Barbara Bollier

From 2010 to 2012 Bollier represented the 25th district in the Kansas House of Representatives, and from 2013 to 2017, she represented the 21st House district.[1][2] She was a member of the Republican Party during her tenure in the state House.

In May 2016, Bollier ran for the Kansas Senate 7th district, following Kansas Senator Kay Wolf's retirement announcement.[3] She won that seat over Democrat Megan England 54.3% or 22,439 votes, to 45.6% or 18,884 votes.[4]

In July 2018, Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle removed Bollier as the Vice Chair of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee after she endorsed Democrat Tom Niermann's campaign for Congress.[5]

Bollier changed her party affiliation to the Democratic Party on December 12, 2018, saying: "Morally, the party is not going where my compass resides. I'm looking forward to being in a party that represents the ideals that I do, including Medicaid expansion and funding our K–12 schools."[6] Bollier said that the "breaking point" had been the Kansas Republican Party's inclusion of anti-transgender language in its platform. Bollier had supported the Democratic candidate for governor, state Senator Laura Kelly, over the Republican candidate, Secretary of State Kris Kobach. (Kelly was ultimately elected.)[7][8] Two other Kansas legislators, state Representative Stephanie Clayton and state Senator Dinah Sykes, also switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party in December 2018.[9]

On October 16, 2019, Bollier announced that she would run in the 2020 election for the United States Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Pat Roberts.[10] The next day, former United States Attorney for Kansas Barry Grissom dropped out of the race and endorsed Bollier.[11] Bollier's senate candidacy was endorsed by former Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Overland Park's Representative Stephanie Clayton, who became a Democrat simultaneously with Bollier, said the Kansas Republican Party hasn't got anyone possessing equivalent sway as has Sebelius, given the stark divisions between that party's moderates and conservatives. Clayton commented, "When she talks, people listen. And that's that." The Sebelius endorsement came after Grissom withdrew from the race, despite having raised almost half a million dollars in contributions during the previous quarter. His departure left Bollier as the party's clear frontrunner in the primary.[12] Sebelius referenced Bollier's history of almost a decade of consistent support for fully funding schools, Medicaid Expansion, and the repeal of former governor Sam Brownback's "devastating tax experiment".[13]