Kansas state Republican switches party affiliation to Democrat

A Kansas state senator is switching her party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. 

State Sen. Barbara Bollier, who represents Mission Hills in the Kansas City metropolitan area, stated on Wednesday that she no longer sides with the Republican Party’s values, according to reports.

{mosads}“Morally, the party is not going where my compass resides,” Bollier said, according to The Shawnee Mission Post.“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.”

Bollier noted that she had been a registered Republican for more than 40 years.

The Associated Press noted that her decision to switch party affiliation comes only months after she was stripped of a committee leadership position after endorsing Democrat Laura Kelly’s campaign for governor. 

Senate President Susan Wagle pushed Bollier out of her role as vice chairwoman of the Senate health committee in July. 

Bollier said a key moment behind her decision came when the Kansas GOP adopted a platform that included the provision, “We believe God created two genders, male and female.” Bollier believes the sentiment was anti-transgender.

“That was my final, last straw. I support the people of Kansas. I do not condemn whoever they are,” Bollier said, according to The Wichita Eagle.

Democrats will now hold 10 out of the 40 seats in Kansas’s state Senate. 

Bollier also cited President Trump in her decision to switch party affiliation, saying that Trump is “our president, but he is not representing my value system remotely.”

Bollier began serving in the state Senate last year after being a state House representative from 2010-2016. The Wichita Eagle noted that Bollier is up for reelection in 2020.