Kansas politician who crusaded against abortion loses big

By Diane Carroll | Kansas City Star

For the second time in two years, voters in Kansas have handed a stinging defeat to Phill Kline, an anti-abortion crusader who made his reputation by attempting to prosecute the state's abortion providers, first as state attorney general, and then, after he lost re-election to that post, as a district attorney in suburban Kansas City.

With all of the vote counted, Steve Howe trounced Kline by a margin of 60 percent to 40 percent in unofficial returns to select the Republican candidate for district attorney in Johnson County, Kan., a well-off suburb of Kansas City. Howe garnered 33,260 votes to Kline’s 22,188, according to final unofficial returns.