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Michael Capps

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Michael Capps
Image of Michael Capps
Prior offices
Kansas House of Representatives District 85
Successor: Patrick Penn

Elections and appointments
Last election

August 4, 2020

Education

Associate

Community College of the Air Force

Bachelor's

Capella University

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Air Force

Years of service

2000 - 2002

Contact

Michael Capps (Republican Party) was a member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing District 85. He assumed office on July 28, 2018. He left office on January 11, 2021.

Capps (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Kansas House of Representatives to represent District 85. He lost in the Republican primary on August 4, 2020.

Capps was appointed to the seat in July 2018 to replace Chuck Weber.[1]

Capps was an unsuccessful 2016 Republican candidate for District 95 of the Kansas House of Representatives.

Capps was a candidate for District 4 representative on the Wichita Public Schools Board of Education in Kansas. He was defeated in the general election on April 7, 2015. He participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Capps' professional experience includes serving as the president and CEO of Integrated Technologies of Kansas (itKansas). He was previously the CTO of Frontier Technologies Inc., the senior systems engineer at Results Technology Inc. and an informational technology and communications supervisor for KBR.[2]

Before holding those positions, Capps was an airborne communications specialist in the United States Air Force from 2000 to 2002. At the same time, he attended the Community College of the Air Force. He earned his B.S. in business administration from Western Governors University in 2007.[2] Capps has a son who attends district schools.[3]

Committee assignments

2019-2020

Capps was assigned to the following committees:


Elections

2020

See also: Kansas House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Kansas House of Representatives District 85

Patrick Penn defeated Marcey Gregory in the general election for Kansas House of Representatives District 85 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patrick Penn
Patrick Penn (R)
 
59.9
 
8,411
Marcey Gregory (D)
 
40.1
 
5,624

Total votes: 14,035
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 85

Marcey Gregory advanced from the Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 85 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Marcey Gregory
 
100.0
 
1,607

Total votes: 1,607
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 85

Patrick Penn defeated incumbent Michael Capps in the Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 85 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patrick Penn
Patrick Penn
 
74.4
 
3,349
Image of Michael Capps
Michael Capps
 
25.6
 
1,153

Total votes: 4,502
Candidate Connection = 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.

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2018

See also: Kansas House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

Incumbent Michael Capps defeated Monica Marks in the general election for Kansas House of Representatives District 85 on November 6, 2018.

General election

General election for Kansas House of Representatives District 85

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Michael Capps
Michael Capps (R)
 
54.0
 
5,659
Monica Marks (D)
 
46.0
 
4,824

Total votes: 10,483
Candidate Connection = 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

Monica Marks advanced from the Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 85 on August 7, 2018.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 85

Candidate
%
Votes
Monica Marks
 
100.0
 
1,245

Total votes: 1,245
Candidate Connection = 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

Incumbent Michael Capps advanced from the Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 85 on August 7, 2018.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 85

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Michael Capps
Michael Capps
 
100.0
 
2,759

Total votes: 2,759
Candidate Connection = 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.

2016

See also: Kansas House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Kansas House of Representatives were held in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2016.

Incumbent Tom Sawyer defeated Michael Capps in the Kansas House of Representatives District 95 general election.[4][5]

Kansas House of Representatives, District 95 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Tom Sawyer Incumbent 54.42% 3,108
     Republican Michael Capps 45.58% 2,603
Total Votes 5,711
Source: Kansas Secretary of State


Incumbent Tom Sawyer ran unopposed in the Kansas House of Representatives District 95 Democratic primary.[6][7]

Kansas House of Representatives, District 95 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Tom Sawyer Incumbent (unopposed)


Michael Capps ran unopposed in the Kansas House of Representatives District 95 Republican primary.[6][7]

Kansas House of Representatives, District 95 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Michael Capps  (unopposed)

2015

See also: Wichita Public Schools elections (2015)

Three seats on the board of education were up for election on April 7, 2015. District 3 incumbent Barbara Fuller was the only incumbent running unopposed. At-large incumbent Sheril Logan faced challenger Michael Capps. District 4 incumbent Jeffery Davis faced challenger Joshua Blick. Davis unofficially withdrew from the District 4 race after the deadline to remove his name from the ballot. Despite this, Davis still won the election, as did fellow incumbents Logan and Fuller.[8]

Results

Wichita Public Schools,
At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngSheril Logan Incumbent 63.2% 15,876
     Nonpartisan Michael Capps 36.2% 9,096
     Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.6% 143
Total Votes 25,115
Source: Sedgwick County, "April 7th, 2015 General Election: Official Results," April 13, 2015

Funding

Capps reported $4,488.05 in contributions and $3,480.99 in expenditures to the Sedgwick County Election Office, which left his campaign with $1,007.06 in cash on hand in this election. He also made a $500 loan to his campaign.[9]

Endorsements

Capps had not received any official endorsements in this election as of January 28, 2015.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Michael Capps did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2015

Ballotpedia survey responses

Candidate Connection Logo - stacked.png

Capps participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

Succeed with what we have. Kansas legislature continues to debate the funding of our public schools. For years, our district has continued to argue how it cannot function without more money. However, year after year, the district does continue to function and continues to create successful students. It is time to stop complaining about funding, and get to the business of growing our district, with the resources we have been given. It is time to think outside the box and look to our community, to our educators for ideas, suggestions and methods to creating new pockets of success. The time has arrived to begin taking care of our staff, in training and pay, without using the budget as a scscape-goat to doing nothing. The time has arrived to succeed with what we have.[10]
—Michael Capps (2015)[11]
Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important:

