of Representatives District 5
Mark Samsel defeated Lassey Murphy in the general election for Kansas House of Representatives District 5 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Samsel (R) | 72.8 | 5,683 |
| Lassey Murphy (D) | 27.2 | 2,120 | ||
| Total votes: 7,803 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 5
Lassey Murphy advanced from the Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 5 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Lassey Murphy | 100.0 | 833 | |
| Total votes: 833 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 5
Mark Samsel defeated Renee Slinkard in the Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 5 on August 7, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Samsel | 53.4 | 1,454 |
| Renee Slinkard | 46.6 | 1,267 | ||
| Total votes: 2,721 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Mark Samsel did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Mark Samsel did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Noteworthy events
Charge of misdemeanor battery (2021)
Samsel was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery on April 29, 2021. He is accused of alleged battery against a student while serving as a substitute teacher at Wellsville Unified School District 289.[2] According to a now-deleted Facebook post, Samsel said, "I’m doing my best folks, and I am genuinely sorry for any pain or confusion this may cause anyone. But I will put my hand on the Bible right now and swear that I didn’t do anything wrong...Those kids are the LAST people on the planet I would ever do anything to intentionally hurt. I’ve known most of them for years, some for over a decade."[3]
Samsel pleaded not guilty and appeared in court on July 12, 2021.[4] His lawyers sought a plea deal in August 2021. The court accepted the plea deal and sentenced Samsel to 30 days for each of the three counts of misdemeanor battery, which Samsel pleaded guilty to on September 13, 2021. He was also sentenced to 12 months of probation. The balance on the total 90-day jail sentence was suspended because of time already served.[5][6][7]
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Kansas scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2022
In 2022, the Kansas State Legislature was in session from January 10 to May 23.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on a variety of issues of interest to the organization.
- Legislators are scored on their support for bills that the organization lists as promoting "individual liberty, limited government, free markets and student-focused education."
- Legislators are scored by the MainStream Coalition on whether they voted with the moderate position on selected bills.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Kansas State Legislature was in session from January 11 to May 26.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Kansas State Legislature was in session from January 13 to May 21. A special session convened from June 3 to June 4.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Kansas State Legislature was in session from January 14 through May 29.
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See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Mark Samsel State Representative, "Meet Mark Samsel," accessed February 18, 2020
- ↑ The Topeka Capital-Journal, "Kansas Rep. Mark Samsel charged with battery in school-related incident," April 30, 2021
- ↑ The Kansas City Star, "‘A troubled man’: Kansas Senate leader decries Rep. Mark Samsel’s ‘deranged rantings’," May 2, 2021
- ↑ KMBC News, "Deputy: Student says Kansas House member Mark Samsel kicked him in testicles," May 25, 2021
- ↑ KSNT, "Kansas Rep. Mark Samsel makes second appearance in court after battery charges filed, trial continued to August," July 12, 2021
- ↑ 41 KSHB, "Kansas State Rep. Mark Samsel seeks plea in battery case," August 16, 2021
- ↑ KSN, "Kansas Rep. Mark Samsel pleads guilty to 3 counts of disorderly conduct," September 13, 2021
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Kansas House of Representatives District 5 2019-2023 |
Succeeded by Carrie Barth (R) |
