Becoming, or remaining, a servant dedicated to the people of Kansas apparently requires much money and attracts a suspect amount of attention from those who have it.



Ahead of the August primary election, companies, unions, individuals, political action committees and others donated more than $1.5 million toward Kansas House and Senate races. In the statewide races for governor, secretary of state, insurance commissioner, attorney general, and treasurer, donors coughed up just shy of $3 million in campaign contributions. Add in the nearly $12 million raised in the state�s competitive U.S. congressional races, and that means roughly $16.5 million was raised in Kansas to make sure the �right� public servant ends up in Topeka or Washington, D.C.



One donor � Cecil O�Brate of Garden City � seemingly financed alone the opposition to U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp by donating a quarter of a million dollars to a PAC aimed at unseating the congressman.



And that�s only the money that�s required to be reported. Plenty more is spent, yet its origin never sees the light of day.



Based on the numbers, making sure the right person is in place to do the right thing seemingly takes an awful lot of money. So let�s play a game to see how that money could have been put to better use.



In 2012, approximately 135,000 children in Kansas were living below the poverty level. Surely money spent on campaigns could be better spent getting these kids on a track out of poverty. The Kansas Arts Commission, eliminated in 2012 because it cost $700,000 each year in the state budget, could be paid for at that level for nearly 24 years. Help pay for or expand K-State Extension offices. According to a 2013 report, counties chipped in $22 million for the offices. Campaign contributions could help offset that. Or, the money could be used to fill empty positions, finance new research facilities or increase educational programs. At $400 each, that $16.5 million could buy 41,250 wearable cameras for the state�s police officers. Every kid in the state could get an ice cream cone for 23 days straight � undoubtedly a tastier proposition that would create more goodwill than any political candidate.



The amount of money spent on elections is obscene, and the massive cost of political campaigns only validates the idea that money is more important than people � unless those people have money. And that wealthy donors leverage their wealth into ownership of elected office erodes any faith voters might have that the political system works for their well-being.



Even in Kansas, where we have a citizen legislature to keep industry influence at bay, moneyed interests have spared little expense to secure the candidates of their choosing. And that, in effect, means those who can afford it are getting the representation they want while the majority of Kansas is left wanting.



Yet the only antidote to money in politics is an engaged, informed and active electorate � something that was absent in the August primary. When voters refuse to insert themselves more fully into the political process, the vacuum is filled with money and the misinformation it can buy.



By Jason Probst/Hutchinson News editorial board