Education policy
Education Policy Logo on Ballotpedia.png

Click here to learn more about education policy in Kansas.
Education on the ballot
Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking Issue
1
Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
2
Expanding career-technical education
3
Improving college readiness
4
Closing the achievement gap
5
Expanding school choice options
6
Improving education for special needs students
7
Expanding arts education
Positions on the issues

The candidate was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:

Question Response
What is your stance on implementing Common Core standards?
"Common core, as a best practice, should be left to individual districts to be evaluated and implemented. Districts should be evaluated based on a common set of outcomes, not on the methods for the outcomes."
Should your district approve the creation of new charter schools?
"Charter schools should be considered and evaluated on a case by case basis, based on both near-term and long-term needs of the community."
Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system?
"The decision by the state whether to provide vouchers or not, is a legislative issue. However, proper consideration should be given to citizens and taxpayers who are benefiting and non-benefiting, both directly and indirectly from the district."
Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement?
"Standardized tests are a component of evaluating student achievement, combined with numerous others metrics to determine any overall assessment of achievement."
How can the district ensure equal opportunities for high and low achieving students?
"By utilizing Response to Intervention and Multi-tiered Support Services, the district leadership, specifically classroom educators, can tactically assess student achievement in a given area and insure additional resources, or interventions, can be attributed on a student by student basis, insuring adequate resource allocation to provide every student, regardless of high, low or on-standard achievement and instruction. The MTSS insures enrichment, intervention and overall student achievement goals with a systematic review process."
How should expulsion be used in the district?
"Expulsion cases must be viewed on a case-by-case basis rather than the district having an overarching policy."
If a school is failing in your district, what steps should the school board take to help the students in that school?
"First step, tactically, to minimize negative impact on students in failing schools is to acknowledge and communicate with the community and more importantly the parents of the situation and provide alternative educational facilities, should a parent wish to make a change.

More importantly is to have standards in place, with well established and defined measurements of success/failure to identify underperforming schools in advance of exposing the student population to subpar educational experience. Active engagement with administrators to insure proper student and faculty evaluations and assessments are performed and reported is critical to insuring overall school success."

Do you support merit pay for teachers?
"Merit pay, by definition, differs from one interpretation to another. I believe our most highly effective teachers, and those progressing towards such a status, should be properly rewarded and retained in an effort to recognize their performance, but also insure our students are receiving the absolute best education possible. In order for a merit pay system to be effective, the criteria for such merit must be clearly defined, achievable and measurable. Test scores should only be one component of the overall evaluation process, which should encompass the entire teacher, not just the student outcomes through testing."
How should the district handle underperforming teachers?
"A combination of all recommendations must be part of the overall evaluation process, which should be used to identify highly effective, underperforming as well as those teachers meeting the standards. Through a combination of mentorships, additional training and structured improvement plans, underperforming teachers can be developed into effective and highly effective educators. In the rare instances where a teacher is not suitable for the classroom duties, consideration should be made to terminate the contract, but only after due process, in exception of extreme situations (gross negligence, student endangerment, etc)"
How would you work to improve community-school board relations?
"USD 259 is perceived as being out of touch with the community. This is often due to the ever increasing budget requests, taxes, poorly executed bond initiatives and direct community engagement. Repairing the community perception of the school board starts by listening and engaging, without an agenda. This can be done with regular town-hall style engagements with parents, business leaders and community members. Currently such engagement occurs once a year and is found to be ineffective in its current design. Through regular, consistent town-hall meetings, the public can begin to find a channel to communicate concerns, experiences and needs allowing the school board to be responsive to the needs of the community it is serving vs making decisions without adequate input from stakeholders. Similarly, internal town-hall style meetings need to be generated on a regular basis with various internet stakeholders to the overall education process, but classified, certified and administrators, at all levels."

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Kansas

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.






2020

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.

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor issues.
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 conservative issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.


2019


2018





See also



External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
Chuck Weber (R)
Kansas House of Representatives District 85
2018-2021
Succeeded by
Patrick Penn (R)


Current members of the Kansas House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Daniel Hawkins
Majority Leader:Chris Croft
Minority Leader:Brandon Woodard
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
Ron Bryce (R)
District 12
Doug Blex (R)
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
Rui Xu (D)
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
Vacant
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
Mike Amyx (D)
District 46
District 47
District 48
Dan Osman (D)
District 49
District 50
District 51
District 52
District 53
District 54
District 55
District 56
District 57
District 58
District 59
District 60
District 61
District 62
District 63
District 64
District 65
District 66
District 67
District 68
District 69
District 70
District 71
District 72
District 73
District 74
Mike King (R)
District 75
District 76
District 77
District 78
District 79
District 80
District 81
District 82
District 83
District 84
Ford Carr (D)
District 85
District 86
District 87
District 88
District 89
District 90
District 91
District 92
District 93
District 94
District 95
District 96
District 97
District 98
District 99
District 100
District 101
District 102
District 103
District 104
District 105
Jill Ward (R)
District 106
District 107
Dawn Wolf (R)
District 108
District 109
District 110
District 111
District 112
District 113
District 114
District 115
District 116
District 117
Adam Turk (R)
District 118
District 119
District 120
District 121
District 122
District 123
Bob Lewis (R)
District 124
District 125
Republican Party (87)
Democratic Party (37)
Vacancies (1)