She was just ousted as JoCo Commissioner. Now, Republican will run for Kansas governor
Former Johnson County Commissioner Charlotte O'Hara has filed to run for governor in 2026.
O'Hara, an Olathe Republican who served the 3rd District, lost by seven percentage points to Democrat Julie Brewer in November, making her the only incumbent in a contested County Commission race not to win re-election.
O'Hara previously served one term in the Kansas House of Representatives from 2011-2013 and ran unsuccessfully for Overland Park mayor and Johnson County Commission Chair.
She joins Secretary of State Scott Schwab in a Republican primary field where voters will select their challenger after two gubernatorial losses at the hands of term-limited Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. Democratic candidates have yet to step forward 17 months ahead of the primary.
O'Hara told The Star she's undeterred by her recent loss and focused on spreading her message about discontinuing 'corporate welfare' tax incentives and overhauling public school curriculum.
'Because I've been involved in politics for so long, my name recognition, especially in Johnson County, is well-known,' said O'Hara, who owns a casino chip manufacturing business and recently returned from a nine-day listening tour with stops along the way from Frankfort to Garden City.
As a member of the County Commission from 2021 until January, she was fiercely opposed to COVID-19 masking and vaccine mandates. She's still critical of Schwab's directive to Johnson County to destroy 2020 mail ballots last spring in accordance with state law over the objection of former Sheriff Calvin Hayden.
On issues of election security, tax incentives and public education, O'Hara said she sees herself as more conservative than Schwab and other gubernatorial hopefuls who have yet to announce their bids.
'The status quo in the Republican Party, they have long been controlled by the Koch brothers, Koch Industries, and the Chamber,' O'Hara said.
A former general contractor who dabbled in development, O'Hara said it was her own experience receiving a tax incentive in 2004 that turned her against industrial revenue bonds, tax increment financing and state STAR bond subsidies.
'This is handing out candy to the well-connected,' O'Hara said.
She said as governor, she would take it upon herself to lead the charge against common incentive programs, which have been enshrined in state statute and would require legislative action to be undone.
'I would be in front of the Legislature demanding that they take a look at these statutes and at least start rolling them back,' O'Hara said.
She said high property taxes are 'crushing small businesses' and admonished state and local officials for their 'cruel indifference' toward soaring tax bills for homeowners.
Tax policy has also featured in O'Hara's political newsletter poetry, including a nine-stanza composition that begins:
'Oh, how do we, the BOCC
Raise the tax on YOUR property?
With cruel indifference,
Maniacal glee!!'
O'Hara supports President Trump's call to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and wants to minimize the Kansas state school board's role in determining classroom curriculum.
'In my opinion, the closer to the local level, the better,' she told The Star.
'We've got to get away from DEI. We've got to get away from this woke agenda and we've got to get back to basics — phonics, just regular core math — stop all this ridiculous confusing the kids with drawing boxes and all that stuff,' O'Hara said. 'Six plus six equals twelve, period.'
She declined to offer specific examples of diversity initiatives in Kansas schools she wants to see eliminated but issued a blanket appraisal of diversity, equity and inclusion as 'discriminatory.'
However, O'Hara said she's wary of school vouchers because she believes they would come with strings attached to what can and can't be taught in private schools and homeschools.
Newly elected Kansas Republican Party Chair Danedri Herbert did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Neither did Johnson County Republican Party Chair Sue Huff. Johnson County Commission Chair Mike Kelly, who defeated O'Hara in 2022, declined to comment on her entrance into the race.
The Star's Taylor O'Connor contributed reporting
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