Sam Brownback's spokeswoman said Thursday that the U.S. senator and Republican nominee for Kansas governor questions whether the process for picking new state Supreme Court justices is constitutional.
Brownback's views are in line with a federal lawsuit alleging that the selection process violates voters' rights by allowing attorneys to control who gets appointed to the high court. Attorneys chosen only by fellow attorneys make up a majority of the commission screening applications for Supreme Court vacancies.
The selection process is an important issue for some of Brownback's fellow conservative Republicans, who've been upset in recent years by Supreme Court rulings on abortion and education funding. They argue that the court isn't accountable enough to voters because of how justices are picked.
The GOP nominee doesn't intend to draft a plan for changing the process, spokeswoman Sherriene Jones-Sontag said, but "He's going to continue to talk with those who are interested in making a change."
Brownback's Democratic opponent, state Sen. Tom Holland, has said he doesn't see the need to make any changes in the selection process. He and others, including some GOP moderates, believe it is insulated from partisan politics.
Holland campaign manager Dana Houle questioned Brownback's judgment on such issues by noting his past support for Phill Kline, an anti-abortion Republican, as a nominee for U.S. attorney for Kansas.
