Senator Doll leaving GOP to run for Lt. Governor

Garden City, KS(westernkansasnews.com) Tuesday night State Senator John Doll of Garden City announced he was leaving the GOP to run for Lieutenant Governor. Doll will join Greg Orman’s independent campaign.

Doll will continue to serve in the senate, until he is either elected Lt. Governor or his term expires. Doll also says he will continue to caucus with the GOP.

Senator Doll was joined by Orman Wednesday morning in Garden City to make a formal announcement at the Clarion Inn. Doll wanted his constituents to know that for him the people still come first.

“I’ve always been a person that put people before politics and this will give me a chance to not only have a strong voice for western Kansas, but rural Kansas as well,” said Doll.

Orman said that Doll’s experience is what led to him asking Doll to be his running mate.

“I’m a private sector guy, I run businesses for a living,” said Orman, “I’ve always thought that if you’re going to run a business successfully you have to have people around you who have skills and experiences that you don’t have, John’s a teacher, a coach and a current public servant, he comes a different part of the state and so he really brings experiences to the ticket that I don’t have, he allows us to represent all of Kansas.”

Doll said he met Orman last year after he spoke at an event and he was blown away by his idea for the direction of the state.

“Our visions were right on line, so I felt like it was a great opportunity for western Kansas when I was asked, Greg is someone I truly believe in and I think he’s the person to take us forward,” said Doll.

Doll is also assuring voters that his voting pattern will stay the same. He also believes he and Orman have a great chance at winning the 2018 election.

“You know I taught government for a long time and in most circumstances I wouldn’t give an independent much of a chance,” said Doll, “but these are extraordinary times and I think the people of Kansas are ready to move forward and if people will look at the best candidate I’m fairly certain we can become Governor and Lt. Governor.”

Orman also echoed those thoughts.

“I think we’ve got great prospects and that we’re going to win this race, in 2014 we got 43 percent of the vote and that was really driven by Kansans who are saying we want something different, I’m confident we’ll build on that foundation and that we’ll win,” said Orman.

Listen to our full interview with Senator Doll here.