Mike Kuckelman is an American lawyer and politician from

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. He served as the chairman of the

Kansas Republican Party The Kansas Republican Party is the state affiliate political party in Kansas of the United States Republican Party. The Kansas Republican Party was organized in May 1859. At the state level, the party is largely split between its moderate and con ...

from February 2019 to February 2023.

Early life

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, Kuckelman attended the private Maur Hill Prep School. Kuckelman then attended

Washburn University Washburn University (WU) is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,100 u ...

receiving a BBA in accounting in 1986. He then attended the

Washburn University School of Law The Washburn University School of Law is a public law school located on the main campus of Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Washburn Law was founded in 1903. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and has been a member of ...

receiving a J.D. and admittance to the Kansas Bar in 1990. He than began his legal career first working as an associate at the law firm Blackwell Sanders (now Husch Blackwell) and later as a partner at the law firm Kuckelman-Torline-Kirkland. He specialized in European litigation, spending most of his time in London and was one of the lead attorneys appointed by the

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a United States district court, federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York (state), New York ...

to litigate the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

cases after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

Political career

Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party

Kuckelman became chairman of the Kansas Republican Party in February 2019 promising to continue the advancement of Republican principles. He was heavily involved in the 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election attacking incumbent Democratic governor

Laura Kelly Laura Jeanne Kelly (born January 24, 1950)"Laura Kelly,"
''Kansapedia,''

and promising to defeat her soundly. Following

Derek Schmidt Derek Larkin Schmidt (born January 23, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician who has been the Kansas Attorney General since 2011. A Republican, Schmidt was first elected to office serving in the Kansas Senate, where he represented the 15th ...

's defeat with 47.3% to Kelly's 49.5%, Kuckelman moved to punish any Republicans that voted for

Dennis Pyle Dennis D. Pyle (born February 4, 1961) in Hiawatha, Kansas is an independent member of the Kansas Senate, representing the 1st district since 2005. He ran for governor of Kansas in the 2022 election. Legislative career Pyle was a member of ...

, former Republican and current

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

state senator who ran as an Independent and got 2.03% of the vote, stating that any votes for Pyle where indirect votes for Kelly. This move has been criticized as using Pyle as a scapegoat for the lackluster Schmidt campaign as even if all of Pyle's vote went to Schmidt he would still fall short by 1,806 votes or 0.18% of the electorate. This has resulted in an even larger rift within the Kansas Republican Party, as Kuckelman is now viewed as the face of "establishment politics" that has consistently let down Republican voters and failed to bridge the gap and prevent Pyle from splitting the vote. Several prominent state politicians, including state senators

Mark Steffen Mark B. Steffen (born August 30, 1962) is an American politician in the Kansas Senate from the 34th district. He assumed office in 2021, after beating one-term Republican incumbent Edward Berger with 57.5% of the vote in the August 4, 2020 prima ...

and

Alicia Straub Alicia Dawn Straub (born May 17, 1978) is an American politician who is a member of the Kansas Senate from the 33rd District since January 11, 2021. She is a former member of the Kansas House of Representatives representing the 113th district fro ...

as well as the president of the

state senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

, Ty Masterson, have denounced Kuckelman and the Kansas GOP leadership. In February 2023 he was replaced as Chairman of the Kansas Republican party by Mike Brown.

Other offices

Kuckelman was selected as a delegate to the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

and most recently the

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...

Republican National Conventions. He also acted as a spokesmen for Kansas City's, and by extension the whole

Kansas City metropolitan area The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

's unsuccessful bid to host the 2024 convention.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuckelman , Mike Living people Washburn University alumni Washburn University School of Law alumni Kansas Republicans Year of birth missing (living people)