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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
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.
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Lower Plains: Kansas, Nebraska
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.