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Lower Plains: Kansas, Nebraska

standards. Later, it voted to require science teachers to spend an equal amount of time teaching both the the- ory of evolution as well as “intelligent design,” a pseudo-scientific theory that an intelligent being (God) created all things and guided evolution. Although both of these decisions were reversed, they reinforced Kansas’s reputation for being more politically conservative than much of the nation. The Economy Historically, farming has been Kansas’s biggest industry. Currently, however, other industries play a larger role in the state’s overall economy. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Kansas’s gross domestic product (GDP) was $144.1 billion in 2013. The finance, government, and service industries accounted for the biggest share of that. Kansas also has a robust manufac- turing industry. More than half of the nation’s general aviation airplanes are manufactured here. Cessna, a major producer of business jets, is headquar- tered in Wichita.

Kathleen Sebelius was the second woman elected governor of Kansas, serving in that post from 2003 to 2009. She then took a cabinet position under President Barack Obama as Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014.

four-year terms: the governor, lieu- tenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, and insurance commissioner. The governor appoints the Kansas Supreme Court’s seven justices. In addition to its two U.S. sena- tors, Kansas sends four U.S. represen- tatives to Congress. Republicans have dominated both local and national pol- itics throughout its history. As of 2014, Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate for over 80 years. In the early 2000s, Kansas’s State Board of Education made headlines twice for controversial rulings on evo- lution. First, the Board voted to elimi- nate evolution from state curriculum