With over 30 speakers, 430 ballots cast, and 800 attendees, the Olathe Republican Party Picnic and Straw Poll broke all records, despite temperatures in the 90s Saturday.

Official straw poll winners were Todd Tiahrt for US Senate, Kevin Yoder for Congress, Kris Kobach for Secretary of State, David Powell for Insurance Commissioner, Derek Schmidt for Attorney General, John Bacon for State Board of Education, and Sam Brownback for Governor. For the second year, Sarah Palin won the presidential nominee straw poll.

In an amusing twist, this year’s event included a separate “Acorn Poll” in which people could vote as many times as they liked, showing their depth of support for their favorite candidates. The Acorn Poll winners were the same as the official straw poll with two exceptions: Dan Gilyeat won for Congress and Rep. Michele Bachman won for presidential nominee.

This year’s Rich Nadler Freedom Fighter Award recipient was Kris Kobach for his tireless fight to promote the rule of law and thwart illegal immigration.

To honor our nation’s founders, Steve Shute in full colonial garb presented a dramatic recitation of Patrick Henry’s famous “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech that convinced Virginia to join the revolution.

Despite the record turn-out, the day went smoothly with almost all of the Olathe legislators and the candidates for statewide and federal office addressing the crowd. For the first time, all nine candidates for the third congressional district spoke at the same event.

People came and went in the audience throughout the three-hour program to get the picnic lunch, to visit with the candidates at their booths, to learn about area organizations, or to have their picture taken with the life-sized Sarah Palin cut-out at the Tiahrt booth.

Many people stayed late to hear the final count of the straw poll at 2:30. The full results are as follows:

2010 Olathe Republican Party Straw Poll Results

Official Poll: One vote per person
430 ballots cast

US Senate:
Todd Tiahrt 315
Jerry Moran 112
Tom Little 2
Bob Londerholm 2

US Representative, 3rd District
Kevin Yoder 156
Patricia Lightner 117
John Rysavy 55
Dan Gilyeat 52
Jean Ann Uvodich 23
Craig McPherson 7
Garry Klotz 5
Dave King 0
Jerry Malone 0

Governor/Lieutenant Governor
Sam Brownback/Jeff Colyer: 397
Joan Heffington/Mark Holick 23

Secretary of State
Kris Kobach 298
Elizabeth Ensley 98
JR Claeys 25

Attorney General
Derek Schmidt 298
Ralph DeZago 43

Insurance Commissioner
David Powell 246
Sandy Praeger 101

State Board of Education
John Bacon 190
Dennis George 84

2012 Presidential Nominee
Sarah Palin 98
Mitt Romney 62
Mike Huckabee 57
Newt Gingrich 43
Bobby Jindal 42
Ron Paul 21
Jim DeMint 21
John Boehner 16
Tim Pawlenty 13
Michele Bachman 9
Other 16 UNOFFICIAL ACORN POLL: multiple votes per person encouraged

US Senate:
Todd Tiahrt 53
Jerry Moran 5
Tom Little 0
Bob Londerholm 0

US Representative, 3rd District
Dan Gilyeat 31
Kevin Yoder 10
John Rysavy 10
Patricia Lightner 3
Craig McPherson 1
Jean Ann Uvodich 0
Garry Klotz 0
Dave King 0
Jerry Malone 0

Governor/Lieutenant Governor
Sam Brownback/Jeff Colyer: 50
Joan Heffington/Mark Holick 5

Secretary of State
Kris Kobach 50
JR Claeys 6
Elizabeth Ensley 0

Attorney General
Derek Schmidt 26
Ralph DeZago 11 Insurance Commissioner
David Powell 36
Sandy Praeger 3

State Board of Education
John Bacon 27
Dennis George 3

2012 Presidential Nominee
Michele Bachman 18
Newt Gingrich 11
Tim Pawlenty 11
Sarah Palin 6
Ron Paul 6
Mitt Romney 4
Jim DeMint 4
Bobby Jindal 3
Kris Kobach 1
Chris Christie 1
John Boehner 0
Mike Huckabee 0 Olathe Republican Party is a Supporter of the Tenth Amendment!
The Olathe Republican Party has signed up as an organization in support of Senator Mary Pilcher Cook's resolution declaring Kansas State Sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution. You can show your individual support by visiting the website at http://www.pilchercook.com/TenthAmendment and e-mailing your name and city to tenthamendment@pilchercook.com.

Donate to the Olathe Republican Party Online!
Help support the Olathe Republican Party by making a contribution online via PayPal. Just click the logo below. An individual may donate up to $500 per year to the Olathe Republican Central Committee.

Keeping Olathe Republican
Olathe Republicans have a lot to be proud of as their legislators have been working very hard in Topeka the past session. Senators Karin Brownlee, Jeff Colyer and Senator Julia Lynn along with Representatives Lance Kinzer, Arlen Siegfreid, Mike Kiegerl, Rob Olson, Anthony Brown and Scott Schwab have been standing firm on Republican principles including:

• Reducing taxes, including property, income and business taxes
• Limiting the growth of state government
• Recognizing the value of innocent life through the passage of Alexa's Law
• Resisting state owned gambling
• Promoting responsible funding of education
• Etc.!

Learn more about each of our local legislators by visiting our Elected Officials section. To learn more about how to help our great Republican officials stay in office, learn how to Volunteer! We need your support!