The brutal murders committed by Jonathan and Reginald Carr in Wichita over a decade ago were an unexpected topic in Tuesday’s debate between Governor Sam Brownback and Democratic Challenger Paul Davis.
In Brownback’s opening remarks, he mentioned that the Kansas Supreme Court’s liberal tendency led to a ruling in July that overturned six of the eight death sentences for the Carr brothers.
“It matters what judges you appoint,” Brownback says. “[Either] they stick with the law and the constitution, or they rewrite it.”
Brownback’s point was part of a larger allegation that Davis wants liberal control of the state’s highest court. Davis says he saw the Brownback produced commercial that links him to the Carr brothers’ case.
“I knew one of those victims,” Davis says. “To politicize this issue, to put this in a campaign commercial, I think is just disgraceful.”
Brownback also mentioned a recent Davis fundraiser that was hosted by the husband of Justice Carol Beier, a Kansas Supreme Court judge.
Polls from various sources contradict one another and no candidate is a clear favorite.
