Kansas ‘DemoFest’ in Turmoil

(AP) – The resignation of the Kansas Democratic Party’s chairman has thrown the party’s mid-year convention into flux.

The “DemoFest” convention began Friday in Wichita just hours after the resignation of Larry Meeker. He stepped down amid a backlash over comments he made about rebranding the state party’s message to emphasize it is more conservative than the national party.

The Lawrence Journal-World (http://bit.ly/1EabdVX) reports that the situation was further complicated by the fact that party officials had neglected to send out formal notices that the party’s state committee would be meeting during the convention. Because of that, the committee is prevented under party bylaws from taking any action to name a new chairperson this weekend.

Instead, the committee will meet Oct. 3 in Salina to select a new chairperson.