“Rep. Yoder touting endorsements he doesn’t have has backfired in the most dramatic way, with a local mayor now calling out Yoder for flip-flopping on the issues,” said DCCC spokesperson Rachel Irwin. “Yoder has turned off Kansans of all political stripes and he’s clearly desperate to paint over his record given the headwinds he’s facing this November.”
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“I texted him back and said I could support it as it was because it was all about local communication and assistance from Yoder but I could not support a lot of other positions Yoder has taken or flip-flopped on,” Randall said in an email.
Randall said that he contacted Yoder’s campaign Friday to complain about his inclusion on the list after he had been alerted by constituents.
“When I saw it under the word ‘support,’ which is very close to endorsement, that’s when I wrote back and said, ‘No, I don’t support. I don’t endorse,’ ” Randall said in a phone call.
Yoder’s campaign apologizes to Olathe official for ‘miscommunication’ on endorsement | Kansas City Star
BY BRYAN LOWRY
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article217029760.html
U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder’s campaign has apologized to Olathe Mayor Pro Tem Jim Randall for including him on a list of 13 area officials supporting the Johnson County Republican’s re-election bid, according to Randall.
In a phone call and email exchange, Randall explained how his name ended up on the list and how a 2-year-old quote from Olathe Mayor Michael Copeland praising Yoder’s responsiveness to local governments became attributed to him.
In addition to his mayoral duties, Copeland began serving this year as a regional administrator for the federal General Services Administration. As a federal employee, Copeland “cannot be seen as favoring any candidate,” Randall said in an email.
Copeland approached Randall and asked if he agreed with a statement that Yoder’s “been there for our city, our residents, our businesses and our local charities,” according to Randall, a member of the Olathe City Council.
Randall said Copeland did not tell him the statement was the same one Copeland had used two years earlier to endorse Yoder. Randall said he told Copeland he agreed with the statement but also made it clear that he did not want to endorse Yoder, the incumbent Republican, in the race for Kansas’ 3rd congressional district.
“I texted him back and said I could support it as it was because it was all about local communication and assistance from Yoder but I could not support a lot of other positions Yoder has taken or flip-flopped on,” Randall said in an email.
“I presumed the Mayor passed that on to the campaign, thus the great surprise when I saw that quote (his quote) under the sub heading of ‘Mayors support Yoder.’ I still do not know if he passed that text on to the campaign but assumed that was the case.”
Copeland said in an email Tuesday that this “was simply an instance of miscommunication” when asked about whether Randall was aware the statement would be used for an endorsement.
Yoder faces a tough re-election challenge from Democrat Sharice Davids in a district Hillary Clinton won in 2016.
Randall said that he contacted Yoder’s campaign Friday to complain about his inclusion on the list after he had been alerted by constituents.
“When I saw it under the word ‘support,’ which is very close to endorsement, that’s when I wrote back and said, ‘No, I don’t support. I don’t endorse,’ ” Randall said in a phone call.
A Yoder staffer apologized for the confusion in a phone call and a text exchange. “Sorry again for the miscommunication,” a Saturday text from the campaign to Randall said.
Yoder’s campaign Twitter account posted the statement with a photo of Randall on Saturday, but unlike other area officials, the tweet did not include a badge identifying Randall as a “Yoder Voter.”
“Thank you for the kind words Mayor Pro Tem Randall!” Yoder said in the tweet.
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“They got it wrong, the Yoder people,” Randall said.