LJWorld.com / GOP pokes fun at Boyda's residency

Archive for Thursday, September 23, 2004

September 23, 2004

Topeka — State Republican Party officials Wednesday staged a mock celebration for Democrat Nancy Boyda to criticize her as a "carpetbagger" for only recently moving to the congressional district she hopes to represent.

"The voters of the 2nd Congressional District should be very suspicious of any politician who aspires to represent a district that they can't rightly call home," state GOP executive director Scott Poor said.

Boyda is challenging U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun, a Republican from Lawrence, for the congressional district that cuts a swath through east Kansas and includes western Lawrence.

Boyda's campaign said the Republican criticism was being lodged to deflect attention from Ryun's record in Congress.

"The Republican Party is playing attack dog because they can't defend his (Ryun's) stewardship," said Jeff English, Boyda's campaign manager.

Poor said records showed that Boyda became a registered voter in the 2nd District a year ago Wednesday. Poor said Boyda lived in an apartment over her campaign headquarters. English confirmed those statements.

Before September 2003, Boyda lived in Johnson County. Poor compared Boyda's move to Topeka with Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton's move to New York state to run for the U.S. Senate.

At state GOP headquarters, Poor had two store-bought cakes with a message in icing that said: "Happy Anniversary Nancy. Hillary Would Be Proud."

Poor noted that Boyda started campaigning for office in early September 2003, several weeks before she registered to vote in the district.

English said that despite Boyda's relatively short time in the district, she had lived in Kansas for 25 years. "She's a tried-and-true Kansan," English said.