Kansas state Senator Barbara Bollier
announced Wednesday she was switching parties to the Democrats.
“Morally, the [Republican] party is
not going where my compass resides,” the Shawnee Mission Post
quoted Bollier as saying. “I'm looking forward to being in a party
that represents the ideals that I do, including Medicaid expansion
and funding our K-12 schools.”
Bollier called the state party's
opposition to transgender rights “the last straw.”
In February, the state GOP approved a
resolution stating that “We believe God created two genders, male
and female.”
“That was my final, last straw,”
Bollier
said. “I support the people of Kansas. I do not condemn
whoever they are.”
Bollier also said that President Donald
Trump played a role in her decision.
“I can't call it leadership. I don't
even know what to call him. He is our president, but he is not
representing my value system remotely,” she said in her
announcement.
Republicans control the Kansas Senate
with a 30-10 majority.