By Peter Cohn
Congressional Quarterly

Electoral votes: 6

Delegates: 35

Chairman: Gov. Bill Graves

Hotel: Philadelphia Airport Marriott (215) 492-9000

1996 Election:
Dole – 54%
Clinton – 36%
Perot – 9%

This year's Republican presidential standard-bearer, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, cannot hope to receive the adulation from the Kansas delegation that greeted 1996 nominee Bob Dole, the longtime Kansas senator.

Nonetheless, there is a lot of regard for the Bush name in the Sunflower State.

Bill Graves, now in his second term as Kansas governor, said, "We have a relationship with the Bush family going back 20 years." When Bush's father, George Bush, bid for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination, Graves was his press secretary.

Graves is chairman of both the George W. Bush campaign in Kansas and the Kansas delegation to the nominating convention. He also represents the current ascendancy of the "pragmatic" wing of the state Republican Party. Kansas has been the scene of one of the fiercest and longest-running ideological fights for the "soul" of the Republican Party, between an establishment faction of economic conservatives - identified with Dole and former longtime Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum (1978-97)- and a large constituency of fervent social conservatives.

Just four years ago, conservative activists picked then-state Republican Chairman David G. Miller over Graves as chairman of the Kansas convention delegation. But two years later, Graves crushed a primary challenge by Miller and went on to an easy general election win for a second term as governor. "Graves is a moderate and his allies are back in command" of the party, said state Senate President Richard Bond, a Bush delegate.

Graves said in June that many of his state's delegates differ on volatile social issues such as abortion and school prayer. However, said Graves, "Kansas is a very Republican state, and the most important thing on the minds of Kansans is winning."

Referring to the party divisions that were evident at the past two GOP conventions, Graves said, "One of the things we learned from Houston (1992) and San Diego (1996) is that we have to be unified."

Kansas Republican Party Executive Director Kari Austin cited state Treasurer Tim Shallenburger and 4th Congressional District Republican Chairman Raymond LaBoeuf as examples of conservatives who are falling into line for Bush. "There is a lot of [ideological] diversity among Republicans" in Kansas, according to Austin, but they are "all on board the Bush machine."

One Kansas alternate delegate with a unique background is S.K. Gandhi, a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon from Topeka. His grandfather is the late Mohandas Gandhi, who led the movement for India's independence from British rule.

KANSAS NOTABLES: Gov. Bill Graves, the delegation chairman; state Treasurer Tim Shallenburger; state Senate President Richard Bond.